To address the nation’s ongoing supply chain crisis, U.S. Rep. Brian Mast (R-FL) on July 18 sponsored five separate bills aimed at ending unnecessary regulations and taxes imposed on America’s truck drivers.
“For almost a year, families have struggled to get the items that they need from refrigerators to baby formula. It should not be that way in America,” Rep. Mast said. “This is the most efficient economy in the world, and only when the government gets in the way do private companies get stuck.”
According to the congressman’s staff, the U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT) for more than two years has waived certain requirements under the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, demonstrating what Rep. Mast thinks is the needlessness of the standards.
In fact, during a July 19 hearing held by the U.S. House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee that featured DOT Secretary Pete Buttigieg, Rep. Mast questioned the double standards and unnecessary requirements imposed on truckers.
“Today, it became clear that the administration has no plan to get America moving, and so I’m introducing five bills that will force them into action to cut red tape and let truckers drive,” said Rep. Mast later that day.
According to bill summaries provided by the congressman’s staff, the five bills are:
- H.R. 8411, which would extend the permissible length of a semitrailer from 28 feet to 33 feet so that trucks could transport more goods.
- H.R. 8412, which would increase the permissible weight of a semitrailer from 80,000 pounds to 97,000 pounds to increase the amount of goods that may be transported at one time.
- H.R. 8413, which would repeal certain taxes imposed on heavy trucks and trailers sold at retail.
- H.R. 8414, which would repeal the current diesel fuel excise tax of 24.3 cents per gallon to lower the overall cost of goods.
- H.R. 8417, which would permanently repeal a DOT regulation restricting the number of hours truckers are allowed to drive.
The bills would build upon the Supplying America Needs Truckers Aged (SANTA) 18 Act, H.R. 5847, which Rep. Mast sponsored in November 2021 to expand the number of drivers eligible to pick up goods at a port and transport those goods to an endpoint within the same state, according to a bill summary provided by his office.
H.R. 5847, which has 19 Republican original cosponsors, including U.S. Reps. Mariannette Miller-Meeks (R-IA), Troy Balderson (R-OH), and John Moolenaar (R-MI), is under consideration in the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee.