Truckers accuse Trump of "slaughtering" trucking while they voted for him



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Morris Coffman has been a truck driver for 35 years. And he's been conservative for even longer than that – all his life.

"That said," Coffman told Business Insider, "[Trump] is absolutely a moron. His idiotic ideas will energize even more the economy. "

Truckers, like Coffman, lean conservative. An analysis of data from the Federal Election Commission by Verdant Labs revealed that nearly three-quarters of the truck drivers are Republicans – one of the most conservative jobs in America, alongside surgeons and farmers.

According to a survey conducted by Overdrive magazine in 2016, truck drivers overwhelmingly supported Trump. About 75% of them had planned to vote for Trump, against 66% of those who supported Senator Mitt Romney, Republican presidential candidate in 2012.

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But a sharp drop in the trucking industry and a series of tax changes have hindered their ability to earn a living. And many connect these two trends to Trump's economic policies.

"It did not affect our business in a positive way," said a truck driver who asked to be quoted anonymously for fear of seeing their small business suffer. "It kills our business.If consumers do not buy, there is no demand.It's really not because of my political tendencies, it's pure case."

Trump's tax shuffle in 2017 has forced many truck drivers to pay hundreds of taxes this year, due to a change in the legislation on per diems. Dennis Bridges, a tax accountant for truckers, told Mother Jones in April that 75% of his clients had received an unusually high tax, and about 20% had to pay more than $ 5,000.

It might have been bearable in 2018, when trucking capacity was reduced, the sector was making money, and truckers saw their wages go up. But now, trucking's "bloodbath," as Coffman and other truckers describe it, has resulted in low rates and low pay for truckers. Trucking has been in recession since the end of 2018.

Read more: 2,500 truck drivers lost their jobs in 2019 as the transport "bloodshed" continues. Here is the complete list of trucking companies in bankruptcy.

Transportation research groups reported that the volume of trucks purchased in July was at its lowest level in almost 10 years. The number of shipments to be moved to the spot market fell 37% in July from a year ago, and rates fell 18%.

"I have witnessed many ups and downs in the industry, but nothing like it," Coffman told Business Insider. "Many, many owner-operators and drivers have lost equipment or jobs in the past year."

The Cass Freight Index indicates that trucking volumes have declined for eight consecutive months. In June, growth in plant activity was the lowest since October 2016, according to the Institute for Supply Management. This means that the manufacturers did not receive as many orders and that there was less to move.

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Truckers say the decline in the number of manufacturing industries – which they say is related to Trump's trade war – is one of the reasons why there are so few jobs.

"The truth about so low rates is Trump's commercial policy," said JL Sims, a truck driver, at Business Insider. "The manufacturers are scared.The number of jobs in the manufacturing industry last month has finally started to reflect the reduction in production.Everyone is looking at the unemployment rate and thinks, wrongly, that the economy is in very good shape, the manufacturing sector tells the real story. "

Read more: Truckers can not pay for their gas cards, and it's a "sure sign" that more trucking bankruptcies are coming

Trucking industry analysts are reluctant to establish the same type of relationship.

DAT Solutions senior analysts, Mark Montague and Peggy Dorf, had previously told Business Insider that the global trade slowdown had affected only parts of the trucking industry in the United States.

Experts said that an exceptionally dynamic 2018 year could be the main reason for slowing trucking. Last year, trucking was incredibly profitable, with unprecedented bankruptcies, remarkably high rates, eight-month waiting lists for new trucks, and huge salaries.

"I think the market is correcting itself," Cowen's Jason Seidl told Business Insider earlier. "Basically, we put too much capacity on the market, and you found that the rates went down very hard, the market can only bear a part of it, so it corrects itself. market that corrects itself. "

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Whatever the cause of the economic downturn, truckers are a key demographic that any politician must target. The segment of truckers called owner-operators, for example – who are independent rather than corporate drivers – is very involved in politics at the national level.

According to the Independent Owner-Operator Association, nearly 90% of voters are registered, compared to about 78% of the general population. More than half contacted an elected official.

Trump has already served truckers, pledging to reduce taxes to help their businesses. "America is first and foremost putting American truckers in the foreground," he said at an event for truckers in 2017.

But truckers, including the Conservatives, do not believe Trump has kept his promise.

"You can not make your way to a good economy," said Coffman.

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