Truckstop a victim of fuel tax

A memorial note. The Crossroad Truck Stop, a major local institution in Frederick Maryland has just shuttered its doors, the victim of a high state fuel tax, according to its proprietor. It often caused delays, the long convoys of the big rigs circling up the loops off I-70 and surging across MD-355 into the Crossroad, the drivers to take a break, get a meal or fuel up. Some would rent rooms at a somewhat seedy motel at the back. Others would add to clientele of fast food places, bars and various loud and glitzy establishments nearby. But the owner said his business kept slipping, and again and again the truckers told him that if they could they’d make it into the lower fuel tax states nearby rather than pay the 24c Maryland diesel tax – Virginia (16c), New Jersey (14c). The big guys register in a tax pooling scheme so for them it doesn’t matter where they buy fuel, but the small truckers don’t want to bother with the paperwork and often pay cash. The newer rigs have larger fuel tanks so they fuel up where the price is lowest. 120 people have been laid off. The site has been sold to Costco for a big box store.