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[quote user="schlimm"] So now we are reduced to dismissing a variety of engineering studies that consistently show very heavy damage to our highways (our highways, not the trucking industry's private network) by trucks?  Are we to believe they are all wrong because they "don't pass the sniff test" or biased because of some convoluted reasoning about the government? <div style="clear:both;"></div> [/quote] I don’t think there is any question that heavy trucks cause more wear and tear to highways than lighter vehicles.  Theoretically, they are charged accordingly.  I don’t know if their charges match the wear and tear they cause or not.  But a lot of people believe they don’t.  If the studies are accurate, what would be the reason for trucks not being charged their fair share by the taxing authority?  <o:p></o:p> Do all the studies that show vehicle wear and tear to highways come to the same conclusion?  What is your conclusion about whether or not trucks pay their fair share?  I don’t have one.  I would have to do my own study before I could reach a conclusion.  But when you consider the amount of engineering analysis that would be needed, plus the cost accounting of how vehicles pay for roads, plus all the different bias motivations that would come into play depending on who paid for the study; I think an objective and true result would be impossible.     <o:p></o:p> I only brought up this issue as a continuation of that other thread.  Some people say it has nothing to do with passenger rail.  It might not in truth, but a lot of people want to justify subsidies for passenger rail by claiming that we subsidize highways.  When you point out that highways are mostly paid for by the users, the rail proponents claim that there are hidden highway costs that require a government subsidy.  Often the hidden cost they cite is the extra damage done by trucks beyond what the trucks pay for road use.  That comes up all the time with public rail discussions.  It came up in the other thread.  So I brought it up here as a specific question.  I figured that in a few pages here, we could put the question to bed once and for all.
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