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HB 3418 VMT Pilot Program

TXTA Opposes a VMT Tax Truck-Only Study Pilot Program

Get the Facts on VMT and TXTA's Response

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Download TXTA's Overview and Concerns With VMT

Download TXTA's Letter to Chairman Canales

View the Committee Substitute for House Bill 3418

House Transportation Committee Chairman Terry Canales (D-Edinburg) filed legislation that seeks to implement a Vehicle Miles Traveled (VMT) Tax pilot program exclusively on Commercial Motor Vehicles in the state of Texas.

HB 3418: “…shall develop and implement a statewide pilot program to assess a user fee on owners of commercial motor vehicles that is based on the number of miles traveled on public highways in this state by those vehicles.”

Concerns With a VMT Tax

  • Tax Evasion

  • Overhead Expenses

  • Technology, Data and Tracking

  • Enforcement

  • Alternative Fueled Vehicles

With the ever-increasing numbers of alternatively fueled vehicles on the road today, coupled with the diminishing revenue from the current fuel taxes, it is important to address the way future taxes will be captured. Fuel taxes have not been raised by the state of Texas since 1991 and by the federal government since 1993. Coupled with the impact of inflation and increased fuel mileage from vehicles, the inevitable result has been the reduction of available Highway Trust Fund monies to maintain and improve our transportation system. While the idea of a VMT is thought to be the answer by some, it is critical to evaluate it from the ground level. Laws and regulations that fail to consider all aspects often have less than advantageous results.

Our opposition to a truck-only tax that singles out truckers for the purposes of filling the state’s infrastructure needs has been a concern for some time given other states’ attempts and motor carriers in Texas who travel in those states. Thus, Texas truckers speak from a place of experience. A truck-only tax places a disproportionate burden on the backs of truckers who have grave concerns that it is inequitable, discriminatory against the industry, and deeply concerning to the hundreds of thousands of essential workers in trucking who have worked to keep the state fed, clothed and with access to medicine throughout times of emergency or just the demands of the seasons.

For legislative questions, please contact Dana Moore dana@texastrucking.com