Trucking news and briefs for Friday, July 23 2021:
The Modernize the Truck Fleet, a coalition of trucking industry stakeholders – including the American Truck Dealers (ATD), American Trucking Associations and other groups – have announced their strong support for bipartisan legislation to repeal the 12% federal excise tax (FET) on the sale of heavy-duty trucks and trailers.
The bill, S. 2435, which was introduced by Sen. Todd Young (R-Ind.) and Sen. Ben Cardin (D-Md.) – both members of the tax-writing Senate Finance Committee, which has jurisdiction over transportation-related taxes – will help modernize America’s heavy-duty truck fleet and protect the 1.3 million jobs supported by the U.S. trucking industry, the group claimed. Repeal of the FET allows fleets to replace older heavy-duty trucks with newer, safer and greener trucks. The coalition is urging Congress to include the Young/Cardin legislation in the bipartisan infrastructure legislation.
"With most heavy-duty trucks over ten years old, passing this bill is crucial to help America modernize its aging truck fleet," said Steve Bassett, ATD chairman and dealer principal of General Truck Sales in Muncie, Indiana.
The FET was first enacted by Congress in 1917 to help fund World War I and is the highest excise tax on a percentage basis that Congress levies on a product, often adding over $20,000 to the price of a new heavy-duty truck. The tax coupled with recent regulatory costs makes it more difficult for small businesses to afford a new truck.
Mark Parker, ATD NextGen chairman from Linthicum Heights, Maryland, added that "doing away with the FET will help small businesses replace older trucks with new trucks that have the latest safety features, which will reduce crashes and increase highway safety.”
Volvo Trucks North America has rolled out its Volvo Blue Contract service offering, a comprehensive maintenance program designed to improve uptime, assist in optimizing truck performance and simplify maintenance management for customers and dealers.
