Truckers Unite: 

Demand Repeal of Truck Excise Tax

In a united voice, transportation and trucking stakeholders have demanded Congress abolish the century-old Federal Excise Tax (FET) that currently adds 12% extra cost for commercial vehicles upon first retail purchase. It’s clear these industries are making considerable efforts to lower their operating costs, but will policymakers listen?

In a bold move, three major transportation industry associations have called on congressional leadership to repeal the Heavy Vehicle Use Tax. The American Trucking Associations, American Truck Dealers, and Zero Emissions Transportation Association (aimed at achieving 100% electric vehicles by 2030) argue that this century-old tax is an impediment to adopting new low emission units in efforts of going green.

“The federal government wants heavy-duty trucks to be cleaner or emission free, but slaps a 12% tax on the newest, greenest trucks,” said Scott McCandless, American Truck Dealers chairman and president of McCandless Truck Center of Aurora, Colorado. “If the goal is to reduce emissions, repealing the counterproductive FET is a good place to start.”  

The American Trucking Associations President and CEO Chris Spear agreed, adding that if Congress is serious about safety, the environment, and jobs, “then repealing the FET should be front-burner.”

Last year, a major step was taken to modernize American trucking with the introduction of bipartisan legislation. Senators Todd Young (R-Ind) and Ben Cardin (D-Md.), along with Representatives Doug LaMalfa (R-Calif.) and Chris Pappas (D-Nh.), introduced The Modern, Clean & Safe Trucks Act which sought repeal of an existing tax on commercial vehicles. However, despite its strong bipartisan support, the bill never achieved advancement through both chambers in Congress.

A similar Senate bill was introduced a year earlier by Sens. Young and Cardin, but it never advanced past the Committee on Finance. Each year since at least 2017, various bills are introduced with the goal of repealing the FET on trucks. 

Heavy-duty trucks may only make up 4% of vehicles on U.S. roads, but account for an astonishing 24% of all transportation carbon emissions, making them a key factor in the fight against climate change. According to Albert Gore, executive director at Zero Emissions Transportation Association, FETs could severely limit access to cleaner vehicle technology and impede fleet operators by increasing diesel truck costs as much as $20,000 and battery electric ones by more than double that amount.

“It is time to accelerate our movement towards modernized transportation fleets, and we must enable our nation’s fleet operators and truckers to join in this effort,” he said.

Source: Overdrive