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A bus company’s legal argument has forced the Oregon Department of Transportation to stop shutting down truckers who fail to pay the state’s weight-distance tax.

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Instead, ODOT is increasing debt collection measures. It also will require carriers that fail to pay the weight-distance tax to buy temporary credentials and prepay the tax before entering the state. Violators could face a $295 fine.

State officials think the new system may be an improvement, but the Oregon Trucking Associations contends tax evasion will soar without the authority to shut down trucks.

The policy change got started when Pierce Pacific Stages of Portland, Ore., failed to file a weight-distance tax report and was ordered by the state to shut down but kept on running.

For the full story, see the June 26 print edition of Transport Topics. .