Can I please get independant truck driver's opinions on the proposed Gas Tax Holiday?

Question

We are doing a debate for school and we have the 'Pro' Gas Tax Holiday side. We want to use the affect on independant truck drivers as our 'storyline.' We are proposing that the trucker's savings will make its way down to the consumer, which will benefit society as a whole. We would like to hear from truck drivers that are owner-operators and drivers that work for small companies. Thanks!

Answer 1

Well, I can give you my opinion....as someone who's worked for owner/operators and someone currently driving for a small company.  

But, I'm not in favor of the gas tax holiday, so I don't know if it'll help you.  

Basically, it can cost anywhere from $10,000 to $15,000 dollars to fuel a truck every month.  Solo drivers run an average of 2800-3200 miles per week, many trucks average 5 miles per gallon, and fuel is anywhere from 4.60-5.20 across the US.....that's how I'm getting my figures.  

The federal diesel tax is 24 cents per gallon, which brings the price of gas down to the $4.46-4.96 range across the country.  That is still nearly DOUBLE the price of fuel this time, last year.  

And the savings add up to around 150 dollars per week, 600 dollars per month.  That isn't even enough to purchase a new steer tire, or make an insurance payment, let alone "pass savings down to the consumer".   Most independent truckers are barely making ends meet as it is....an extra 600 bucks a month may help truckers with their routine maintenance or repair costs, but won't enable them to haul freight for cheaper rates.  

Food costs are high for many reasons- one of which is the high cost of corn, driven up by ethanol.....Corn is in everything from cereal to Coca-Cola (corn syrup), not to mention it takes corn to produce milk, eggs and meat....the farmers have to spend more to raise their animals and this substantially drives up the cost of food, even BEFORE it gets on a truck and goes to the store!  

I suppose if you really wanted to make a "pro" gas tax holiday argument, you could go the "every little bit helps" route, and propose that with the extra money, independent truckers could afford to stay in business a little longer.  It'd ease a bit of the burden.  They'd be able to continue putting their earnings into the economy by buying food & commodities, along with the average car driver having an extra 50 bucks per month to pay for food.  The lower the unemployment rates, the stronger the economy will remain.  The more truckers there are to haul products, the more competition there is for lower freight rates, and it's more likely rates will stay low.  The more independent businesses in existence in our country, the more money being funneled into the system in the form of taxes.  (Truckers pay taxes quarterly that are quite a bit more substantial than the diesel tax!)  

There are arguments you could make in favor of it, but honestly I don't see where it'd really impact the consumer directly.  Just my personal opinion, and I hope it didn't totally waste your time :)