Ahh! That depends entirely on the particular Tollway.
On some tollways we have been able to obtain a concession to include a motocycle with a sidecar AND a motorcycle trailer at the same low motorcycle rate.
However, on MOST tollways you will be bumped up to the standard car and trailer rate.
On a few tollways you would be required to pay the 3-axle rate for commercial vehicles.
We suggest going to their website and looking at their toll chart - most are actually readable. Some are not.
However, we will not fight this battle. Getting the rate uniform for standard sidecarists and trying to explain away the very odd 3-wheel vs 3-axle itself has not been an easy row to hoe.
Our standard rule is: do not hassle the toll attendants. Get a receipt. We will handle at the HQ level where they pay juat a bit more than the minimum wage and sometimes have a little more common sense. Occasionally these scenes can get ugly and we do not like to see that. Not our style.
Hal Kendall
Just wanted to chime in with some real experiences that I have had. Years ago, my wife and I toured 46 states with our Gold Wing , while pulling a trailer.
Now, this rig set up was much lighter than any car, or truck, but we were charged the 3 axle rate at all tolls but one. If we had done our homework ahead of time, we may have saved money, but, maybe this might help. If you pay a toll going to work, to a doctor's visit, or one of MANY different reasons, you can deduct that toll from your taxes if you itemize. Just food for thought.
Tim and Tanya
Few more comments. I had the original response nearly done leaned back in my chair with the keyboard on my lap and my feet up on my desk early this morning. It was much more lengthy than probably most people would care to read when I hit some key inadvertantly and the whole thing went away! I tried to retreive it without success so retyped a readers digest condensed version. Oh well...
The other comment I just thought of and it has nothing to do with the Chicago Skyway but in a similar vein, is last year when I and my grandson Carson went to ride the Three Pass Blast, we trailered to our hotel in Poulsbo and met my brother there the next morning to trailer the Ural to Bellingham for the start of the 3PB and my brother took my pickup and trailer back to Poulsbo. It cost me $50 each way for the ferry! $100! I'd hate to think what a semi has to pay.
Another time, Barb and I were on the Harley pulling my little cargo trailer. At American Falls, Idaho we headed down to see Shoshonie (sp) Falls. The toll collector told us no charge for motorcycles and we went in at no charge. Later talking to our good friends in Boise we were told that they'd been to the falls several times and never been told that! They had always paid. As the guy on laugh in used to say- verrry interesting!
One final thing then I'll shut up. Is there a way to run spell check on this board before posting? That would sure be a big plus.
OK. So I lied. I won't shut up. Just had another thought. At the Stevenson rally, my next door camping neighbor was a guy from West Virginia and his wife and son. They were towing a tent trailer as well. I certainly hope they didn't cross the Chicago Skyway and get the same toll taker. If so, they probably had to mortgage the house and take out a loan to boot! Monthly installments??
Tom - Actually - if you go to the Chicago Skyway site and look at their rate schedule - there is NO problem - IF you can manage to go between 8PM and 4AM because they use the variable rate schedule that is so popular in Europe.
This is not yet very widely acceptable in the US. Recall - it is owned by a foreign power and has foreign ways. Sometimes we might be able to learn from others. Just travel at night when it is cool. Save a bundle. It is NOT part of the Illinois Tollway Authority or the US Tollway System.
Believe then all rates are just $2.50 per vehicle - no axle charge. Or maybe I read it wrong.
Hal Kendall
Here's my little chime-in about tolls for sidecars. Once, when reentering the U.S. from Canada my sidecar was called (in a nasty, surly voice) a contraption. That made me furious and there would have been words exchanged, but I wanted to get back into the U.S, so I bit my lip and just seethed. And once, I don't recall in what state, since the sidecar was on my right and the toll collector was on my left and not inclined to walk around to check, I just lied when they (two of them conferred about how to charge me) asked if the rear axle of the bike and the axle of the sidecar lined-up. I knew that they didn't, but I resent being screwed by people that I don't know. Anyway, I've come to the conclusion that most toll collectors don't have a clue about sidecars and just make up the rules as they go.
Herwing: It should make absolutely no difference at all whether your sidecar wheel lines up exactly with your rear wheel or not. That is an absurd question and one that we have been fighting against since the inception since 1977.
The basic tenent is that the tollway must make no charge that is discriminatory against the class of vehicle. Just think about it. To have one toll rate for one vehicle that weighs 1000 pounds and has a lead of 2 inches and another but different toll charge for an almost identical vehicle that also weighs 1000 pounds but has a lead of 4 inches is ludicrous in the extreme. It would be laughed out of any sane court in the land.
The toll has to be uniform. It cannot be capricious. Right up front we struck down any reference to the number of axles when it comes to motorcycles with a sidecar. They are to be charged the same rate as a passenger car, and no more, which typically is also the same rate as a solo motorcycle. Occasionally, it is less.
Let there be absolutely no confusion on this point. It is not our fault that these tollways, which have been around since the sixteen century, cannot now accurately and with precision determine the correct toll of our vehicles which have been around for over 100 years. It is about time they got their act together. Do not allow them to put the monkey on our back when it rightfully belongs on theirs.
If you follow the mechanisms now available to them, they can tell when you are backing up, when you are coming in at an angle, and a dozen fancy measurements from the FOUR hidden treadles (used to be just one) but they still cannot handle a sidecar. Now how about that.
Actually, each tollway has developed their own specific way on how to handle, and we respect that. On one they charge us the FULL 3-axle rate, then also hand us a refund envelope to send in for us to get our full refund. On another they simply make a notation in an exception book and charge the 2-axle rate. Others just ignore the problem and charge us the correct 2-axle rate. We do not care HOW they do it - that is their perogitive - but we do care when they overcharge us by ripping us off and charging us a 3-axle rate for a motorcycle sidecar combination.
And you are entirely correct - most toll operators have not a clue about how their machines operate, and neither do their supervisors, with a few exceptions.
Hal Kendall
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It won't change a thing but here's a thought- rather than the number of axles, the toll should be based on the number of tires in contact with the road surface. A sidecar rig would pay slightly more that a two wheeler and slightly less than a four wheel car which would pay less than a one ton pickup with duals (six tires), a ten wheeler, an eighteen wheeler etc, etc... Then they could get real technical and figure it based on the number of square inches of contact...
Things are gonna change when I'm put in charge!
according to your figuring, my rig with a small cargo trailer [5 wheels]will pay more than a car with 4 wheels :o(
Bob in wis
On most tollways, but not all, that is correct - but that is a battle we will not fight. Our bodies are battered and bloodied enough. A few do allow a motorcycle with a sidecar and a motorcycle trailer at the car rate - but do not take that to the bank. It is a couteousy we did not request.
I was commenting on Tom Reardons statementthat when he takes over, to charge according to how many tires touch the road..not a good idea.. :o(
for rigs with trailers.
Bob in wis
Although this forum program comes with "Spell Check", I could never get it to work. I'm not sure if Bob has been able to do it since he took over. If you go to www.iespell.com, download the program IESPELL and install it. It then becomes available to you by right-clicking on any program you use. Been using it for a couple years now.
No sweat Bob. Ain't nobody gonna let me take over! Out here any toll charges extra for a trailer already, I think.
Thanks Mike, I'll do that.
I've been zipping down thru the illinios and indiana tollways with my rig and trailer, and go thru the automatic lanes, just tossing in the regular posted auto fees , with no problems.
bob in wis.
You are a very naughty boy. Please considre that you have been warned and therefore have been properly chastised.
We have had this discussion before - direct from the Director of the Tollways of the Illinois Authority re using the automatic lanes for motorcycles. It is primarily a safety issue. Unless the entire system has changed - and no one has bothered to tell me - of course, I am NOT invited to every closed conference - but the gate is held closed by a combination of a switch activated by the minimum of correct coinage, and a photocell held about a foot high.
The gate is opened by the dropping of the correct coinage - then the closing of the gate is controlled by the photocell. With a car, the front of the car breaks the beam and as the gate remains open for as long as the car passes through - then the gate drops whenever the back of the car passes and the beam reconnects.
For the bike however, the beam is broken first by the front of the front tire. The beam is then reconnected just as soon as the beam is reconnected just at the back of the rim and still within the dront tire. The gate then begins to drop while the motorcycle is still passing through.
This was first noticed and forcefully demonstrated when the Illinois Tollway was first opened and the first police officer in slow parade on a full dress Harley-Davidson with the Governor in the Guv's limosene in tow all but got his helmeted head chopped off. We were warned NEVER to use the automatic gates AFTER we beat the hell outa the Illinois Tollway system and we promised on a stack of polished alloy wheels that we would pass on this safety message.
The gate takes a little time to come down. Just be sure you get the hell outa there. FAST! And always wear your helmet to protect your head from closing gates! By the time they realize what has happened you are long gone.
But consider yourself warned. What you do with this warning is totally up to yourself. I am advising you of this from the potential safety aspect.
Hal Kendall
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