MENU
SEARCHA bipartisan pair of House Representatives invoked the spirit of conservative champion Ronald Reagan to push for a fuel tax increase to revive the Highway Trust Fund. Reps. Earl Blumenauer, D-Ore., and Tom Petri, R-Wisc., called for passage of a bill to raise the tax and quoted from Reagan’s 1982 call to do the same.
Reps. Earl Blumenauer, D-Ore., (right) and Tom Petri, R-Wis., called for passage of a bill to raise the tax and quoted from Reagan’s call to do the same.
A bipartisan pair of House Representatives invoked the spirit of conservative champion Ronald Reagan to push for a fuel tax increase to revive the Highway Trust Fund.
Reps. Earl Blumenauer, D-Ore., and Tom Petri, R-Wis., called for passage of a bill to raise the tax and quoted from Reagan’s call to do the same.
“We simply cannot allow this magnificent [Interstate] system to deteriorate beyond repair,” Reagan said in 1982 in a radio address on the need for the tax hike. “Common sense tells us that it’ll cost a lot less to keep the system we have in good repair than to let it crumble and then have to start all over again. Good tax policy decrees that wherever possible a fee for a service should be assessed against those who directly benefit from that service.”
Less than two months later Reagan signed the Surface Transportation Assistance Act of 1982, which raised the gasoline tax from 4 cents to 9 cents a gallon.
Blumenauer has introduced a bill that would raise gasoline and diesel taxes by 15 cents over three years and index it to inflation.
Petri, who is retiring from Congress this year, said he is cosponsoring Blumenauer’s bill “because we need a first-rate transportation system and the responsible thing to do is pay for it.”
American Trucking Associations joined a chorus of support for the bill.
“Underinvestment in highways is an enormous burden on the trucking industry, raising the cost of moving freight and undermining the reliability of a logistics system that is critical to our nation’s competitiveness,” said ATA President and CEO Bill Graves in a statement.
“ATA continues its call for additional investment in highway projects made possible by this new revenue will significantly improve the safety, reliability and efficiency of the trucking industry, to the benefit of all Americans.”
There is some support for a fuel tax hike in the Senate – Democrat Tom Carper of Delaware is a proponent – but it would be a heavy lift in this lame duck session of Congress. The tax committees have not held hearings and Congress is struggling even to pass funding legislation for federal programs through the rest of the fiscal year.
When the unexpected happens, how you react to, and deal with operational blind spots is critical. Here’s how to keep you recovery on track, when nothing is normal.
Read More →
As fleets adopt artificial intelligence for routing, maintenance, and load matching, new security risks are emerging. Learn where the vulnerabilities are and how to put the right controls in place.
Read More →
The long-awaited registration system promises a single portal — and tighter fraud controls.
Read More →
CargoNet reports fewer supply chain crime events to start 2026. But losses hold steady as organized crime shifts tactics toward impersonation schemes and high-value goods.
Read More →
Heavy Duty Trucking is searching for forward-looking leaders at trucking fleets as nominations for HDT’s Truck Fleet Innovators 2026. Deadline is May 15.
Read More →
Cargo theft rings plant operatives as drivers inside legitimate, fully vetted carriers, then execute coordinated thefts that look like a traditional straight theft from the outside.
Read More →
A modest sequential increase capped the strongest quarterly performance in years, signaling continued freight momentum in early 2026.
Read More →
More than 300 carriers across 26 states have been sent to collections as the Ohio Turnpike cracks down on toll evasion and delinquent payments.
Read More →
The American Transportation Research Institute will examine driver coaching, regulatory impacts — including the "Beyond Compliance" concept —and weather disruptions that shape trucking operations.
Read More →
Fleet Advantage's Brian Antonellis says it's time for fleets to get back to the fundamentals of good maintenance practices. And that includes replacing older, inefficient equipment.
Read More →
