Overdrive Magazine | Trucking Business News & Owner Operator Info
Issue link: https://read.dmtmag.com/i/925196
VOICES 10 | Overdrive | January 2018 At press time, the House had passed a version of the tax reform legislation agreed to in principle by congressional leaders, with the Senate set to do the same. The bill was expect- ed to be signed into law by yearend. During earlier debate, readers an- swered the question, illustrated by the poll here, as to their top priority for tax reform. Most owner-operators' taxes pass through their individual returns, and results from the poll in part refl ect that reality. More respondents favored middle- and lower-class individual income tax reductions. So-called pass-through businesses will be receiving some form of relief. The House's version includes a generally lower rate for pass-through business income determined by a complicated formula. The Senate provided for a de- duction for pass-through fi lers making less than $250,000 in income annually ($500,000 for couples fi ling jointly). The details of each are complex, in contrast to a respondent who weighed in among those in the "Other" col- umn. Dale Downer wants tax reform to yield simplicity more than anything else. "It should be so simple, we should be able to fi le on a postcard. The elimination of the IRS should be a top priority!" Owner-operator tax reform priorities Less generous cuts for higher-income individuals and corporations 12% Other 1% Repealing mandate to purchase health insurance 18% Improving depreciation deduction terms for equipment purchases 3% Any cut Reductions in burdens, generally 10% Individual cuts Reducing middle-class tax burdens long-term 19% Tax changes helping middle- lower income individuals 16% Business cuts Small-business tax cuts 13% Business tax cuts generally 8% HOT BUTTONS TAXES TAXES Tax cuts favored for middle class, small business A repeal of the Affordable Care Act's individual mandate to purchase health insurance was included in the Senate version of Republicans' tax-reform package to reduce the amount of money the tax legislation would add to the federal deficit. The logic is that without the requirement to purchase insurance, fewer would, thus the federal government would save money on subsidizing premiums for low-income insurance purchasers. Nearly one in five readers named that provision as their top priori- ty for the entire package. Source: OverdriveOnline.com poll Behind the scenes at the Tesla reveal No telling precisely how the Tesla Semi will perform when a ready-for-the-road model hits the market, presumably in 2019. But for now, it's safe to say the all-electric truck stole the show as far as new truck announcements for 2017. Equipment Editor Jason Cannon attended that announcement in Hawthorne, California. In the Dec. 8 edition of the podcast, a rebroad- cast of an interview with KC Phillips on Sirius XM's "Road Dog Live" program shows Cannon sharing his impressions of Tesla's tightly controlled Semi rollout event. Cannon, Phillips and listeners also discuss features of Tesla's futuristic tractor, including pricing, charging times, torque, an auto-pilot feature, visibility from the center-mounted seat (pictured) and more. LISTEN ON OVERDRIVE RADIO Visit OverdriveOnline.com/overdriveradio to hear both podcasts featured here and more from our weekly series. Alternately, subscribe to the podcast via iTunes, Stitcher, TuneIn, Google Music or other podcasting app. Equipment Editor Jason Cannon found the novel center-mounted seat on the Tesla Semi raises questions of visibility. ELD implementation hopes, worries Nine-truck Frerichs Freight Lines fleet owner Bill Frerichs, based in Illinois near St. Louis, was in the middle of ELD implementation when we talked with him for the Nov. 27 podcast. He settled on the Telo- gis company's ELD system over the BigRoad program he'd been using as a logbook app in his trucks. The decision was driven in part by its ability to capture diagnostics and truck/driver performance data to implement a bonus program spurred by competition among his drivers. Frerichs offered his experience with implementation and worries about particular regular runs where dock time tends to eat up drivers' on-duty hours. Frerichs also worries about the wealth of data recorded and transmitted under the ELD spec in the context of plain- tiff's attorneys' improving dexterity at cherry-picking log violations in court cases around accidents.