Oregon Posts Tax Proposal on Web

Trucking companies may go to the Oregon Trucking Associations Web site to find out how much they would pay under OTA’s proposed alternative to the state’s weight-distance tax.

Oregon’s weight-distance, oldest in the country and the model for those that have followed over five decades, now tops out at 13.65 cents for each mile a full-weight truck travels through the state.

OTA will ask the Oregon Legislature in January to take up its proposal to replace the hated tax with a diesel fuel levy and higher vehicle registration fees. For years, the industry has said a diesel tax could generate equivalent revenue for the state while saving trucking companies the millions of dollars they spend each year filing detailed ton-mile tax paperwork.

The association is calling for a 25-cent per gallon diesel fuel tax and a new schedule for registration fees. Oregon does not now collect a diesel tax from commercial highway users.

Companies may access OTA’s page — www.ortrucking.org — and download a spreadsheet that will show how much they would pay under the proposed fuel tax and fees. Go to "It’s absolutely critical people know where they’ll stand under this proposal," said Bob Russell, who heads OTA’s government affairs department.