Lawmakers want to eliminate a tax they say can add as much as $30,000 to the cost of a tractor-trailer.
Sens. Todd Young, R-Ind., and Angela Alsobrooks, D-Md., introduced the Modern, Clean and Safe Trucks Act on Tuesday, June 2. S4657 would repeal a 12% federal truck tax.
“Repealing this tax is a simple step that can help the American trucking industry and consumers,” Sen. Young said in a news release. “This tax hurts the small businesses and independent truckers that are the core of American trucking, and it promotes the usage of older, less efficient trucks. Cutting the federal excise tax on heavy-duty trucks and trailers will lead to newer, safer and cleaner trucks on America’s roads.”
The American Trucking Associations supports the bill, saying the tax that started in 1917 is outdated.
“Keeping this antiquated tax on the books imposes an enormous hardship – particularly for the family businesses and independent truckers who make up the overwhelming majority of trucking,” ATA President Chris Spear said. “Removing this burden will allow motor carriers to replace their trucks and trailers with modern, safer and cleaner equipment, which will in turn provide a boost to U.S. manufacturing jobs.”
However, the group that represents small-business truckers has concerns about the bill. Although the Owner-Operator Independent Drivers Association is not against eliminating a tax, the organization said it can’t support the bill without knowing the offset, or how the feds will try to make up for the lost tax revenue.
“While we would support any proposal that might provide financial relief to our members, it’s unlikely that a (federal excise tax) repeal would benefit small-business truckers,” Bryce Mongeon, OOIDA’s director of legislative affairs, said when the House version of the bill was introduced in 2025. “We know our members typically purchase used trucks and hold on to them for a long time. A (federal excise tax) suspension would also create a significant shortfall in the Highway Trust Fund, and without a proposal to address this deficit, we are concerned a future offset would disproportionately burden small-business truckers.”
To reinforce that point, the bill’s text says that “Congress should consider a more reliable and consistent revenue mechanism to fund the Highway Trust Fund.” However, it doesn’t specify what that new revenue mechanism should be.
The Modern, Clean and Safe Trucks Act has been introduced multiple times in the House and Senate but has failed to come close to passing as a standalone bill. The House version, which was introduced by the late Rep. Doug LaMalfa, R-Calif., in 2025, has 10 co-sponsors. LL
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