Renewing Trucking’s Infrastructure for the 21st Century

Abstract

The trucking industry depends critically on the National Highway System and in particular on the Interstates. With a design life of less than 50 years, the Interstate corridors are aging, and most will need reconstruction over the next two decades. Many corridors—especially those used heavily by trucking companies—also will need widening. This paper reviews several funding alternatives for the reconstruction and widening of the Interstate system, with a focus on the needs and concerns of the trucking industry. After concluding that toll financing may be the least-bad alternative for this estimated trillion-dollar set of projects, the paper addresses the trucking industry’s long-standing and current concerns about the expanded use of tolling. The paper seeks to develop a value proposition for that industry (as well as for other Interstate highway users). The value proposition builds on recent developments in all-electronic tolling technology, current trucking industry uses of this technology, and policy changes aimed to guarantee that tolls used for Interstate modernization will be pure user fees, used solely for the capital and operating costs of the revamped system.