The biggest reason that works is that most states dropped per-axle weight taxes for trucks (which would much more directly pay for road wear-and-tear than gas t

The biggest reason that works is that most states dropped per-axle weight taxes for trucks (which would much more directly pay for road wear-and-tear than gas taxes, and which is why such taxes existed in the first place) and the ones that didn't carved out too many "personal vehicle" loopholes for trucks. It's a curious lack of disincentives (and enforcement of such) for larger vehicles more than "small cars are illegal". Things like CAFE standards could have been met in smarter ways if they were properly incentivized. (Plus CAFE standards were in part set with an expectation of not "double dipping" versus vehicle weight taxes. That the vehicle weight taxes disappeared is the smoking gun, in some ways.) Small cars aren't incentivized enough, larger vehicles aren't disincentivized enough. Especially with today's wear and tear on roads, the states complaining that EVs are dropping gas taxes too fast, it's a wild shame that we aren't seeing a faster return to per-axle vehicle taxes.