Many owner-operators and small fleets have made sizable investments to improve fuel efficiency in their operations in recent years, like upgrading to newer (more expensive) fuel efficient truck models or limiting speeds in order to increase MPGs.
The end goal is saving a few bucks on fuel — which can quickly add up over the course of hundreds of thousands of miles. But not everyone is celebrating being able to squeeze the maximum mileage out of that tank of diesel.
Some states are watching their fuel tax revenue drop as fuel efficiency increases among fleets, and now they’ve devised another way to put their hands back in your pockets.
California, along with Oregon and Washington, recently passed bills approving a Vehicle-Miles-Traveled tax, or VMT, to combat the decrease in fuel taxes. For the politician, this seems like a step in the right direction. For anyone who drives long distances for a living, it’s a slap in the face. Too put it bluntly, people who are getting paid to drive now have to pay to drive.
The recently passed bill will allow these states to test the new VMT tax, and drivers that participate in the tests will have to cough up a fee for every mile driven (current rates are 1.5 cents per mile in Oregon). Each state will then gauge the performance of these tests in order to determine if the VMT is a sufficient alternative to the currently used fuel-excise tax.
