>>1939175>economical Trucking exploits a massive negative externality wherein they don't directly pay for the costs of their operations to roads, or the fixed costs of maintaining an extensive road network adequate for heavy goods vehicles. In the spree of lobbying that surrounded the interstate construction decision, truckers worked hard to defeat toll proposals (with even the ATA conceding that tolls would limit the congestion externality), and to shift as much of the fuel tax burden off themselves as possible.
Rose and Mohl's "Interstate: Highway Politics and Policy Since 1939" is a good read on the origins and development of the system.
