Toll Roads

codgerbill · 06-29-2008, 04:20 AM

I am not sure if this is the correct forum..but....
I am doing some route planning for an upcomming trip from Michigan to Pennsylvania. I did a route from the AAA website with no restrictions and then using an avoid toll roads restriction. I have been searching the Ohio and Pennsylvania Turnpike websites and I have not found a difinite answer as to what class my coach is. I think it is class 4 but I am wondering if the tow vehicle is used to consider the weight rateing for class type? I am also wondering if there is an extra charge for the tow vehicle?

codgerbill · 06-29-2008, 04:20 AM

I am not sure if this is the correct forum..but....
I am doing some route planning for an upcomming trip from Michigan to Pennsylvania. I did a route from the AAA website with no restrictions and then using an avoid toll roads restriction. I have been searching the Ohio and Pennsylvania Turnpike websites and I have not found a difinite answer as to what class my coach is. I think it is class 4 but I am wondering if the tow vehicle is used to consider the weight rateing for class type? I am also wondering if there is an extra charge for the tow vehicle?

Kyle241 · 06-29-2008, 04:27 AM

Sorry I can't respond on the weight class but I can tell you they charge extra for the tow vehicle.

Ptribbey · 06-29-2008, 04:30 AM

It has been my experience with toll roads that they charge by the number of axles. A motorhome with toad would be considered 4 axles (without tag axle).

John_Canfield · 06-29-2008, 04:52 AM

We were in that corridor last summer - you are going to drop over $20 at some toll plazas. That was an expensive few days of travel.

I never could figure out what class we were, the important number was how much the toll collector said we owed, so we always kept about $100 in cash handy for toll road days.

Rocket Heart · 06-29-2008, 05:52 AM

I have traveled the Ohio Turnpike numerous times. To my best recollection we were a class 3 without the towed and class 4 with it.

I am facing the same thing going west = headed to Mt. Rushmore and then Yellowstone - Ohio TP - Indiana TP - Illinois toll road - YIKES!!

codgerbill · 06-29-2008, 06:41 AM

Thanks for the replys. I have the option of getting on the troll road in Toledo and taking it to close to Youngstown and then hopping on the FREEway of I-80 and then on to the Lancaster area as versus staying on the Ohio troll road to the Pa troll road. Methinks thats gonna be a DUH type of decision.

FleetMan · 06-29-2008, 10:35 AM

Avoid the toll roads all the way. Take 20 and 18 down to the Akron area, I-77/76 and I-80 east to the Milton, PA area and then south to Harrisburg and on to Lancaster.

Frank P. Martin · 06-29-2008, 12:00 PM

On the PA Turnpike, each axle is weighed as you pass through the toll booth. Your weight class is determined by the sum of all the axle weights.

codgerbill · 06-29-2008, 01:21 PM

Fleetman,
I looked at the route you suggested.It looks good and the only question I have left is one of the nature of those roads (20 &18). Are they mostly 4 lane or 2 lane roads?

Frank P. Martin · 06-29-2008, 06:13 PM

Hmmmm...

I went out to the PA-Turnpike's toll calculation page this evening and tried putting in my vehicle class (2) and the number of axles (4) as I'm billed as a class (2) on my E-ZPass. I've never weighed my combination but by my estimates, I believe that I'm well under 15,000 pounds. The toll calculator, however, keeps changing my vehicle class from a (2) to a (3) and charging me at the higher rate.

I'm going to send and email to the PA Turnpike to find out why I can't calculate my toll for a 4 axle, class 2 vehicle.

I'll post their response when I receive it.

Ken Roberts · 06-30-2008, 03:51 PM

If you think the tolls are bad wait until you see the fuel prices. In NJ the Turnpike is kept competitive to what is going on in the local area. This is not the case on the PA Turnpike where they can gouge you 20-40 cents over and above what the local price is, which is really no bargain. We travel between TN and New England, and I always plan fuel purchases so as to totally exclude WV, MD, PA, NY, and CT. Fortunately, we have a 150 gallon tank and such planning is really not that difficult.

You would think the 5 states mentioned above would at least have superior roads given their exorbitant fuel prices. Not necessarily true as you can get beat to death in PA, NY, and CT. I think NY and CT have an ongoing battle as to who can have the worst roads, Ken, '04 DSDP...

historyljc · 06-30-2008, 04:29 PM

Flying J in Knoxville is $4.48 a gallon for diesel. Also true of some places in South Carolina. Some places in New York are $5.00 (OK - $4.999). Maybe they have better quality fuel in New York.

Frank P. Martin · 07-01-2008, 05:35 PM

I often buy diesel on the PA Turnpike because it's usually cheaper than what the filling stations charge in the Pittsburgh area. When I went to Cape May, NJ last month, I paid $4.85 when I left Pittsburgh but I saw diesel on the PA Turnpike for only $4.77.

Lindsay Richards · 07-02-2008, 04:04 PM

Going out of your way to avoid tolls can cause you to use additional fuel and more than compensate of the saved tolls. When going thru the toll booth just tell the attendant to ask the guy behind you not to follow so close and save that part of the toll.

Lindsay Richards · 07-02-2008, 04:17 PM

I forgot to add that on the PA turnpike they have automated entry ticket dispensers and some are especially for trucks and RV's. I went to the shorter line and discovered that I could not reach down far enough to get the ticket. Cars behind (rush hour) were blasting and we just drove off without it. When exiting, I had to pay fro the begining because I had no ticket. No big problem for us as we got on near the start, but go for the ones that say truck and RV and that have the higher ticket dispensers.

Frank P. Martin · 07-02-2008, 05:42 PM

Before E-ZPass, I used to have that same problem in reverse; the toll ticket dispenser would sometimes take the height of my TT into consideration and eject the it from the higher, truck height dispenser. With my mirrors only an inch or two from the dispenser, I couldn't open my door to retrieve the ticket, so I had to move to a point beyond the toll booth where I could get out and walk back to retrieve the ticket.

I can assure you that I made no friends from the vehicles waiting behind me.

Extension mirrors (I have McKesh mirrors) on pickups and vans pose another problem when paying at a toll booth as they are about the same level as the toll booth attendant's upper body. I can't count the number of close calls where the mirror nearly hit the attendant as they started to reach out before the mirrors passed by.

codgerbill · 08-04-2008, 11:32 AM

I just got back from my trip to Lancaster Pa from Ann Arbor Michigan. We took the Ohio toll road from the east Toledo to the Warren Ohio exit..toll was about $11 and change. We stayed in Waren Ohio overnight and then got on I-80 t0 US 322/22 and continued on to Lancaster avoiding toll roads. Some of the roads were a real challange and a certain amount of construction not to mention the long climbs going 'uphill". On the way back we took the PA turnpike from just outside Harrisburg to where it ended (28 miles from the Ohio line). ...$27. The road was great and the grades were not bad at alland the gas prices were reasonable ($3.79/gal..or so). Some construction but not much. Our Winnie towing the jeep is classified as a class 4 with 4 axels. All in all I would do the turnpike again as it was so much less hassle as versus the way we came down