Lawmakers in the state House of Representatives voted 88-59 Tuesday to approve Gov. Ned Lamont’s Highway User Fee on truckers.

Six Democrats broke ranks to vote against the measure, which now heads to the state Senate.

Gov. Lamont proposed the fee after abandoning his original plan for trucks-only toll readers amid massive public backlash. Under this system, trucking companies must report their own mileage to state tax officials.

Trucks would pay up to 17.5 cents a mile, depending on how big they are.

The money will go into the state’s depleted Special Transportation Fund to improve traffic congestion, speed up trains and fix aging bridges.

In rallies across the state, Republicans called it a “grocery tax,” saying it will drive up the cost of delivered goods. But they failed to generate the kind of widespread anger that marred the tolls debate.

Motor Transport Association of Connecticut President Joe Sculley said the "tax is guaranteed to fail." In a statement, he said in part, “The House of Representatives passed the truck mileage tax tonight, but not before voting to exempt the heaviest trucks on the road – dairy trucks – from paying the tax. Those trucks operate at 100,000 pounds, while the limit for all other trucks is 80,000 pounds. This just goes to show that the truck mileage tax is not actually about damage to the roads, it’s just about money. Lighter weight trucks will be subsidizing heavier trucks that will be exempt from the tax."