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Truckers fighting to abolish Oregon’s weight-distance tax have been forced to concede defeat because of sky-high gasoline prices and fierce opposition from the American Automobile Association.

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A coalition of business groups led by the Oregon Trucking Associations had launched a multi-million dollar public relations campaign to persuade voters to approve a road funding package. The package included a gasoline tax increase and replacement of the weight-distance tax with a diesel fuel tax and higher truck registration fees.

However, the continued opposition of a majority of voters to the package, known as Measure 82, led OTA and its allies to admit they could not win. OTA vowed to continue to pursue elimination of the weight-distance tax, perhaps, through legal action similar to what recently led to the downfall of the same kind of tax system in neighboring Idaho ("Idaho Tax Nears Repeal; Registration Fee Set to Rise," 4-10, p. 1).

“We just couldn’t move the polls because of the incredibly high cost of gas in Oregon coupled with less-than-truthful advertising by AAA,” said Michael G. Moises, president of OTA.

For the full story, see the Apr. 17 print edition of Transport Topics. .