Pub. 1 2019 Issue 4

U .S. commercial truck dealers and dealer association executives from 31 states attended nearly 100 meetings on Capitol Hill, urging their members of Congress to cosponsor bipartisan legislation to repeal the 12-percent federal excise tax (FET) on the sale of heavy-duty trucks and trailers. NHADA President Pete McNamara visited with Senator Shaheen and her staff, as well as key staff members with Senator Hassan and Congress- woman Annie Kuster. The American Truck Dealers (ATD) and the Truck Renting and Leasing Association (TRALA) both hosted legislative fly-ins, held in conjunction with Modernize the Truck Fleet Week (June 17-21). The week’s events included brief- ings, digital advocacy outreach and a Capitol Hill rally to increase support for legislation, (H.R. 2381/S. 1839, the “Modern, Clean and Safe Trucks Act of 2019”), to repeal the FET. The ATD board also met with White House officials to discuss FET repeal. The Modernize the Truck Fleet coa- lition includes ATD, TRALA, NTEA – The Association for the Work Truck Industry, Truck and Engine Manufac- turers Association, National Trailer Dealers Association and National Tank Truck Carriers Association. Congress imposes a 12-percent federal excise tax (FET) on the sale of most new heavy-duty trucks. This tax often adds as much as $22,000 or more to the price of a new heavy- duty truck. The FET depresses new heavy-duty truck sales and delays the Senator Shaheen and Pete deployment of cleaner, safer and more fuel-efficient trucks. This burdensome tax is in addition to the cost of nearly $40,000 in recent federal emissions and fuel-economy mandates that will make it harder for small businesses to afford a new heavy-duty truck. The FET is a complex and difficult tax to administer, and truck dealers incur considerable costs navigating IRS regulations and paperwork associated with collecting it. Additionally, since the FET is based on annual sales, which can vary greatly, the tax also fails to provide certainty to the highway trust fund (HTF), where its revenue is deposited. This excise tax has been the most incon- sistent source of revenue for the HTF over the past 20 years. Congress should include H.R. 2381/S. 1839, a bill that would repeal the FET, in a potential infrastructure bill to end this onerous tax that hampers economic growth. Enactment of this bill would directly benefit the 7.4 million Americans employed in trucking-related jobs. Members of congress are urged to cospon- sor H.R. 2381/S. 1839. Passage will spur new truck sales and promote the entry of cleaner and safer trucks to modernize the trucking fleet. More info on this effort can be found here: https://www.nada.org/ATDLegislative/ ATD Fly In D R I V E 14