Trucking moves America forward

MTAC President Joe Sculley’s Op Ed in CT Mirror’s Viewpoints. Did you know that 94 percent of manufactured tonnage transported in Connecticut is moved by truck? That’s according to data from the U.S. government’s most recent Commodity Flow Survey. This figure almost single-handedly proves the phrase, “if you bought it, a truck brought it.” With…

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MTAC President Joe Sculley’s Op Ed in CT Mirror’s Viewpoints.

Did you know that 94 percent of manufactured tonnage transported in Connecticut is moved by truck? That’s according to data from the U.S. government’s most recent Commodity Flow Survey. This figure almost single-handedly proves the phrase, “if you bought it, a truck brought it.”

With that in mind, policy makers need to consider the impacts of their proposals on the trucking industry. Businesses do not simply absorb the cost of taxes, and trucking companies are no different. If everything we buy is transported by truck, then common sense holds that increasing costs for truck transportation through the creation of new taxes, like tolls, will ultimately mean higher prices paid for consumer goods by Connecticut residents.

Consider other current events for comparison. Many business leaders are warning that tariffs are increasing their cost of doing business, and because of that consumers will pay more. The same thing is true of tolls and trucking. Tolls increase the cost of moving freight, and consumers will pay more because of it.

Did you also know that the trucking industry employs more than 59,000 people in Connecticut? Recent data shows that total trucking industry wages paid in Connecticut are more than $3.2 billion annually, with an average annual salary of $53,430. The next time someone tries to pitch tolls as a way to get money from trucks, don’t be fooled. That proposal is an attack on the middle class in Connecticut. Middle class employees will be negatively impacted, and so will anyone who buys something at a store in Connecticut.

See the complete post in CT Viewpoints online.

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