Major North American businesses are moving quickly to deal with the looming impact of tolls on their transportation costs, according to ALK Technologies, provider of map and location-based technologies for the transportation industry.

“We have seen wide-scale adoption of a new ALK tolls management product in the year since its introduction. This clearly shows the concern many companies have with the rapid rise of toll costs, particularly in the Northeast,” said Ed Siciliano, vice president, sales and marketing for ALK.
ALK|FleetSuite Tolls software is a comprehensive software solution that tracks virtually all tolls on U.S. roads, bridges and tunnels, including cash tolls and discounted toll programs such as E-ZPass, I-Pass and TollTag.
“For example, a five-axle tractor trailer going from a central New Jersey distribution center to Long Island and back already pays $140 in tolls alone,” Siciliano said. Tolls for the round trip of only 110 miles include those imposed on the New Jersey Turnpike, the George Washington Bridge, and the Whitestone Bridge or Throgs Neck Bridge between Long Island and the Bronx.
“Multiply that $140 by the number of trucks making the trip daily, many from the same carrier or private fleet, and you see the problem,” he said.
According to the U.S. Department of Transportation, toll receipts at state-run facilities more than doubled from 1994 to 2004 to nearly $7 billion. That number will soon look small if current efforts to toll existing Interstates succeed. Among those states hoping to impose tolls on Interstates are Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Illinois, Indiana, Missouri, Ohio, Oregon, Texas, Utah and Virginia.
“Tolls have traditionally been dealt with by reimbursing drivers who produce receipts or by using electronic toll collection services like E-ZPass,” Siciliano said. “Both are subject to errors that can prove costly over time.
Tolls are not always monitored as carefully as they should be. In many instances, tolls are not figured into costs or adequately planned for; they are often absorbed by fleets,” Siciliano said. “But that strategy – or lack of one – won’t work much longer. Tolls will become a very serious item in every ground transportation budget.”