MOUNT VERNON, Wash. — Every time Brad De Kok fuels up his semi-truck he hears the same thing in his head.
"Ching, ching, ching.," he said. "That's more money out of my pocket. It's more money out of everybody else's pocket."
De Kok is an independent truck driver. His semi takes 270 gallons of diesel to fill up.
"I went to Oregon, came back up. I put 215 gallons in. It cost me $1,086," he said.
A sizeable chunk of that is a surcharge for the Department of Ecology's Climate Commitment Act.
When the law was passed two years ago, however, the agricultural sector was exempted -- that includes truckers.
But De Kok and his fellow truckers are still paying it. He's had to raise his rates.
"If I don't, I'm eating all of that cost and not making as much money," De Kok said. "I'm just a little guy. I could go under."
Those costs are being passed on to farmers who have to pay higher rates to move their products.
Farmers like Jason Vander Kooy are also paying the surcharge to fuel their equipment.
The costs keep piling up.
"Those costs just keep getting passed on down the line and unfortunately farmers are the ones at the end of the line," said Vander Kooy. "The consumer is also a person at the end of the line."
Now, the Washington Trucking Association (WTA) and the state Farm Bureau are planning to take the Department of Ecology to court seeking a "declaratory judgment" to confirm Ecology is violating the law and force the end to the surcharge.
WTA has launched a campaign to raise $50,000 to cover legal costs.