I’ve heard this before and if it is true I would be in favor of adjusting gas taxes on commercial vehicles to cover the cost of road maintenance. However, $0.10/mile sounds excessive and punitive and inflationary for all consumers.

I would love to see some data to support your claim.

Large trucks pay higher fees and require inspection

Common knowledge that the extra taxes and fees paid by trucks don't cover the cost of the damage they do.

Per this source [0] it appears you are correct. Trucks contribute 99% of wear and tear on the roads but pay only 35% of the cost.

My take is that cars/pickups/suvs are overpaying by a lot and commercial trucks are underpaying by a lot.

My biggest concern is that taxes, like inflation, only ever seem to go up, never down.

In this case I would be in favor of correcting this inequality if we reduce gas taxes for standard vehicles while increasing taxes on commercial trucks, but given their track record I suspect governments will never reduce taxes, only increase them.

[0] https://truecostblog.com/2009/06/02/the-hidden-trucking-indu...

Personal vehicles are a luxury, why shouldn't they pay relatively more than commercial traffic?

In America personal vehicles are a necessity unless you live in the core of a city with adequate public transit of which there are only a handful.

They are a necessity if you live in a small town, the suburbs, a rural area, an area with extreme weather, have a family with young children, etc.

* In the US, 93% of households have access to a personal vehicle [0].

* 77.3% of respondents think owning a car is necessary [0]

If we increase taxes on personal vehicles it would disproportionately impact lower income workers who can barely afford to get by as it is. Forcing a single mom on a low income such that she could no longer afford to drive would tax her 10’s of hours every week resulting in untold hardship. It would be a disaster.

What you are advocating would only work if we invested trillions of dollars in transit infrastructure.

Taxation or more debt isn’t enough to pay for that transformation without absolutely destroying the economy and the quality of life of hundreds of millions of Americans.

Personal vehicles are only a luxury if you live in a fantasy.

[0] https://www.thezebra.com/resources/research/car-ownership-st...

Large trucks do things like delivery food to the grocer next to your apartment so that you can live. The road is a public good. Sometimes the tax we pay funds something we don't really use, and sometimes we use more than our tax adds up to. If you have a better system, make it happen.