Trucking firms are leaving Illinois because it is more cost effective to operate in another state.

Higher registration fees combined with increases on the Illinois Tollway are compounding the negative effects caused by higher fuel prices for an industry that operates with a small profit margin.

Trucking firms are leaving the state and they are not likely to come back anytime soon, said Midwest Truckers Association Executive Vice President Don Schaefer.

“We are at a point in time in Illinois where it is very hard to run a business that makes money because of all the fees,” Schaefer said.

In the last year more than 12 percent of trucks have not renewed their registration in Illinois.

The DeKalb toll plaza, along with others in the state, increased the rate it charges trucks from $3 to more than $9 in January. At that rate, some companies are opting to bypass the tollway and take local roads.

Roy’s Transportation, a 43-year-old company in Rochelle, has nine 18-wheelers but can only afford to put eight on the road.

“I told my drivers to take local roads until they pass the DeKalb toll because it costs so much,” said Pat Burch, owner of Roy’s Transportation. “I would like to take the tollway because it is safer and faster but it is just too expensive right now.”

Higher overhead in Illinois are allowing firms from Iowa to compete with Roy’s to haul freight to Chicago.

“My license fees have gone up, my fuel costs have doubled and the tollway price has tripled,” Burch said. “I cannot even pass my costs on to the companies I am hauling for because of the competition.”

The fee at the DeKalb toll is in line with the with the rest of the tollway system, said Joelle McGinnis, spokeswoman for the Illinois Tollway.

“We base our fee on the number of miles traveled between tolls,” McGinnis said. “The large fee for the DeKalb toll is because there are less toll stops on that stretch of tollway.”

The decision is not to leave the state, but to keep the company based in Illinois and change the registration for the truck to another state.

“Truckers and trucking firms have been switching registrations for a long time,” said Steve Appelbaum, 20-year owner/operator of Glen Ellyn Storage.

Glen Ellyn Storage is a moving company that keeps all of its truck registrations in Indiana to save costs.

Other firms are modifying their fleets to run on bio-diesel, which saves them money on fuel and taxes, Burch said.

“More business are leaving Illinois because of higher fees,” said state representative Bob Pritchard, (R-Hinckley). “If this continues then they will all go broke and leave.”

Pritchard is on a committee that is trying to roll back most of the fee increases truckers are paying.