Washington D.C., Feb. 9, 2007– Indiana Gov. Mitch Daniels will have some explaining to do. Voters will want to know why he made a decision that was contradictory to how they would have voted, if given the opportunity. The Owner-Operator Independent Drivers Association (OOIDA) conducted a poll of Indiana voters that shows their opinion of privatization is in sharp contrast to the decision made by Gov. Daniels to lease the Indiana Toll Road.

Today at a press conference, a coalition of national organizations representing a full range of highway users, the Americans for a Strong National Highway Network, outlined opposition to privatization of highways. OOIDA’s Executive Vice President Todd Spencer, announced the coalition’s members have been opposed to privatization of highways since it was first proposed. OOIDA took the lead and rallied other organizations to join the fight.

To back up its opposition with relevant data, OOIDA commissioned a post-election survey of Indiana voters from ‘the polling company™, inc./WomanTrend’ after the November 2006 elections. More than 900 voters were asked about privatization of the Indiana Toll Road. Opposition has been shown to be clear and decisive among voters statewide and also in the northern counties hosting the Toll Road. A majority (52 percent) of actual voters voiced displeasure with the long-term lease, with a plurality (35 percent) saying they “strongly” oppose it. The decline in support for the governor is apparently tied closely to the long-term lease of the Indiana Toll Road.

“The media did a good job of talking about the issue in Indiana. Unfortunately for voters, the governor was aware and did a better job of rushing the sale through the Legislature, without the consent of the voters,” says Spencer. “Voters never truly had a say in the process, so come 2008 we'll see what the voters have to say.”

In 2006, OOIDA was a vocal opponent to Gov. Daniels’ 75-year lease of the Indiana Toll Road to an Australian-Spanish consortium. Recently, OOIDA has mounted opposition to Pennsylvania and New Jersey Governors Ed Rendell and John Corzine, who are anxious to sell their states’ infrastructure, including the historic Pennsylvania Turnpike.

“After America’s motoring public paid federal and state taxes to build these roads, they are being sold to private investors to levy another form of tax increase on the American people,” says Spencer. “PPPs should mean, ‘Private companies Playing the Public.’ ”

The Owner-Operator Independent Drivers Association (OOIDA) is the national trade association representing the interests of small-business trucking professionals and professional truck drivers.Small-business truckers (companies operating six or fewer trucks) comprise close to 90 percent of the motor carrier industry. OOIDA was established in 1973 and is headquartered in the greater Kansas City, Mo. area. The Association currently has more than 149,000 members from all 50 states and Canada.

The typical OOIDA member will pay, on average more than $16,000 per truck each year in state and federal highway user fees. Taxes they pay into the federal Highway Trust Fund include a 24.4 cent per gallon federal diesel tax, 12 percent excise taxes on new equipment, an annual Heavy Vehicle Useage Tax, and tire taxes. In addition, truckers must pay state fuel taxes, weight mileage taxes, licensing and registration fees.

The Owner-Operator Independent Drivers Association (OOIDA) is the national trade association representing the interests of small business trucking professionals and professional truck drivers.  Small business truckers (companies operating six or fewer trucks) comprise close to 90% of the motor carrier industry. OOIDA represents more trucking companies and more truck drivers than any other association in that industry. The Association currently has over 149,000 members from all 50 states and Canada.