Wednesday, February 10, 2010
Saturday, November 28, 2009
French Big Truck eco-tax to be implemented by satellite - Is this in the future for US?
Source:
http://www.cnes.fr/web/CNES-en/7781-gp-truck-eco-tax-to-be-implemented-by-satellite.php
26 juin 2009
Le principe est acquis et la loi est votée : en 2011, conformément aux conclusions du Grenelle de l’environnement, l’Ecotaxe kilométrique s’appliquera aux poids lourds qui transiteront en France. Le CNES apporte son appui technique à la réflexion.
800,000 vehicles affected
The eco-tax for trucks is the application of the user pays principle. The goal is to extend this principle to heavy vehicles of over 3.5 tonnes on main roads other than toll roads,” explains the French ministry for ecology, energy, sustainable development and land planning (MEEDDAT*).
The eco-tax will raise funds for alternative transport infrastructures. But the devil is in the details.
Collection and exploitation by the operator of the parameters required to calculate the tax will prove complex in practice.
The measure will apply to around 800,000 vehicles - including 600,000 registered in France - and 10,000 to 15,000 kilometres of roads. The road network will be divided into sections with different rates constituting the basic tax units.
Tuesday, November 24, 2009
Montana grain growers seek to mediate with Burlington Northern Santa Fe (BNSF) over proposed grain shipping rate hike
Grain growers in central Montana have long complained of being subject to unfair price increases. The request for mediation is the first since the railway signed a January dispute resolution agreement with the Montana Grain Growers Association and the Montana Farm Bureau.
It follows a complaint lodged by a Shelby wheat producer over shipping rates between Shelby and Portland, Ore..
Lola Raska with the Montana Grain Growers Association says the 3-cent increase, to 76-cents per bushel, would apply to 5 to 7 million bushels of grain annually. It could cost farmers up to $210,000 a year.
