Truckers in Connecticut are upset about a large increase in the state’s diesel fuel tax.
Many states have been looking to fuel tax revenues to help shore up ailing transportation budgets in the face of a lackluster economy, but Connecticut’s 44-percent increase takes the cake.

Effective Aug. 1, the state’s fuel tax will jump 8 cents, from 18 cents per gallon to 26 cents.
A spokesman for the Motor Transport Assn. of Connecticut told the Associated Press that the tax increase was included in the state budget deal at the last minute. “There was never a bill to increase this tax and there never was a public hearing on it,” said Michael J. Riley, president of the association.
Riley also questioned whether the increase would actually raise the $25 million in extra revenue projected by state officials. The state increased the diesel tax four times between 1987 and 1991, and fuel sales dropped 12.3 percent as truckers avoided buying fuel in the state. When the fuel tax was cut in 1991, Riley told the AP, fuel sales climbed and actually resulted in more tax revenue.
Several small trucking company and truckstop owners told the AP that the new tax will hurt their businesses. State Rep. James Amann also spoke out against the increase, calling the idea “boneheaded.”