ARLINGTON, Va. — It may seem peculiar, a trucking industry lobby group lobbying for higher fuel taxes, but that’s exactly what’s happening in the US.

The American Trucking Associations (ATA) today told the House Subcommittee on Select Revenue Measures, House Committee on Ways and Means, that increasing the federal fuel tax is the most effective way to fund infrastructure improvements.

Speaking on behalf of ATA, second vice-chair Barbara Windsor, said the US trucking industry would welcome a fuel tax increase if the additional revenue was invested into projects and programs that address national highway infrastructure needs.

“With collection costs at just 0.2% of revenue, no alternative funding schemes can match the efficiency or equitability of the federal fuel tax,” said Windsor, who is president and CEO of Hahn Transportation, based in New Market, Maryland.

The ATA says there’s a method behind its madness in asking for a fuel tax increase: fuel taxes offer minimal opportunities for evasion; it can be collected and enforced without imposing an administrative burden on carriers; it’s based on readily-verifiable measures of highway and vehicle use; it applies uniformly to all classes of highway users; and it does not impede interstate commerce.