In The News
TRUCC Act would require 100% pass-thru of fuel surcharges
GRAIN VALLEY, Mo. - Two U.S. Senators today have introduced a bill that would require 100 percent of fuel surcharges levied on shipping customers to be passed through to the person actually paying for the fuel, in most cases the truck driver.
The bill was introduced by Olympia Snowe, R-Maine, and Sherrod Brown, D-Ohio.
Called the TRUCC Act, which stands for “Truthful Reliable Understanding of Consumer Costs,†the bill “will go a long way toward helping truckers survive the brutal cost of fuel,†said Todd Spencer, executive vice president of the Owner-Operator Independent Drivers Association.
Spencer said the bill is necessary because middlemen push shippers to pay fuel surcharges but only pass along a portion to the truck drivers, the ones hauling the loads and paying for the fuel.
Independent owner-operators seldom deal directly with the shippers and acquire their loads through third-party logistics companies or through larger carriers they are leased on with as independent contractors.
Small- and mid-sized trucking firms that make up most of the trucking industry are being particularly hard hit by escalating diesel prices.
Snowe on Tuesday introduced the Diesel Tax Parity Act, which would lower the federal diesel tax from 24.3 cents to 18.3 cents a gallon, making it the same as gasoline. Diesel averages $4.34 a gallon in Maine and $4.20 nationwide, according to AAA.
OOIDA is the national trade association representing the interests of small business truckers and has more than 162,000 members nationwide.