Anger at highway toll price increase

Forced to deal with the constant increase in fuel prices, motorists will now have to battle with a toll fee spike next Monday on the Edward Seaga Highway, formerly the North-South Highway.

"An increase in the toll rate at this time is a further assault on the already challenging situation that truckers face in relation to the cost of operations. We believe that at a time when the economy should be looking to reopen, we should not have placed further impediment and challenges for the people who are actively involved in production and trying to move our economy forward. We are disappointed with the increase at this time," immediate past president of the All-Island Truckers Association, Leonard Green, said.

He told THE STAR that in light of the increase, the association is reiterating the call for further vehicle classification, to allow for equity among the users of the toll plazas. Currently, truckers pay $3750 from Caymanas to Mammee Bay.

"There needs to be two more layers of classes travelling on the toll. It cannot be right for a small truck to be paying the same rate as the truck of unspecified size, meaning, you could have a trailer pulling another trailer paying the same rate as a small five tonne truck," he said. Green suggested the authorities could base toll fees on the number of axles on the motor vehicle.

"You see if you have a little car, which is class one and you put a trailer on it, as long as it is a car, no matter how long the trailer is, it's just a car rate you pay," Green said. He added that there needs to be protection for truckers as it relates to fuel costs, licensing and permit costs and carrier licensing. He cautioned that some truckers may opt out of taking the highway, but the alternate route, Mount Rosser, is not suitable. "So, we are just kind of forced into accepting it (the toll increase) and that is partially why it is so painful," he said.