Any truckers living or driving in Illinois are in for a nasty New Year’s surprise as the Illinois Tollway tolls skyrocketed by 40% on January 1st.
The bad news doesn’t stop there however. In addition to the 40% hike this year, truckers will see two more 10% toll increases over the next two years. Then, in 2018, automatic tolls hikes will be indexed to inflation.
While there’s no toll hike for regular passenger cars this time around, the truck-only fare increases are coming three years after a similar toll hike for four-wheelers.
The increase in tolls is part of an effort to pay for the largest rebuilding and expansion program in the history of the highway system. The $12 billion Move Illinois program is aiming to expand tollways, interstates, and other high-volume roads in Illinois over the next 15 years.
The executive director of the Illinois Tollway Board of Directors, Kristi Lafleur, claims that the toll hikes will actually be saving truckers money. The increased tolls will “ensure that our roads will safely accommodate more trucks while relieving congestion, potentially saving the trucking industry millions of dollars in lost time and fuel.”
Next Story: Trucker Wins $2.2m Jackpot on Christmas Day
Source: chicago tribune
Image Source: hntb
Good grief! And I thought I had problems challenging citations from the Illinois Tollway falsely accusing me of not paying my toll when driving through I-94. Outrageous!!!
“while potentially saving”?? What was the last government agency to actually show any of the “potential savings” they claimed would come from a cost increase? (“Jeopardy” theme plays on an endless loop as we wait for an answer.)
So called time savings is all relative. At the price we pay for tolls not only in Illinois but surrounding states especially East. Time savings never provides anything significant to account for the toll expenditures. Even in Chicago area, more issues causing delays on tollways then other free roads. Rates for Chicago freight go up, trucking companies pay more tolls, and consumers pay not only more for goods and services, but also pay more for tolls to go to work. Nobody, saves, that’s a crock.
How true….well except for the greedy politicians, and fat cats, they all get the money….they are not using it on the roads, I’ve been on that bumpy bone jarring toll roads since MY. Now they have exit and entrance ramps closed to force you to stay on toll roads. How the he’ll can Indians collect tolls when federal
Monroe’s paid for the road in the first place? Sounds like they are in my pocket too much. I hate micro-managers especially since they can’t manage themselves
If you believe this toll hikes will save you money, you’re probably still waiting for “the trickle down effect.”
I drive in Illinois all the time. The products I deliver in this state are going to start to raise in price to cover the increased cost of delivering these products. Has the Illinois toll board planned for that? California surely did not.
As a Illinoian, this will just push more and more trucks onto secondary roads. Rates, don’t keep up with these types of increases. You pick up in Chicago and go East and pretty much go broke paying tolls if you want to get anywhere in good time. Lot of freight I haul never allows me the luxury of more time to take non toll alternatives. So I basically don’t take freight going East. Yes, the tollway in Illinois has provided many expansion projects but we have been paying tolls ever since its inception.
At that time the case was made that these toll roads would not always be toll roads. They lied of course.
I get my best rates going east from Chicago. Toll increase of 40% will mean an increase of about $40 for me. I surely will not pass on $3/mile freight because of the extra $40.
You’re absolutely correct about pushing trucks onto secondary roads. I got to know US 20 real well throughout the midwest back when you could only go 55 MPH on the Ohio Turnpike and Illinois bumped their tolls dramatically like they’re doing again now.
Stop working cheap…If you can’t do it and make money…you can’t do it…After all you can sit at the house and not make money..
I wonder if these tax hikes are because of Walgreen headquarters moving out of the country which was based in Illinois??? People in general need to stop shopping at their stores I never shop at their stores. Why do trucker’s have to pay higher for this? This taxing crap is out of control and passing it down to the American people whether business owner or resident.
We constantly hear things like this from the government, (local, state, or fed) & usually its one being run by Democrats. Whatever hair-brained idea they have at the moment is a good one because it either “saves money” in some convoluted way, or its “good for the people”.
I have yet to see the logic in raising tolls to save money. Save money for WHO? The politicians that advocate for things like this are hooked on the money, just like an addict is hooked on drugs. They can’t help themselves. Most of them can’t bring themselves to cut any spending, for fear the cut will have an effect on THEIR constituents, and they won’t get re-elected.
The truckers paying tolls without a second thought are what these bureaucrats are hoping for. Just pay it and move on.
Well, I say enough is enough.
I vow to NEVER pay another toll in Illinois. I don’t care if I have to drive 100 mi out of the way.
I WILL NEVER PAY ANOTHER TOLL IN ILLINOIS.
Load late? Tough. Let the shipper know what the situation is up front.
More driving hours required? So be it.
It’s time to take a stand, people. Refuse to drive on these toll roads. Refuse loads that will take you to Illinois and other states that impose sky-high tolls on truckers.
Just like in the US Congress, the only way we’re going to get the politicians attention is to hit THEM in the pocketbook.
Because THAT is what they’re doing to us. And they do it because they think we’re stupid.
Well. I, for one, will not be ‘Grubered’ anymore.
IL is actually one of the best states for freight. You vow to never go there? No problem! More freight for me.
More bs from desperate for cash to spend illinois. Typical for the a@#holes to tell us theyre doing us a favor by doing it
The only time being saved. Is the time it takes corrupt politicians to steal our money.
It’s good that the trades are working full steam ahead on the Illinois Toll Road improvements. But I was wondering what this is going to cost . At least it’s money spent on improvements we can see .
I’m one to avoid tolls for the most part and run in the middle of the night when I can make it work. I’ve always avoided the area unless the money is just too good. Now, they are making sure our prices have to go up and the costs trickle down, or we operate at a lower profit margin, etc. I’ll just stay out of the Chicago area altogether, the whole state for that matter.
I read after the first huge fuel spike a few years back that some 10,000 companies across the country went out of business, including many owner operators and small family carriers. The company I was affiliated with at the time lost $70k+ in one month after weathering that storm. The powers that be are continuing their never ending game of robbing the poor to feed their spending addiction. That destructive machine that is out of control and will hurt anyone and everyone to satisfy their greed.
I really don’t mind paying tolls. I stand firmly on the rates that I charge I will go anywhere, toll or not. Just make sure you charge enough and you’ll be fine.
Illinois pulled a similar stunt about twelve years ago. As a result I stopped using the 494 and took the scenic route instead.
The toll roads suck at the rates we’re paying currently. Illinois can’t pour a smooth overpass or slab of concrete save their life. ANY bridge on the system will damn near toss ya in the next lane, so much for a “safer” toll way. They have secret relationships with certain contractors im sure. The “quality” of the toll ways will not get any better. Look at the BRAND NEW stretch of 90 between the city and Rockford, it’s like a wash board! Illinois is corupt, always has been, always will be. And Obama didn’t leave that mindset behind when he left either. Wonder why he spends so much of his time in Chicago. …
Now’s a great time to move your business to Indiana, lower taxes, only one toll road, and a much better place to live overall!
These people think I’m driving a 74-foot-long ATM.
All this increase will do is boost truck traffic through towns, which the freeway was supposed to put an end to.
I’ll bet Rte 30 gets a lot of traffic increases this year.
Indexing the tolls to inflation? I don’t think they’ve thought this through very well.
Oh right! “Politicians”& “thinking”.
The good news is when I finally get my .75/mile? Milk will be $40/gal and a Big Mac will set you back $80.
Ya let the truckers pay for it all its not like we pay for everything else already that has to do with highway projects, and they say why do truckers think that they own the roads, BECAUSE WE DO!!!!
It will save truckers time and money in the long run? That is a stretch. America built the Alaska-Canada highway in 1942-43, all 1500 miles, in 18 months using 1930’s technology. Today, modern road crews, using 21st century technology, cannot complete a simple road intersection or a two mile stretch of road in the same time frame. And Illinois ranks near the top in starting road projects that many road construction workers can count on to carry them thru to retirement. All the while, we get hit with a myriad of 45 mph speed zones and reduced lanes while those crews take their sweet time and milk the system. And the cycle will repeat itself.
all this and you cant find a place to park on the toll road ! what a bunch of hacks in ill.
The Illinois tollway is a self perpetuating extortion racket that was supposed to be paid off 60 years ago. Just another transfer of wealth from the great unwashed to an entrenched beuracracy and politically connected contractors.
Illinois politicians seem to think that they can dig themselves out of the massive debt they’ve created and maintain the system of corruption they’ve enjoyed simply by increasing taxes. They apparently haven’t noticed that Illinois has the worst economy in the midwest and shows no sign of getting better. They may not have killed the goose that lays those golden eggs but they’ve got it on life support.
With the cost of fuel declining and tolls going up, it is starting to make economic sense to take the hit on out of route miles and avoid the tollway much more than I have in the past and I’m guessing a lot of other drivers are thinking the same way. Could be this increase was ill timed. I sincerely hope they lose money on the deal.
“The increased tolls will “ensure that our roads will safely accommodate more trucks while relieving congestion…”
Right! By pushing trucks onto secondary roads and I-94, we will see less congestion on the toll roads! Yay! Win-win! Except of course for those who have to dodge these tolls, and everybody else on those other roads. But, let’s look at the bright side – this only adversely affects poor and working people.
Wow. Again as always the four wheelers get to ride on the coat tails of the truckers. We bring them the things they need, and we have to take all of the burden away from their “tedious lives”. When is enough “enough”? When do we finally quit bending over for everyone else and spelling RUN. It’s bad enough that we pretty much pay 75% of all of the expenses, and get 99.9% of the blame when something goes wrong. Yet everyone has their hands out for more and more of our hard earned money.
I am married to a trucker and he is not happy with this, but he understands. The infrastructure in the U.S. is crumbling and desperately needs to be maintained. If there are no roads to drive on, we are all in trouble. The issue that I see as major is the fact that the politicians who have been mismanaging the federal highway use funds should be put in jail.
Also… these roads are not actually managed by a United States entity, do they get use taxes to upgrade their road at all? If they do and this road is for foreign profit only, no one should drive on it and we should allow it to crumble. It is unconscionable that any American roadway would be managed by a foreign entity.
illinois toll roads suck suck suck
taking my daughter to rockford illinois from michigan totally sucked driving though the criminal state of illinois. having to stop every 10-15 miles & pay for these stupid tolls was a joke. i hate this state & will do my best NOT to visit it for this criminal reason alone. the tolls cost me more than the gas for my car!!!
” Kristi Lafleur, claims that the toll hikes will actually be saving truckers money” That is why this state is broke, because of the morons like Kristi. What a disgrace