New highway may be too expensive for Maryland truck drivers

Maryland officials recently announced that Intercounty Connector will improve transportation in the Port of Baltimore, the Maryland Gazette reports.

However, some trucking companies told the news source that the high tolls may hurt the industry in the region. Currently, for a tractor-trailer, the 7-mile trip will cost $10.56 during weekday peak times of 6 am to 9 am and 4 pm to 7 pm. Comparatively, a car or light truck will run them $1.45 during the same time periods.

State officials added that this is its first all-electronic toll road, which is expected to handle 43,000 vehicles per day, 10 percent of which will be tractor-trailers.


"It will make more sense for moving and storage companies who might be paying for three or four workers on the truck by the hour," Louis Campion, president and CEO of the Maryland Motor Truck Association, told the news source. "Companies are going to try it out and evaluate."

Trucking officials said that they will benefit more from the Intercounty Connector easing congestion from other highways. Safety directors may want to enroll their fleets into online truck driver training courses to show them the best routes to use on their run.

By Anna Byrne

New highway may be too expensive for Maryland truck drivers

Monday, February 21st, 2011