The Federal Highway Administration has given the state the green light to install tolls on interstate highways, but that’s not stopping truckers from trying to put the brakes on the plan.

Lisa Mullings, president and CEO of NATSO, representing the nation’s truckstops and travel plazas, was featured speaker at a Tuesday rally at the TravelCenters of America in West Greenwich. She said the FHWA approved a memorandum of understanding in September giving the state the authority to toll vehicles.

That seemingly is key to RhodeWorks, the road and bridge repair program approved by the governor and General Assembly, which is hinged on $40 million in truck toll revenues annually.

But Chris Maxwell, president of the Rhode Island Trucking Association, believes the feds dodged answering two key questions that he thinks are core legal issues. Maxwell said the memorandum does not address the state’s intention to toll only trailer trucks, or the plan to apply a maximum daily charge of $20 when some trucks may be only driving through the state while others could rack up hundreds of miles on a given day.

Maxwell expects both those points to be named in a suit brought against the state by the National Association of Truckers.

“They’re not saying,” he said of the FHWA, “you can only toll tractor trailers.” He believes the state is on soft legal ground by targeting one class of vehicle, calling it “discrimination.”

In a press release, Maxwell said federal law generally prohibits new tolls on existing interstate highway lanes.

“In an unprecedented bureaucratic maneuver, RhodeWorks authorizes the Rhode Island Department of Transportation to toll commercial vehicles across bridges within the state using an exemption that allows states to charge tolls for ailing bridges,” reads the release.

Nancy Singer, spokeswoman for the FHWA, in an email Tuesday said agreements for each of the 13 proposed toll locations “simply provide that the toll project(s) meet(s) eligibility requirements under 23 USC 129 (which authorize tolling for purposes of reconstructing Interstate bridges). Also, that RIDOT agreed to comply with the requirements of 23 USC 129 with respect to the toll project and operation of the facility.”

The legality of tolling trucks, which could be the ultimate battleground, took a backseat to politics and the upcoming election. Apart from reiterating past arguments – that the cost of tolls would be passed onto Rhode Islanders; that toll diversion would impact local traffic; that major trucking companies such as UPS would end up looking to relocate; and that the tolls make it difficult to do business in the state and open the door to the tolling of all vehicles – speakers urged voters to target incumbent state lawmakers who voted for the toll at the polls on Nov. 8.

“If your senator or representative voted for this, vote them out … this is a chance to change corruption in this state,” said Rep. Sherry Roberts, R-Dist. 29.

Sen. Leonidas Raptakis, D-Dist. 33, cited the speed at which the RhodeWorks legislation was pushed through the General Assembly in February and his unsuccessful efforts at “time out legislation” so the plan could be fully vetted. Speaking with Maxwell at the end of the press conference, Raptakis said as of Nov. 15 legislators can pre-file legislation for the upcoming legislation and he is looking at a bill to repeal RhodeWorks.

Apart from the costs, Mullings said a “spike in fatal accidents” occurred after Ohio jacked tolls and trucks diverted to local roads. She said the governor reduced the tolls and the cost of fuel to reverse the trend and put trucks back on interstate highways. She sees what is happening in Rhode Island as having impacts nationwide, urging, “stop spreading these tolls like disease across the interstate system.”

Memorandums of understanding were signed by the state and FHHWA for tolls at the following locations: Huntington Avenue Viaduct Bridge, Centerville Road Bridge that carries Interstate 95 over Centerville Road and Toll Gate Road, Louisquisset Pike Bridge that carries Route 146 over Route 116, Teft Hill Trail Bridge that carries Interstate 95 over Teft Hill Trail in Exeter, Wood River Bridge that carries Interstate 95 over Wood River and Mechanic Street, the ramp bridge that carries Interstate 295 over an abandoned future ramp in Johnston, East Street Bridge that carries Interstate 95 over East Street in Pawtucket, Oxford Street Bridge that carries Interstate 95 over Oxford Street in Providence, the Woonasquatucket River Bridge that carries Route 6 over the Woonasquatucket River, the Aqueduct Bridge in Cranston that carries I-295 over the water supply adueduct and the Plainfield Pike Bridge, the Farnum Pike Bridge that carries Route 146 over Route 104 in North Smithfield, the Scott Road Bridge and Leigh Road Bridge in Cumberland that carry I-295 over Scott and Leigh Roads, and the Washington Bridge South that carries eastbound Interstate 195 over the Seekonk River.