DIEPPE, NB — The Government of New Brunswick has implemented new fees for all International Fuel Tax Agreement registrants, announced the Atlantic Provinces Trucking Association (APTA).

According to the APTA, carriers will now have to pay an annual registration fee ranging from $25 to $1,500. “This represents a 500 percent increase from previous years,” APTA said in a press release.

(Editor’s Note: APTA didn’t specify which years, but Today’s Trucking is waiting to hear back.)

“This has hit the trucking community pretty hard and at a time where diesel costs are at their highest in years and the economy is still recovering,” said APTA executive director, Jean-Marc Picard.

“What can you say, they don’t seem to realize that the trucking industry is one of the largest employers in New Brunswick and if we keep getting more money grabbing costs from the provincial government thrown at us, eventually it will catch up to us” he stated.

“The government is trying to stabilize the deficit and they need to find ways to generate revenues but trucking has been hit twice in two years. First the diesel tax increase and now these new fees.”

More as it develops.