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[quote user="V.Payne"] "trucks pay extra taxes to offset extra wear and tear..." Offset in this context would mean getting a bit closer to paying the cost. The almost two foot deep paving section going in on the new build interstate I am working in a southern state is not for automobiles. Generally, when a new toll road is proposed, such as when SH-130 in Texas was analyzed, the toll is approximated in studies as (n-1) x Automobile rate, with n= number of axles, so a factor of 4 x for a common semi-truck. This is an attempt to actually pay for the full capital and maintenance cost of the road in total. But the automobile toll is $0.15/mile and except for the period when TxDOT bought down the truck toll it has followed either 3x or 4x the automobile rate. But the standard State and Federal Fuel taxes and sales tax only bring in about $0.11/mile or so for large trucks. The difference between those two rates is supported by the leverage off the locally financed system. [/quote] You are overlooking the fact that the operators of private carrier trucks, as well as common carrier trucks, pay substantial federal and state income taxes, excise taxes, inventory taxes, and property taxes.  These taxes flow into local, state, and federal government general funds.  Some of the monies flow back to dedicated transportation funds to cover the financial shortfall between the cost of supporting trucks and the direct revenues generated from them. JB Hunt is a good example.  In 2013 its accrued income tax liability was $3.8 billion.  In addition, it paid more than $700 million in operating taxes and licenses, which were on top of an undisclosed amount of fuel taxes. Its total fuel and fuel taxes bill was $8.2 billion. Assuming that 10 to 15 per cent of the fuel bill was for federal and state fuel taxes, the fuel tax bill would have been more than $1 billion.  And this is just one trucking company. My post was simply to challenge the point made previously that trucks are the major beneficiary of the Interstate Highway System or any other roadway system.  The argument whether trucks cover the cost to build and maintain the infrastructure is multi-dimensional and is open for debate.   Cost is just one side of the cost/benefit ratio, which is frequently overlooked in the discussions in these forums.  Trucks bring a substantial benefit to Americans that cannot be duplicated by trains. Another factor that is frequently overlooked is the transfer of a substantial portion of the fuel taxes at the federal and state level to non-roadway activities, i.e. to the Mass Transit Administration at the federal level and public education in Texas. In Texas 25 per cent of the fuel taxes are transferred to support public education.  And they have been since 1969.
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