Greg Abbott finds himself in an election that he did not anticipate. Now he realizes that people have discovered that they had been getting screwed by him, while taking millions of dollars from billionaires to fill his campaign coffers. So here he goes, barking that he is ready to save the day. Maybe we just need to put a cape on him because thus far his bark has no bite.
There Goes Abbott Again, Pretending He Fixed Diesel Prices
Diesel is expensive, Texans are feeling it, and Governor Greg Abbott has declared a disaster. He says farmers and truckers can use red-dyed diesel on Texas roads and haul heavier loads of fuel, agricultural products, and timber. That sounds like action. But how much will it save a trucker who fills up tomorrow?
Red-dyed diesel normally costs less because it is sold without highway fuel taxes. The federal diesel tax is about 24.4 cents a gallon, and the Texas tax is 20 cents. Put them together, and you might expect a saving of roughly 44 cents a gallon. There is one small detail in Abbott’s announcement: his proclamation does not waive the underlying Texas fuel tax. I have not found a federal waiver of the highway fuel tax either. So is that 44 cents a real saving for a truck using the fuel on public roads, or merely a cheaper price at purchase followed by a tax bill?
Then there is the heavier-load promise. Abbott’s waiver allows qualifying trucks up to 95,000 pounds on Texas roads. But ordinary divisible loads on an Interstate remain subject to federal weight rules, generally capped at 80,000 pounds. If a trucker needs I‑10—or the Houston stretches of US 59 that are also I‑69—what good is Abbott’s 95,000-pound announcement for that part of the trip?
And what happens to the roads that can carry those heavier trucks? Weight limits exist for a reason. TxDOT warns that high axle loads make pavement crack and rut sooner, leading to more frequent repairs. Adding axles can spread a load and reduce the damage, but Abbott has offered Texans no calculation showing how much additional wear his order might cause—or who will pay to fix it. Will the savings at the store exceed the cost of repairing the road that delivers the groceries?
None of this means the order does nothing. It opens another source of diesel for road use and changes Texas rules for some loads. It may help some haulers. But Abbott is promising lower costs “on the farm, on the road, and at the store” without giving Texans the numbers needed to check that promise.
So let me ask the governor: How many cents per gallon will a highway trucker actually save after taxes? How many of those 95,000-pound loads can use the Interstate routes freight depends on? What will the heavier loads cost us in road repairs? And how much, if anything, will shoppers save?
Until Abbott answers those questions, this looks like another grand Texas announcement: all hat, while the cattle wait for cheaper diesel and the roads wait for repairs.
