Ez pass and tt.. Which state to buy from?

[RavenNS]

Hi, I've done the route from the Canadian maritimes to Virginia beach and back with a single axle pup and now have an htt and thinking about doing that route again.. Or down to myrtle beach sc. Anyway, I found it very expensive for tolls and a total PITA ( pain in the a$$) for both the time to sit and wait for cash toll booths and to actually have small bills for all of that... Wondering about getting an ez pass. I've looked at few different states websites on it and don't see any rules that state that you have to be from a particular state or even from the USA to use this. Looks like they're happy to take the money. Maine even have "province" as an option in the billing address on their web-based form.
My question is: With a 2 axel vehicle towing a 1 axel trailer, which state is best to buy a tag from because it appears that the various states handle this differently... Some have a set-up for that and some don't . I most certainly would not want to cause violations or be mischarged.
Just wondering if anyone has shopped it out for that circumstance. Thanks

[dsender]

I live in Texas and I got mine from Virginia. Some states require a deposit but Virginia didn't if you did auto replenish through your bank account. I've had one pass for the RV and one for the car for many years and had no trouble, except once in a while when I don't use it for a while, they send me an email about returning it. I just call, tell them it's for an RV and they extend it...no big deal. Also their customer service is very good. I called a couple other states and just didn't want to do business with them.

[VE3ESN]

RavenNS wrote:
Hi, I've done the route from the Canadian maritimes to Virginia beach and back with a single axle pup and now have an htt and thinking about doing that route again.. Or down to myrtle beach sc. Anyway, I found it very expensive for tolls and a total PITA ( pain in the a$$) for both the time to sit and wait for cash toll booths and to actually have small bills for all of that... Wondering about getting an ez pass. I've looked at few different states websites on it and don't see any rules that state that you have to be from a particular state or even from the USA to use this. Looks like they're happy to take the money. Maine even have "province" as an option in the billing address on their web-based form.
My question is: With a 2 axel vehicle towing a 1 axel trailer, which state is best to buy a tag from because it appears that the various states handle this differently... Some have a set-up for that and some don't . I most certainly would not want to cause violations or be mischarged.
Just wondering if anyone has shopped it out for that circumstance. Thanks

Sorry, my previous answer to the OP's question somehow got mangled in my reply. Here's another try:

We are Canadians who got an EZ-Pass from New York State. No fee for the transponder when you go paperless. We have a BMO US $ MasterCard and EZ-Pass takes $25.00 automatically when we use the various toll highways. Have used EZ-Pass in NY, PA, OH, WV and NJ with no trouble at all. It sure beats waiting in line and fumbling for coins. When we contrast the significantly lower toll rates in the US with the exorbitant 407 ETR here in Ontario, we're happy campers indeed.

[Bumpyroad]

VE3ESN wrote:

My question is: With a 2 axel vehicle towing a 1 axel trailer, which state is best to buy a tag from because it appears that the various states handle this differently... Some have a set-up for that and some don't . I most certainly would not want to cause violations or be mischarged. Just wondering if anyone has shopped it out for that circumstance. Thanks .

I would suggest that you ask that specific question from any EZPass state, I used Delaware since they don't charge a monthly fee, etc. and get an appropriate tag.
bumpy

[VE3ESN]

RavenNS wrote:
Hi, I've done the route from the Canadian maritimes to Virginia beach and back with a single axle pup and now have an htt and thinking about doing that route again.. Or down to myrtle beach sc. Anyway, I found it very expensive for tolls and a total PITA ( pain in the a$$) for both the time to sit and wait for cash toll booths and to actually have small bills for all of that... Wondering about getting an ez pass. I've looked at few different states websites on it and don't see any rules that state that you have to be from a particular state or even from the USA to use this. Looks like they're happy to take the money. Maine even have "province" as an option in the billing address on their web-based form.
My question is: With a 2 axel vehicle towing a 1 axel trailer, which state is best to buy a tag from because it appears that the various states handle this differently... Some have a set-up for that and some don't . I most certainly would not want to cause violations or be mischarged. Just wondering if anyone has shopped it out for that circumstance. Thanks

We are Canadians who got an EZ-Pass from New York State. No fee for the transponder when you go paperless. We have a BMO US $ MasterCard and EZ-Pass takes $25.00 automatically when we use the various toll highways. Have used EZ-Pass in NY, PA, OH, WV and NJ with no trouble at all. It sure beats waiting in line and fumbling for coins. When we contrast the significantly lower toll rates in the US with the exorbitant 407 ETR here in Ontario, we're happy campers indeed.

[Gene_Ginny]

mkc wrote:
... The "Blue 215", for our tag axle coach towing the car, shows up in MA, NH, and ME as a 5 axle vehicle. ...

Thanks for clearing that up Michelle.

[mkc]

Gene&Ginny wrote:
I wonder how the 2 tag thing (white, blue) would work out in other states. :h

Maybe someone has first hand knowledge of that.

We have NY EZ-Pass tags for our coach.

The "Blue 215", for our tag axle coach towing the car, shows up in MA, NH, and ME as a 5 axle vehicle. In NY on the Thruway it gets us the MHM plan, a significant discount. In other states, it just lets us go through the EZ-Pass lanes (no discount, but no dealing with having enough cash). We haven't tried the ivory tag (motorhome only) to see what it does in other states since we're always towing the car.

We opted to get our EZ-Pass from NY since we do travel the Thruway annually. If you can do it in person, it will be A LOT easier than trying to order one by faxing in registrations, etc. It took me more than 4 months to get the right tags for the Thruway MHM discount plan trying to do it by phone and fax.

Michelle

[Dutch_12078]

Gene&Ginny wrote:
I wonder how the 2 tag thing (white, blue) would work out in other states. :h

Would New Hampshire or Maine read the white tag and see the trailer and charge me for that and then read the blue tag and charge me for a second vehicle. :?

Maybe someone has first hand knowledge of that.

Only the appropriate tag is used, with the other tag tucked away in a shielded bag or wrapped in foil so it can't be read.

[Gene_Ginny]

I wonder how the 2 tag thing (white, blue) would work out in other states. :h

Would New Hampshire or Maine read the white tag and see the trailer and charge me for that and then read the blue tag and charge me for a second vehicle. :?

Maybe someone has first hand knowledge of that.

[Dutch_12078]

Atlee wrote:
When you say "tag" you're talking about the transponder, right?

Dutch_12078 wrote:

ChooChooMan74 wrote:

NYS Thruway - Go through a manned toll booth, and make sure they enter the right code. For me, it is 4L.

If asked, NYS will issue two tags, one for the car alone, and one with the trailer included. The unused tag is stored in a signal blocking bag or wrapped in foil. We have that setup for our coach for towing or not.

Yes, "tag = transponder". Both of our coach "tags" are linked to our NY Thruway Motorhome Plan. With that plan, we get charged regular passenger car per axle tolls instead of the large vehicle tolls we would pay otherwise.

[mbopp]

Dutch_12078 wrote:

ChooChooMan74 wrote:

NYS Thruway - Go through a manned toll booth, and make sure they enter the right code. For me, it is 4L.

If asked, NYS will issue two tags, one for the car alone, and one with the trailer included. The unused tag is stored in a signal blocking bag or wrapped in foil. We have that setup for our coach for towing or not.

Yup - white tag for solo, blue tag for the TT.

[Atlee]

When you say "tag" you're talking about the transponder, right?

Dutch_12078 wrote:

ChooChooMan74 wrote:

NYS Thruway - Go through a manned toll booth, and make sure they enter the right code. For me, it is 4L.

If asked, NYS will issue two tags, one for the car alone, and one with the trailer included. The unused tag is stored in a signal blocking bag or wrapped in foil. We have that setup for our coach for towing or not.

[Sailordive]

Massachusetts has no monthly fee if you go paperless. NJ charges a monthly maintenance fee. If you link a credit card they will replenish as needed. No concern with over running the balance.

[cjoseph]

sdianel wrote:
Bought ours from Illinois. IPass works at EZPass locations.

X 2

My home state of WV charges $25 for each commercial transponder. Commercial is required of any vehicle over 8,000 or towing a trailer.

Illinois was more reasonable.

$10 refundable deposit and $40 balance in your account. They will automatically charge your CC another $40 when the balance reaches $10.

Before our big trip this year, I logged in and manually charged an additionally $50 to my account. I knew we would be on the Il, IN, OH and PA turnpikes and didn't want to deplete my account faster than they could replenish it.

Needless to say, the tolls were greater than my balance. They managed to restock my account faster than I could drive across Ohio-lol.

I am happy to report that one transponder in the MH worked fine and that all four states charged the correct tolls for 4 axles.

[ChooChooMan74]

Gene&Ginny wrote:

ChooChooMan74 wrote:
... and RI won't program the 2nd EZpass for anything but a car.

They don't need to. Most states can figure out if/what you are towing.

Masspike, DRJTBA, and DMB can't and charge me the highest rate. Still not sure about NYSTA, as I go through manned lanes, per their recommendation. I bet you most people don't pay attention to their statements.