Tolls are just a way of life for a lot of commuters these days, and they can certainly add up, depending on how much and how far one has to commute. Even those that purchase passes or memberships to secure some sort of discount wind up having to pay the price of traveling on certain roads, with that money going to precisely the same place, too. However, it seems as if some freshly built Ford Super Duty trucks are circumventing bridge tolls, and a few residents aren’t too happy about it.
According to Wave 3 News, at least some Ford Super Duty trucks rolling off the line at the Kentucky Truck plant are being stored across state lines in Indiana, crossing the east end bridge to get there. Trouble is, the toll service for that particular bridge operates via license plate readers or transponders, either charging folks that have a membership and account automatically, or sending a bill to those that don’t. As one might imagine, these brand new Ford Super Duty pickups don’t yet have license plates, meaning they’re not paying the toll.
According to this report, a number of contractor convoys of Ford Super Duty trucks are crossing back and forth over the east end bridge on a regular basis, with many being stored temporarily at Jeff Boat before they’re delivered to dealers and customers. In fact, during just a short surveillance stint, they counted 126 pickups crossing the bridge, which adds up to $657 in tolls. There are far more circumventing the tolls on a regular basis, however, which means lost revenue that would have otherwise gone to bridge maintenance and repairs.
Regardless, the parties involved don’t seem to be concerned, as Ford stated that it hasn’t received any sort of notice for moving pickups across the bridge without paying tolls, and the state noted that these types of claims are the responsibility of law enforcement. As for police, well, they suggested that the toll company can file a complaint, after which it’s up to the state police to get involved. It’s unclear is anything will actually come of these concerns, but perhaps one day, vehicles will automatically pay tolls, if a recently-filed Ford patent comes to fruition.
Comments
That locale just needs to get over it.
Tolls are unconstitutional and ignorant. We are forced to pay unconstitutional taxes on everything including roads. This is crap and should be Illegal to collect tolls period. We are not a free people anymore
Some people as just idiots !!!
Especially the News Media for even making a story out of this ! Drive by Media as Rush Limbaugh used to say . Create a story out of nothing, put it out there, and then walk away to the next nothing story.
Do they not realize or even consider how much The Kentucky Truck Plant and Louisville Assembly Plants contribute to the local economy and how many jobs are created within these two plants !
Also, Jeff Boat has been closed for years now, and I am sure Ford is paying to use the lots to store the trucks.
You cannot fix STUPID !
Exactly Dave! This is the dumbest story I’ve ever read! Must be a real slow news cycle this week\month cause this is not news and in fact it’s just plain stupid to think a company like Ford would need to pay tolls to store a vehicle that’s not even sold yet! Tolls are for the new OWNERS(or lesees) of said vehicles to contribute to the roads upkeep, paving, DOT workers salaries, snow removal, etc, etc…not for the manufacturer to pay! Unbelievable stupidity here! What a ridiculous waste of time, space and energy!
Hopefully it’s riverlink good they get the shaft they have shady practices anyway.
Yet nothing is done about people who cover their plates and do it intentionally
Who cares? Nobody should be paying any tolls in order to travel anywhere within our country. These are public roads in which our Constitution has guaranteed us legal citizens, the “Right” to travel freely on.
Wow! It must be a real slow news cycle! This ‘article’ is just plain dumb, and definitely not ‘news’!
Sing along with me…”the wheels on the trucks aren’t on the ground, on the ground, on the ground! The wheels on the trucks aren’t on the ground, all day long!”