Following the 2016 elections, America woke to a clean Republican sweep that virtually no one could have predicted. President-elect Trump has the opportunity to drive an unprecedented agenda. This fast-moving agenda could impact the country for decades to come.
Trump's "go big or go home" approach to infrastructure is long overdue. Trucking embraces this vision so strongly we’re willing to pay even more for the roads and bridges we depend on to move 70 percent of the nation’s freight. That's right: We want to raise our fuel tax and index it, too. The president-elect understands business and knows proven investments in one's business pay long-term dividends to the economy. We stand ready to pay more than our fair share and make the promise this president-elect made to the nation an immediate reality.
Trucking moves 76 percent of the surface freight for the North American Free Trade Agreement. Trade and trucking are synonymous, and trucking is often the first to feel the impact of changes in trade policy. To that end, we will work with President-elect Trump and Congress to ensure trade makes economic sense to America.
Recent presidents have increasingly relied on unilateral action, such as regulations and executive orders. This is undemocratic, and we hope to work with the Trump Administration and Congress to roll back these orders and regulations, and focus on jobs, domestic energy, and fair labor laws. While this election has many questioning the future, it's the future that could be the answer. Innovation and what it could do for safety, the environment, and the economy by way of connected, autonomous vehicle technologies is a question worth exploring.
For 83 years, American Trucking Associations has helped shape and determine current and future policies that impact transportation and our great nation, and we look forward to continuing working with the incoming administration and Congress to build infrastructure, tax, trade, and regulatory policies that are good for jobs, the economy, and the future of America.