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How well the project appears to be moving forward and tolls will likely be lower than in previous proposals. They are still have a big impact on our area.
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Trucking companies in Mobile⁽¹⁾ and Baldwin County will bear the brunt of rising transportation costs, eventually trickling down to consumers.
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NBC 15 Cory Pippin is live tonight with a look at how trucking tolls will end up costing you, even if you never crossed the new bridge, Cory.
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Greg, Kym⁽²⁾, Local Truckers often crossed the bridge multiple times each day when company I spoke to say this toll rate will cost them drastically more every year.
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The at 10 Mobile River Bridge is a critical thoroughfare for truckers delivering goods across the country.
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But while some may make the trip on occasion, drivers for local businesses like the Baldwin Transfer Company and Chickasaw do it every day.
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We travel over the Bay at least 3500 times a year. In turn, we have to travel back. That means 7000 trips per year.
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Brad Latham, executive vice president at Baldwin transfer, says the replacement project is desperately needed to improve safety and reduce congestion.
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And while he's glad a truck-only toll is no longer planned, news from today's mobile MPO⁽³⁾ meeting, placing a truck told between $15 and $18, is still daunting.
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$15 toll on the low end will be somewhere over $100,000 per year. Anything that's impactful is $100,000. Has to be addressed and ultimately will be passed down to the end consumer.
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Anything that drives up costs. We're filling those inflationary pressures now, this will add to it.
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Mark Colson, Alabama Trucking Association president, says the new proposal is headed in the right direction with lower toll costs, and both truckers and motorists paying their fair share.
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But there are still questions. but how much is actually going to go to pay for the project? That's one of the big criticisms of tolls many times.
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With all the administration fees and the in the interest etc. So few of those dollars actually pay for the project.
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The industry is already facing driver shortages and the supply chain crisis increasing the burden on truckers.
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How long that lasts and how long the bridge project takes to complete and finance are additional concerns.
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It's hard for us to go back to our customers and let them know this is the timeline for the inflated prices where this is how can interrupt our service or anything along those lines.
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In the end, truckers say a new bridge will be hugely beneficial to both the industry as well as consumers.
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They also applaud the MPO's demand that routes like the Cochrane Bridge and the Causeway remain free to use.