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Comment by jonknee | Hacker News Reader

A toll for semis on the highway could be a good start. It would at least let them pay for the damage they cause. Weigh stations are already in place which should make tolling pretty simple to enact and it could even be variable based on the size of the truck / weight of the load.

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The motor-fuels tax is proportional to the usage (until we have electric trucks, anyway) The problem is 20-25% of it is being redirected into the general fund. That's money that could be used to repair crumbling roads and decaying bridges but is going to pork-barrel projects.

Proportional to usage, yes, but not proportional to the damage caused by weight, which goes up proportional to the 4th power of the weight.

What do you think the weigh stations are for?

Enforcement of rules, inspections, paperwork, etc. Fuel is taxed, not a toll for the road usage. In the OPs example where there is a rail line literally next to the interstate it would make sense to charge a large toll. For other highways that don't have parallel railways it would not make sense to charge a hefty freight toll.

In my region , I have been told the top drivers pulling Heavy loads . . steel coils 28,000 lbs, if overloaded are capable of using a maneuver . . when entering the scales of perching a back wheel on the curb . . reducing weigh in's . I was told these drivers are recruited , for these tax cheating skills , and highly paid.

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