Monday marked the first weekday since the implementation of the first-of-its-kind congestion pricing program in New York City by Gov. Kathy Hochul, a move that is drawing protests from the Trucking Association of New York.
The program imposed tolls for entering or exiting Manhattan’s “congestion relief zone” starting Sunday. This zone covers streets and avenues at or below 60th Street, excluding the bordering West Side Highway, FDR Drive and Hugh L. Carey Tunnel main roads.
Hochul has said the tolls are designed to unclog street traffic, reduce pollution and better deliver public transit to millions of New Yorkers. Opponents argue the program penalizes residents and small businesses already struggling with high inflation.
The governor put the congestion pricing plan on pause “indefinitely” after it was proposed last May. But it was revived in November with toll prices reduced by 40%.
Under the new program, “small,” one-unit trucks will pay $14.40 to enter the area, while “large” two-unit trucks will be charged $21.60. Regular toll rates apply from 5 a.m. to 9 p.m. on weekdays and 9 a.m. to 9 p.m. on weekends, and a 75% cheaper overnight toll outside those time frames aims to encourage off-hours truck deliveries.
Legal battles
TANY has been one of several vocal opponents of the tolls. The trucking association of over 550 member companies attempted to block the congestion pricing program from going into effect by suing the state government last year, arguing that truck drivers would bear the brunt of the tolls.
The organization continued litigation after the plan was resurrected in November, and it’s involved in ongoing legal proceedings. Several other lawsuits – including one filed in federal court by neighboring New Jersey – have recently lost appeals to block the program from implementation, NorthJersey.com reported.
TANY President Kendra Hems told FreightWaves in an emailed statement Monday that the group is closely monitoring the congestion pricing program’s impact on the trucking industry and New York residents.
“While reducing congestion is a shared goal, we have concerns about the program’s effectiveness and fairness,” Hems said. “The $21.60 per-trip charge for trucks, compared to a once-per-day fee for passenger vehicles, disproportionately burdens the trucking industry, which delivers 90% of goods New Yorkers rely on. Trucks have no choice but to enter the zone as you cannot deliver freight via the subway.”
Hems said TANY is focused on mitigating these impacts to “help keep the city affordable, as increased costs on delivering goods will ultimately affect consumers.”
“We will also closely monitor whether congestion pricing achieves its stated goal of reducing traffic or merely shifts the burden in ways that exacerbate economic challenges,” she said.
But Hochul defended the program after its legal wins.
“Despite the best efforts of the State of New Jersey trying to thwart New York’s ability to reduce congestion on our streets while making long-overdue investments in public transit, our position has prevailed in court on nearly every issue,” she said in a Dec. 30 news release. “This is a massive win for commuters in both New York and New Jersey. Now that the judge has issued his ruling, the program will move forward this weekend with a 40 percent reduction in the originally proposed cost of the toll.”
FreightWaves has reached out to Hochul’s office for additional comment on the tolls.
Hurting small business?
The tolls are affecting TANY Chairman Joe Fitzpatrick’s own business.
The New Jersey native has operated his small delivery business – Lightning Express Delivery Service – in New York for over 20 years now. What started as a business out of his basement has grown to 30 employees operating eight box trucks, three tractor-trailers and several cargo vans.
But that growth is threatened by tolls that he says would add to others already eating up $8,000 a month in operating expenses for his business.
“This was our niche delivering lighting fixtures into New York City,” Fitzpatrick said in a phone interview with FreightWaves. “… I know they tried after hour delivery programs [to reduce toll costs outside of regular hours], but it doesn’t work in the construction trade. You’re talking about bringing in, whether it’s steamfitters to get their deliveries after hours or Sheetrockers, and then you’re talking about people who do live in the building. They’re going to have to hear all that noise? And then you’re also talking about all that expense on the building owner [who’s] going to have to have nighttime security all night long.”
These costs, Fitzpatrick said, will all be passed on to the consumer.
Fitzpatrick said other business owners he’s spoken with have considered moving operations out of New York. While he said that isn’t an option for him – he has his employees and a warehouse in nearby Gardiner that he won’t leave behind – he understands why they would do it.
“There’s all these other unavoidable fines or tickets,” Fitzpatrick said. “If it’s going to cost me a couple hundred dollars to maybe deliver one or two skids, is it really worth it? How do you pass that on to the consumer? Maybe a bigger trucking company like a UPS or a FedEx can withstand that. I know of small companies like myself, and I’ve talked to a lot of owners my size or a little bit bigger [have] all said the same thing: Either they really have to reconsider how they do business in New York, or just not even do it.”
“You just can’t keep kicking people while they’re down,” he continued. “They always say, ‘The USA was built on small business [and] small business is the backbone of America.’ Well guess what? I just got kicked in the back.”
How are you impacted?
Do you live in New York City or drive regularly through the congestion relief zone? FreightWaves is working on another story diving into the impact of New York City’s new congestion pricing plan on business owners and drivers in the area.
Email writer Caleb Revill with your experience and opinions on the tolls at Caleb.Revill@firecrown.com.