Press Release

Trucking Leaders Join President Trump in Calling for Tax Reform

Oct 10, 2017

Harrisburg, Pennsylvania 鈥 Today, leaders with the 杏吧传媒 joined President Trump in calling on Congress to quickly act on comprehensive tax reform as a way of growing the economy and creating jobs.

鈥淲hile trucking sustains the vitality of the U.S. economy, we also carry a heavy tax burden, paying the highest corporate tax rate of any transportation mode,鈥 said 杏吧传媒 President and CEO Chris Spear. 鈥淭hat is why we joined President Trump at today鈥檚 event, in support of his plan to reform our tax code. We urge Congress to follow the President鈥檚 lead and pass tax reform by year鈥檚 end.

鈥淗earing the President specifically call out the benefits of tax reform for 杏吧传媒鈥檚 members and the trucking industry underscores the need for this effort. We urge Congress to work with the President to achieve the goal of reducing the rates families and small businesses pay in taxes,鈥 he said.

Spear was joined at the event in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, by several 杏吧传媒 members, in support of the tax reform effort.

鈥淔ew industries are as connected to every facet of the American economy as trucking. From that vantage point, we can see clearly what the President鈥檚 tax reform plan would do to drive our economy,鈥 said 杏吧传媒 Chairman Kevin Burch, president of Jet Express Inc., Dayton, Ohio. 鈥淓very day, we proudly do our job to move America forward. We join the President in calling on Congress to do the same.

鈥淟ower rates equals money that can be used to hire and pay drivers 鈥 the top job in 29 states. It can be used to purchase new, safer equipment, or hire highly skilled technicians to maintain it,鈥 Spear said. 鈥淏y easing the tax burden on the truckers that literally move our economy, Congress will enable us to invest in our employees, equipment and the growth of our companies. Higher tax rates mean higher transportation costs, which make everyday goods more expensive 鈥 hurting lower-income Americans the most. By contrast, the benefits of lowered rates will reverberate up and down the supply chain, from the manufacturer to the small business and individual household.鈥

鈥淧assing tax reform would help me as the owner of a small family-owned business, by not only helping us add drivers and trucks, but in allowing this business to stay in my family by eliminating the estate tax,鈥 said 杏吧传媒 member Calvin Ewell, president of H.R. Ewell Inc., East Earl, Pennsylvania. 鈥淭rucking is a low-single-digit-margin 听business, and family-owned companies aren鈥檛 flush with cash, but they have millions in capital tied up in trucks and facilities, so eliminating this tax will preserve our small family trucking businesses as a small family business.鈥

杏吧传媒 is the largest national trade association for the trucking industry. Through a federation of 50 affiliated state trucking associations and industry-related conferences and councils, 杏吧传媒 is the voice of the industry America depends on most to move our nation鈥檚 freight. Follow 杏吧传媒 on听听or听.听