The Eastern Transportation Coalition, a partnership of transportation agencies from 20 states and Washington, D.C. spanning from Maine to Florida, has released its latest report on the future of transportation funding.

The research leading to the report was funded by the U.S. Department of Transportation and was intended to develop alternatives to fuel taxes that are the primary source of revenue into the Highway Trust Fund. Additionally, the report recognizes trucks make up about five percent of all vehicles and account for about ten percent of vehicle miles traveled, yet the trucking industry contributes an estimated 42% of Highway Trust Fund revenue.

The latest phase of the project focused on operational impacts and governance considerations of potential future transportation funding solutions for trucks, informed by perspectives from motor carriers, agencies, technology providers, and key stakeholders. NPTC has participated in the industry advisory group for this effort over the past several years.

The report identifies four Key Findings:

1. Registered Weight Remains the Most Practical Basis for Rate Setting.

2. A kWh-Based Fee Is Not a Practical Transportation Funding Solution Under Current Conditions.

3. Flat Fees May Simplify Payment, but They Weaken the Link Between Road Use and Payment.

4. System Design Determines Administrative Cost, Burden, and Acceptance.

The report rejected the idea of using an actual weight-based rate structure. The weight pilot program showed that the data needed to support an actual-weight-based rate structure is not consistently available or verifiable through existing systems and processes. Registered weight is less precise because it does not capture real-time load variation, but for interstate heavy commercial vehicles, it is already documented, relatively stable, and verifiable through existing records.

For electric vehicles, ten states already have kWh-based fee structures. Eight states apply kW-based fees at public charging stations, and five have truck-specific kWh-based fees reported through IFTA (IA, NM, ND, PA, WY). The coalition project conducted a real-world electric truck pilot to examine whether a kWh-based fee could provide a practical basis for future truck funding. The work focused on the availability and reliability of the data needed to support this approach, and whether electricity consumption provides a consistent connection to road use.

The pilot data identified several factors that can affect kWh consumption beyond distance traveled, including weather and temperature, payload and operating profile, route and terrain, speed and driving patterns, driver behavior and familiarity, and vehicle systems and charging conditions. Because of this, kWh consumption is only an indirect proxy for road use. In addition, collecting and collating charging data across systems can be cumbersome, manual, and prone to error.