The Oklahoma Trucking Assn. was taken aback by last week's announcement that tolls would increase on the state's turnpikes beginning Jan. 1.

On Dec. 18, the Oklahoma Transportation Authority announced a toll increase of 25%-30% for heavy trucks on state turnpikes. Trucking companies in the state complained that the increase is not only too steep, but that it came virtually without notice, and at a time when trucking companies are already struggling with high fuel prices and an economic slowdown.
According to a report in the Tulsa World, transportation authority executives brushed aside complaints that the hike came without notice. Deputy Director Holly Lowe told the paper that the trucking industry should have known in 1998 that toll increases would be coming as the turnpike system grew. "I don't think there is any new news here," she said. "I think people have forgotten it was coming."
George Tomek, executive director of the Oklahoma Trucking Assn., said last week's announcement caught them off guard. "Neither I, nor anybody else that I know of as a member of the Oklahoma Trucking Assn., agreed three years ago to an increase in turnpike fees," he told the paper.
The association is checking to see if the transportation authority provided proper legal notice before increasing tolls, as well as if any members were given notice of the meeting as a common courtesy to the largest users of the turnpike system.