Economic relief for certain Pennsylvania truck drivers could soon become reality.
Fuel is a significant expense for all professional drivers. In Pennsylvania, the current average price for diesel is $4.01.
Any opportunity to receive a fuel price break is welcome.
One Pennsylvania House bill would provide a fuel cost break for one sector of the trucking industry.
House Bill 260
The House Transportation Committee voted unanimously to advance a bill that would increase the state’s reimbursement amount truck drivers can receive for undyed diesel used in reefer units.
Pennsylvania law allows a person to be reimbursed on any purchase for reefers up to 75 gallons.
Rep. Russ Diamond, R-Lebanon, is behind legislation that would increase the maximum reimbursement for tax paid on undyed diesel used in affected trucks from 75 gallons to 100 gallons.
Diamond has said the change would give full access to the reimbursement for truck drivers who have reefer fuel tanks with a capacity exceeding 75 gallons.
“This legislation will ease the burden on truckers who haul refrigerated goods across the Commonwealth,” Diamond wrote.
The Pennsylvania Department of Transportation and the Pennsylvania Motor Truck Association are included among supporters.
The bill, HB260, could come up for consideration on the House floor once the Legislature’s summer recess ends.
Senate Bill 379
Another bill of note would provide relief for certain truck drivers serving the state’s leading port.
Sponsored by Sen. Christine Tartaglione, D-Philadelphia, SB379 would reimburse Commonwealth-based truck drivers for their Pennsylvania Turnpike tolls when transporting goods to and from the Port of Philadelphia.
Data previously provided by legislators showed an analysis by PhilaPort that shippers using the Port of New York/New Jersey achieved an annual cost savings of $167,000 compared to Philadelphia. Shippers save $500,000 annually using the Port of Baltimore.
“Due to tolls on the Pennsylvania Turnpike – and the lack of tolls on highways like I-80 and I-83 – our port facilities are losing market share to New York, New Jersey and Baltimore,” Tartaglione wrote in a bill memo. “As a result, Pennsylvania and its taxpayers are essentially subsidizing the ports of Baltimore and New York/New Jersey.”
She added that “companies need to use PhilaPort but are having to pay hundreds of dollars in tolls each run to and from the port.”
Tartaglione said that losses in activity, or increases in costs, all translate to a negative impact on the state’s businesses, the people who work there and the communities they support.
The statehouse pursuit marks the fourth time in as many sessions that Tartaglione has introduced legislation to address truck drivers’ tolls. Each of the previous attempts failed to advance from committee.
SB379 is in the Senate Transportation Committee. At this time, the committee does not have any scheduled hearings. LL
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