Businesses and commercial carriers in Canada and the United States are urging the New York state governor Kathy Hochul to halt the implementation of a new incoming 1% fee on tolls processed through commercial toll management service providers, calling it a toll surcharge. Meanwhile, the Thruway Authority argues this is not a toll increase, but an administrative fee, applicable only to toll management service providers.
The change is set to take effect in January and – according to a letter to Gov. Hochul, signed by 107 companies – businesses say it was announced without prior notice and stakeholder engagement, arguing there is no clear operational justification. They ask the governor’s administration to help pause the implementation and allow affected businesses a meeting to discuss alternatives.
Letter signatories say that, if implemented, the increased costs would affect the entire E-ZPass network, including miles driven outside New York, and will add further financial stain for carriers, drivers and owner-operators.
“This proposal comes at a time when your Administration has made affordability a top priority. You have noted that, ‘When costs for basic necessities skyrocket, every dollar counts.’ We agree,” the letter to the governor reads. “A hidden toll increase runs counter to that goal and risks raising costs on everything from groceries to building supplies — especially harmful for small businesses, working families and the farmers and processors who rely on efficient transportation.”
Among the 107 signatories are industry players like Fleetworthy, Air Products and Chemicals, Landstar, Knight Transportation, and Canadian-based fleets like Quebec’s L’Express Du Midi, VTL express and TFI Transport 11, as well as Winnipeg-based Len Dubois Trucking.
Fleets won’t incur higher fees, Thruway Authority says
However, Thruway Authority executive director Frank Hoare argues that the Thruway Authority’s new Toll Management Service Provider program, launched in October, does not raise tolls or alter E-ZPass discounts for fleets.
“To be clear – this is not a toll increase or a change in the discounts we offer commercial drivers. If someone is saying otherwise, they are not telling the truth,” he said in a Dec. 10 statement.
“The new program has a 1% administrative fee charged to the Toll Management Service Provider, not the commercial trucking industry, which offsets the costs we incur to administer this program and allows them access to our information that they use to operate and generate profits, considerable profits, for their business. Without access to this system, paid for by New York State tolling authorities, service providers would not be able to make the tens of millions of dollars they currently enjoy.”
Hoare further added that the new program would open the door to more qualified vendors, encourages competition, and improve transparency around third-party fees.
He compared New York Thruway’s toll of 19 cents per mile to the New Jersey Turnpike’s, at 43 cents a mile, saying commercial vehicles traveling on the thruway pay toll rates that are among the lowest in the nation. Hoare also added that also the authority’s plan to reinvest $2.8 billion over five years to maintain the system’s safety and reliability for truckers.
