ATA, carriers sue Oregon over weight-distance tax

ALEXANDRIA, Va. (July 21, 2000) — The American Trucking Associations, CRST Inc. of Cedar Rapids, Iowa, and Clackamas, Ore.-based USF Reddaway are suing the state of Oregon, claiming its weight-distance tax unfairly discriminates against out-of-state truckers.

Under Oregon’s highway tax system, general commodities carriers are charged a per-mile rate based on the truck’s weight. However, farm vehicles are exempt from the weight-distance tax and instead are subject to a fuel tax for on-highway operations. In addition, owners of trucks transporting certain natural resource products are given the option of paying a flat annual tax instead of the weight-distance tax.

The lawsuit, filed yesterday in the Marion County Circuit Court, claims that the higher fees are geared towards interstate carriers, and that most of the carriers eligible for the lower tax alternatives are companies based in Oregon.

State legislation passed last year would have done away with the weight-distance tax in favor of a 29-cent-per-gallon diesel fuel tax and a 5-cent increase in the state’s gasoline tax, but it was defeated in a May election after gasoline prices rose this year.

Source: truckinginfo.com