Two bills introduced by Missouri state lawmakers target truckers with split speed limits and increased fees and taxes.

SB305, introduced by Sen. Ken Jacob of Columbia, would lower truck speed limits to 65 mph on rural interstates - 5 mph lower than that for cars. Truckers caught going more than 70 mph would pay a minimum fine of $1,000.
Speeding fines aren't the only reason truckers might have to dig into their pockets. The bill also would raise registration fees, trip permits, taxes on diesel fuel and the fee to get or renew a commercial driver's license.
The bill would impose another 3 cents of tax on diesel fuel, for a total of 20 cents per gallon. It would raise registration fees by about 30 percent on commercial motor vehicles. According to the Owner-Operator Independent Drivers Assn., the owner of a truck licensed for 78,000 pounds or more would get hit with more than $500 a year in additional registration fees. Trip permit fees would increase nearly 50 percent, from $10 to $14.50. And the fee for getting a CDL would also jump 50 percent, from $40 to $60. The fee for a duplicate CDL would go from $20 to $30.
A separate bill, SB138, also seeks to reduce the speed limit to 65 mph for trucks on rural interstates. It would limit trucks to 60 mph compared to 65 for cars on rural expressways, and on urban interstates would set the truck limit at 55.
SB138 is sponsored by state Sen. Wayne Goode, who is no stranger to trucking. According to the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, Goode's father owned a medium-size trucking company in St. Louis. Goode made local freight deliveries as a summer job when he was in college, and he owned and operated a Peterbilt dealership for 20 years.
Several bills setting a split speed limit were introduced last year but did not win approval.
George Burruss, president of the Missouri Motor Carrier Assn., told the Post-Dispatch that the organization supports a uniform speed limit, even if it is lower for both trucks and cars.