Oversize/Overweight Vehicle Permit Fee Study

In Rider 36, the Texas Legislature in the 2012–2013 General Appropriations Act directed the Texas Department of Transportation (TxDOT) to conduct a study on road damage caused by oversized and overweight (OS/OW) vehicles and to provide recommendations for permit fee and fee structure adjustments, which are to be submitted to the Legislative Budget Board and the Governor. TxDOT commissioned Center for Transportation Research and the University of Texas at San Antonio to evaluate the damage that OS/OW vehicles (including exempt vehicles) cause to the transportation infrastructure (including pavements and bridges) along with direct costs imposed by OS/OW vehicles on highway appurtenances (such as signs, traffic signals, and light poles) and other direct costs that other state agencies and local jurisdictions accrue from OS/OW enforcement or management. The project developed methodologies to quantify pavement and bridge consumption rates per mile. The consumption rates were calculated for multiple axle loads and axle configuration and are independent of the commodity being transported. Per mile fees for bridges were also calculated for non-routed loads. In addition to the consumption rates for bridges and pavements due to the effect of axle loads, the researchers developed a new fee schedule that considers costs associated with oversize vehicles that exceed legal width, height, or length for 34 rate categories. These new fees were also calculated based on vehicle miles traveled. Based on the new permit fee structure the research team conducted a revenue analysis by comparing it to FY 2011 permit sales numbers and associated revenue. In FY 2011, the Motor Carrier Division sold 574,578 OS/OW permits that generated just over $111.4 million in permit fee revenue. The revenue based on the new pavement and bridge consumption and operational and safety impact fees is an estimated $521.4. This figure represents an increase of $410 million over actual permit fee revenue reported in FY 2011. The new permit fee structure includes a $10 administrative fee for each permit sold, and a new TxDOT Base Fee of $40 for all permits sold to help fund costs identified that are not currently recovered by existing permit fee revenues. Using the new permit fee structure, the revenue for currently exempt vehicles was estimated to be approximately $150 million. Using the new permit structure, revenue estimates based on FY 2011 permit sales for currently permitted vehicles and proposed new permits for exempt vehicles would be $671.4 million.