If the Pennsylvania Turnpike Commission planned to send out thank-you notes this year, the trucking industry would probably be at the top of the list.

Despite more than a 2-percent drop in the number of vehicles that traveled on the turnpike in August compared to August 2004, toll collections only dropped by about 0.2 percent.

The reason? Truck traffic, according to Turnpike Commission Spokesperson Carl DeFebo. He said he believes truckers having to use the toll road helped make up for lost traffic from a recent toll hike.

“We didn’t take the hit in volume that we thought because of the toll increase,” DeFebo told the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review. “We are seeing volume declines because of gas price increases, but because commercial volumes are staying strong and still growing, that’s offsetting any gross passenger volume decreases.”

August 2005 was the one-year anniversary of the Pennsylvania Turnpike’s toll increase. In August 2004, the toll for an 80,000-pound, Class 8 truck increased from $105.55 to $150.75 – an increase of just less than 13 cents per mile – for traveling the entire length of the turnpike’s 359-mile main line.

The cost for passenger vehicles, after an increase to 5.9 cents per mile, to make the same trip? About $21.

While total traffic declined on the turnpike by about 2 or 3 percent, truck traffic actually increased by about 3 percent, bringing with it about $24.6 million in revenue, the Tribune-Review reported.

“Truckers almost have to use (the turnpike),” Tim Scanlon, a traffic engineer for the turnpike commission, told the Tribune-Review.