Northbound trucks travel on the state Thruway in Greene County in 2016.

If you want to understand what it’s like to run a small business in New York right now, try driving a truck full of goods across the Thruway with the cost meter running — and then watch the state add a new fee to every mile with no warning.

Starting Jan. 15, the state Thruway Authority plans to slip in a backdoor toll hike that will raise costs for businesses like mine at the worst possible time – that is, if Albany doesn’t step in and stop this hidden tax.

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I manage Nealon Transportation, a regional truckload carrier based in Binghamton that serves upstate New York and beyond. We’ve been in business for more than 30 years, operating dozens of flatbeds and trailer vans. Last year alone, we paid close to $100,000 in tolls.

Like thousands of other small businesses, we use a toll-management company to help stay on top of our........

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