Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1956-02-26
THE PocKETBooK NERVE THE SUNDAY sSE ZssegGs p
Trucks Are Bigger, Cars More Numerous;
Which Should Pay for Future Highways?
Truckers Side


highway users should be united In
the Tight for better roads, group
claiming to represent the largest
segment of those users-the motor
ists-has diverted its efforts to an
attack on the other big segment
the truckers.
First of all, let it be understood
that the truckers agree they should
pay heavier share Of highway
costs than other users. They sup
port the Boggs bill. which would
make large trucks pay four times
% much tax as passenger cars and
small trucks for every mile they
travel.
Under the Boggs bill. the yearly
tax payments on popular-priced
automobile in average operation
would 60 up $6.42. But the tax bur-
den on trucks would 60 up $64.69.
to $385.50, over present rates. In
1854, trucks and buses paid 23.1
per cent Of total Federal autono-
tive taxes. But the trucks and
buses would pay 1872 per cent Of
the tax increases provided in the
Boggs bill.
The Boggs bill would achieve the
four-to-one tax differential against
the trucks simply by across-the-
board increases In Federal excise
taxes on fuel and rubber and by
raising the excise tax on purchase
Of trucks from 8 per cent to 10
per cent, the rate now paid on
passenger cars. Since large trucks
get only four miles to o gallon OF
gasoline, compared to 10 miles per
gallon for the light passenger car,
and the ratio In rubber consump-
ton Is even higher. these across-
the-board increases have, In use,
o built-in differential against
trucks.
AAA Discrimination
The AAA, on the other hand.
would, by discriminatory higher
rates on diesel fuel and truck tires
and tubes, put tax rate differ
entail on top Of the "built-in"
differential. This would send what
might be called the composite
differential" to almost astronomical
proportions, far beyond the four
to-one which is generally accepted
by State and turnpike authorities a.
q fair differentiaL
The truckers are In general
agreement with many other fea-
lures Of the AAA proposal, includ.
ing the position that the highway
program must be on pay-as-we-
90 basis. It would leave the actual
programing to Congress.
An examination Of the AAA tax
proposal shows that 1t. like o bad
road, Is built on soggy base. For
example:
/. The AAA plan would not pro-
vide the funds needed for the high
way program now contemplated BY
Congress. The Boggs bill would
finance this program by providing
$12 billion in new revenues over
is years. In the same time, the AAA
plan would raise only 81 billion In
new revenue. The AAA claims ito
plan would raise a total Of $41
billion, but it reached that figure
by extending the tax period from
Is to Is years and by taking over
existing revenues from lubricating
oil. On the same basis, the Boggs
bill would bring in $48.1 billion.
The inadequacy of the AAA flnanc-
ing explains in part why it Is able
to offer a "a cent gasoline tax in
crease as compared to q 1-cent in
crease in the BoggS bill.
Q. The AAA claims falsely that
the new highways would cost much
less money II it weren't for truck
traffic. The fact Is. the new high
ways must be built to handle de-
tense traffic, which means they
must be built up to truck standards
no matter who uses them. Even II
this were not the case, the difference
In cost between highways that can
handle trucks and those built only
| for passenger cars has been greatly
exaggerated. The bulk Of highway
costs-land acquisition. grading.
engineering, traffic controls and the
hke-are the same for both roads.
A slight increase. in the thickness Of
the concrete is the only cost directly
attributable to trucks. And the
greater tax payments made BY
trucks more than cover q proper
share Of normal highway costs plus
| any such additional cost.
Trucks Don't Wreck Roods
8. Charges that trucks wreck tho
highways are also false. A poorly
built road viii be damaged by trucks.
But II well engineered under Federal
supervision, a road can bear any
truck weight. however heavy. with
out damage.
4. The AAA says its special dis
elimination against diesel trucks in
the form Of 100 per cent tax in
crease on fuel is because diesels get
more mileage per gallon and their
fuel costs less. But 1t ignores the
fact that diesel truck costs sub
stantially more than a gasoline
truck (which means a higher in
itial excise taxi. parts cost more.
diesels have smaller payload and
their tires wear out much sooner
than those Of a gasoline truck.
5. In centering its attack on what
1t calls the 3.5 million large"
trucks. the AAA has-perhaps with
out realizing it-included in more
than million trucks used In farm
hauling and owned by farmers and
small business houses.
6. Charges that the new highways
would be used mainly by trucks are
refuted by figures from six Of the
biggest turnpikeS. They show that
from Is to 944 per cent Of traffic
Is passenger cars, despite the fact