Eroad has been selected to participate in the United States' first multi-state truck pilot scheme to explore the feasibility of a Mileage-Based User Fee (MBUF) along the nation's eastern seaboard.

The study is one of several looking at potential alternatives to the fuel-based tax that's the mainstay of transport infrastructure funding in the US and has been set up by the I-95 Corridor Coalition – a partnership of transportation agencies, toll authorities, public safety officials and related organisations in the trial region.

The major vehicle corridor through the eastern states is the I-95, which stretches more than 3000 kilometres, from Maine in the north to Florida in the south. The region generates peak daily traffic of 300,000 vehicles, 31,000 of them heavy trucks, which account for 5.4 billion tonnes of freight every year.

Over half of the I-95's length is through urban areas, 60% of which are currently classed as heavily congested, with this projected to reach 100% by 2035 unless improvements are made.

For the $NZ2.4million pilot programme, the I-95 Corridor Coalition has partnered with the Delaware state to explore the feasibility of replacing fuel taxes with a distance-based user fee (similar to NZ's RUCs) in a multi-state environment (whereas previous distance-based usage approaches have primarily focused on a single state).

The pilot will see 50 vehicles equipped with EROAD in-vehicle hardware for six months. The system will record accurate distance data and apply applicable formulas for a truck-based MBUF as prescribed by the programme's steering committee, which includes the American Trucking Associations. EROAD will produce dummy invoices, demonstrating payments to appropriate agencies within the Coalition.