The Truckers had me worried...

[lasersailor184]

http://www.qctimes.com/articles/2008/03/19/news/iowa/doc47e03e9ea03bd427238845.txt?sPos=3

I was very worried about the intent of the trucker's strike on April 1st.  Not many people understand that government price freezes would royally screw us over.  They think it's just something the government can flippantly do.



However, the Truckers are going on strike against TAXES.

diddlyIN' A!  Good work truckers!  I'm glad that they recognize that the government often makes many times in taxes on gas and diesel what the oil companies make in profit.

[rpm]

Most people have no idea just how much truckers pay in road use taxes. Every highway in the US is a toll road. I was an owner/operator running 48 states in the late 80's. States charge you fuel tax whether you buy fuel or not.

[Jackal1]

Dan Little, the owner/operator of a livestock hauling company in Carrollton, Mo., estimated Tuesday that at least 1,000 other truckers from across the United States have committed so far to joining him in a strike on Apri

  Big whoop. A few bull haulers out the way. Speed sales will drop accordingly.
I was an owner/operator also and ran cross country for 20-25 years.
I went through a few of these so called strikes.
I rolled through them all. The truck was my bread and butter and that of my family.
I dodged  more than a few bricks, concrete blocks, etc. thrown from overpasses. Was tried to be blocked in at truck stops numerous times. Lame attempts to get the job done IMHO.
When it all boils down ALL of them accomplished only in turning the trucker against the trucker.
If they wish to really get the job done, start a nationwide petition to contact the lawmakers in each state and go up from there.
The rest is just BS.

[Elfie]

States charge you fuel tax whether you buy fuel or not.

How do they charge you a fuel tax if you aren't actually purchasing any fuel?

[Elfie]

I'm glad that they recognize that the government often makes many times in taxes on gas and diesel what the oil companies make in profit.

Indeed. I don't mind paying some tax on fuel, out here it's roughly .45 per gallon. I'm sure it's higher elsewhere.

[Jackal1]

How do they charge you a fuel tax if you aren't actually purchasing any fuel?

Most states have a minimum fuel purchase requirement when you pass through their state. It is their calculation of how much fuel you should use going across. If you do not purchase the fuel and do not have a fuel permit (read that tax) you pay a fee.
It`s easy to get around.

[Elfie]

Most states have a minimum fuel purchase requirement when you pass through their state. It is their calculation of how much fuel you should use going across. If you do not purchase the fuel and do not have a fuel permit (read that tax) you pay a fee.
It`s easy to get around.

Sad.....so in essence, at times you can and do pay tax on the fuel twice?

[Eagler]

they'll just give the loads to mexican truckers ...

[Shamus]

For most of my life diesel has been priced lower than gasoline, I don't know what has changed in the last couple of years to flip that around.

In this state taxes are lower on diesel as well, curious.

shamus

[Slash27]

they'll just give the loads to mexican truckers ...

yep

[Maverick]

Laser,

Did you even read the article you linked? They aren't threatening a strike because of taxes. They aren't protesting the taxes, they are just asking for relief from the taxes simply as a way to make fuel cheaper for them while it's this high. They also understand it won't make a bit of difference to the fuel companies or to the folks who actually set the price of fuel. They are just asking for a break.

The tax rate is also based on a per gallon rate, not based on the price per gallon.

While the road fees talked about here are interesting, I haven't seen any of them based on driving my rig through 32 states so far when I didn't buy any fuel in the state. I also buy my fuel at truck stops due to the rig I use and it's twin 150 gallon tanks. We often plan our route based on the availability of a flying j in the area we want to go.

[wrongwayric]

I seriously doubt you will ever see a truckers strike. In the 13yrs i've been driving over the road i've heard it talked about on almost a daily basis and it never happens. It's also illegal for someone to actually organize a drivers strike nationwide. Can not remember the actual law and wording but it is a federal crime. The best way to protest the fuel taxes is if every trucker refuses to purchase there IFTA sticker! No sticker means no taxes for the government and you can't run without one. It's also not a crime to not get one as long as you don't drive/buy fuel. Could you imagine the governments panic if every trucker/company said hey we're not going to renew our IFTA so basically we are shutting down? Trying to get 2 truckers to agree on something is like trying to get 2 AH players to agree on the best plane. I've ran loads into and out of union plants that have been strikeing and had them cuss me out, block my truck, and other things. The best one was a striker confronting me saying i should refuse to haul the freight and support them. My reply was, no problem here is what the load pays me, you pay me that right now i'll unhook and go home for the day and be with my family who counts on this money to feed and clothe them. Funny but i got no reply.

[Mustaine]

I work for a trucking company, and for those of you that don't know all trucks must log each mile driven in each state, then pay per quarter a tax on those miles driven. each state must be broken down, and if the DOT does an audit they can / will pull your permits.

To give you an idea how big fuel tax reporting is the software package we are getting has a license for their fuel tax portion for $10,000. thats only for the part of the software that helps prepare the reports you have to file... in fact we are getting proposals from 3 different companies for their solutions right now...

it is a HUGE part of trucking, much more so for companies than owner-ops as we have a base of trucks they can audit any time they want.

[Elfie]

Do truckers pay a fuel tax at the time of purchase of the fuel?

[Mustaine]

Do truckers pay a fuel tax at the time of purchase of the fuel?

yes. we also have to report every gallon purchased, where and when it was purchased, report it to the state it was purchased in, then pay a tax fee each quarter, above what they paid at the pump, and above the tax on miles driven in said state.