Overdrive Magazine | Trucking Business News & Owner Operator Info
Issue link: http://read.dmtmag.com/i/904267
Logbook 12 | Overdrive | November 2017 President Trump last month asked the trucking industry to stump for his plan to reform the U.S. tax sys- tem. He told a crowd of fleet man- agers and truck drivers that his tax reform framework would put more money in the pockets of workers and be a boon for the U.S. economy. "Nothing gets done in America without the hard-working men and women in the trucking industry," Trump said during his address at an airport in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania. The American Trucking Associ- ations organized the event and said it supports the White House's plan to cut taxes, not only for individuals but also for businesses. The president promised to not only lower tax rates across the board but also simplify the sys- tem, saying his plan would cut the number of brackets and allow "the majority of families to file on a single piece of paper." Lower tax rates, said Trump, would save U.S. workers and companies on their annual tax bills and spur economic growth, which would bring "more freight to deliv- er and more contracts to sign." The framework for the White House's reform push calls for cutting the number of tax brackets from eight to four — zero percent, 12 percent, 25 percent and 35 percent. Trump said he also wants to cut corporate tax rates "from 35 percent all the way down to 20 percent." He also said he wanted to do away with the estate tax assessed on the deceased and offer a one-time repatriation tax to try to "bring back trillions and trillions of dollars in wealth parked overseas." The plan also would allow com- panies to write off "100 percent of the cost of new equipment in the year you buy it," Trump said. Trump highlighted fleet repre- sentatives in attendance, includ- ing Kevin Burch, president of 220-truck Dayton, Ohio-based Jet Express and ATA chairman; and Calvin and Steve Ewell, a father- and-son team who run H.R. Ewell, a roughly 200-truck fleet based in East Earl, Pennsylvania. Corporate tax cuts would help Burch's Jet Express "invest in new equipment and additional training," said Trump. Ending the estate tax would ensure that the Ewells' busi- ness stays in the family, he said. Lastly, Trump said he still hopes to see the passage of a major infra- structure funding package, promis- ing "smooth, beautiful highways." – James Jaillet Trump: Tax plan will help truckers The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency last month formally proposed to repeal Obama-era emis- sions regulations placed on glider kit tractors. The glider-specific emissions regs are scheduled to begin being phased in next year. They were part of the broad Phase 2 emissions rule enacted by EPA in 2016, which calls for a 25 percent reduction in greenhouse gas emissions by tractor-trailers by 2027. EPA Administrator Scott Pruitt earlier this year announced the agency's intentions to re-evaluate the glider-specific portions of the Phase 2 standards. The agency last month filed a proposal with the White House Office of Management and Budget to repeal the "emission requirements for glider vehicles, glider engines and glider kits," according to a notice posted on OMB's regulations portal. The rule's glider kit restrictions would have forced glider vehicle makers to dramatically alter their operations to meet Phase 2 standards. Glider manu- facturers such as Fitzgerald Glider Kits have tried to engage Congress on the issue, arguing they make up such a small percentage of truck sales that they should be exempt from Phase 2 regulations. They also have said EPA's rule would "decimate" the glider kit business. – James Jaillet EPA plans to nix standards that threaten gliders Fitzgerald Glider Kits, whose plant is shown here, told Congress that the regulations would have significantly hurt the glider business. James Jaillet