The New Jersey Motor Truck Association said increasing the state's tax on diesel fuel would put many truckers out of business, the Associated Press reported on December 10. In November, Gov. James McGreevey's Blue Ribbon Commission recommended that the state's 14.5-cent gasoline tax be nearly doubled. Anna Farneski, a spokeswoman for state Transportation Commission Jack Lettiere, said the recommended increase also would apply to the state's current 17.5-cent tax on diesel fuel, the AP said. The tax increase would finance the state Transportation Trust Fund, which funds highway improvements and mass transit projects. The association said the increase would be too steep, and combined with other recent cost hikes, would result in the loss of some of the state's 250,000 trucking jobs and 350,000 warehouse and distribution jobs.
0 Comments