Page 34 - Arkansas Trucking Report Volume 23 Issue 2

President Trump speaks at tax the Hill to carry the water, and we did.
rally in Penn. And we won it.”
Spear is referring to the tax rally
in Pennsylvania, at which a truck and
trailer wrapped in a red, white, and blue
message, “Truckers for Tax Reform,” was
the backdrop for the President’s unveil-
ing of his tax reform plan.
The final plan that Pres. Trump
signed into law in Dec. permanently
reduces the corporate tax rate from
35 percent to 21 percent. ATA has
canvassed members after the reform
passed, and over 50% say they are giv-
ing it back in the form of employee pay,
bonuses, pensions. Nearly 50% said
they were going to invest it in brand
new safer equipment.
“You can go and talk to publicly
traded companies on Wall Street and
“WE ARE NOW AN 85-YEAR-OLD ASSOCIATION, ask, What did you do with the money?
A 50-STATE ASSOCIATION. WHERE WASHINGTON How many invested it back into salaries,
MAY BE INCAPABLE OF, OR EVEN UNWILLING TO, bonuses, pensions, retirement, and you
ADVANCE CERTAIN ISSUES THAT ARE IMPORTANT TO hardly get one hand to come up,” Spear
says.
OUR INDUSTRY, YOU STILL HAVE A TREMENDOUS “[The White House] picked the
AMOUNT OF LEVERAGE WITH OUR STATE right partner in trucking. We did
ASSOCIATIONS, WITH OUR STATE EXECUTIVES, WITH everything right. We used the Call
THE MEMBERS BACK HOME.” on Washington program. We worked
the coalitions with the Chamber of
Commerce and beyond. We worked
through our Truck-PAC to really culti-
“And they are part of the electorate. CARVING ANOTHER PATH vate the right environment to pass that
They are part of the voting block that When Congress is slow to fix issues legislation. That was a big, BIG measur-
sent these senators, house members like the meal and rest break require- able win for our industry that is going
and the administration to represent ments in California that conflict with to pay dividends for years to come.
them. And while certain times here the federal standard, Spear says ATA has That is more money in their pocket to
in Washington, [our efforts] don’t a Plan B, Plan C, and is willing to keep spend on their employees, their equip-
particularly help move the needle, put- planning until the job is done.(Read ment, their companies and grow the
ting somebody that is from back home more on how this issue is complicating industry long-term in ways that we
in front of them and holding them interstate commerce on Page 19.) The couldn’t have envisioned prior to that,
accountable, can.” Courts, the Agencies, and then work- so that was big.”
He explains that the federation ing directly with the White House are
isn’t just made up of a few big business- all options for resolving problems. ATA PATRIOTISM, THE CONSTITUTION,
es, membership reaches into every state, doesn’t give up at road blocks. It carves AND THE FUEL TAX
every region, every congressional dis- another path. And the next big priority is infra-
trict in the United States. There aren’t a Last Oct., that path went straight structure. While it should be obvious
lot of associations based in Washington to Pres. Trump. common ground and has been one
that can say the same. “The U.S. hadn’t passed compre- of Pres. Trump’s usual talking points
“Leveraging your reach into a rep- hensive tax reform since 1986. We were before and since the election, in the last
resentative’s backyard is a really, really the ones, our members, ATA launched 15 months, it’s been pushed further
critical element in getting them moti- the legislative phase of that for this and further down Congress’s calendar,
vated and engaged in championing our president in Harrisburg, Penn. He called in place of much more divisive tasks,
cause.” on us, and then dispatched us through 

34 Issue 2 2018 | ARKANSAS TRUCKING REPORT