CARSON CITY, NV – To help curve the $3.8 billion worth of road work in Nevada, truckers may soon be required to pay a weight-distance tax of 15 cents-per-mile, Land Line Magazine reports. The Nevada Assembly Transportation Committee approved a bill that would tax trucks weighing more than 55,000 pounds, including garbage trucks and cement haulers. The levy could generate $1.3 billion through 2015.

The bill would increase revenue by another $87 million in the same period by tacking on a two percent state tax on car rentals.

Supporters say imposing more tax on the trucking industry is a better way to fund road work than fuel taxes. The charges more accurately reflect the wear and tear on roads caused by individual vehicles.

According to Land Line Magazine, opponents say truckers already pay 40 percent of the fuel taxes and fees that fund transportation in the state. They also say a weight-distance tax would make Nevada the most expensive state within the trucking industry.