The American Trucking Associations supports President Trump’s recent moves to change the current tax and healthcare situation in this country. Representatives joined President Trump last week at his speech calling on Congress to quickly act on comprehensive tax reform as a way of growing the economy and creating jobs.
“While trucking sustains the vitality of the U.S. economy, we also carry a heavy tax burden, paying the highest corporate tax rate of any transportation mode,” said ATA President and CEO Chris Spear. “That is why we joined President Trump at today’s event, in support of his plan to reform our tax code. We urge Congress to follow the President’s lead and pass tax reform by year’s end.
“Hearing the President specifically call out the benefits of tax reform for ATA’s members and the trucking industry underscores the need for this effort. We urge Congress to work with the President to achieve the goal of reducing the rates families and small businesses pay in taxes,” he said.
“Lower rates equals money that can be used to hire and pay drivers – the top job in 29 states. It can be used to purchase new, safer equipment, or hire highly skilled technicians to maintain it,” Spear said. “By easing the tax burden on the truckers that literally move our economy, Congress will enable us to invest in our employees, equipment and the growth of our companies. Higher tax rates mean higher transportation costs, which make everyday goods more expensive – hurting lower-income Americans the most. By contrast, the benefits of lowered rates will reverberate up and down the supply chain, from the manufacturer to the small business and individual household.”
“Passing tax reform would help me as the owner of a small family-owned business, by not only helping us add drivers and trucks, but in allowing this business to stay in my family by eliminating the estate tax,” said ATA member Calvin Ewell, president of H.R. Ewell Inc., East Earl, Pennsylvania.
“Trucking is a low-single-digit-margin business, and family-owned companies aren’t flush with cash, but they have millions in capital tied up in trucks and facilities, so eliminating this tax will preserve our small family trucking businesses as a small family business.”
ATA also praised President Trump for signing an executive order allowing individuals to purchase health insurance through association health plans.
“After laying out the case for how tax reform benefits our industry, President Trump is taking substantive action to improve the lives of millions of Americans, including the 7.5 million employed in trucking-related jobs,” said ATA President and CEO Chris Spear. “By allowing people to pool together to purchase health insurance plans that are sponsored by larger associations and groups, the administration is helping to lower health care costs and improve access.”
“Most trucking companies are small businesses, with nine in ten carriers having fewer than six trucks. The types of plans the President announced today will allow those companies to pool resources and offer affordable health care options that meet the needs of their employees,” Spear said.
“One of the primary things I’m responsible for as a fleet executive is the welfare of my employees,” Burch said. “Today’s announcement will make it easier for employers across the country to provide good, affordable health plans to their employees and that is a good thing.”
