Congress to Weigh '07 Tax Credits

rucking officials said they expected legislators soon would introduce in Congress a measure providing financial incentives to fleets that purchase the next generation of cleaner-burning diesel engines in 2007.

James Whittinghill, American Trucking Associations’ senior vice president of legislative affairs, said June 8 he expected Sens. Gordon Smith (R-Ore.) and Blanche Lincoln (D-Ark.) would sponsor the bill. ATA said the measure was planned to be introduced as early as Tuesday.

Trucking companies would get a credit of 5% of the cost of “EPA-compliant diesel equipment . . . [that] could be used against the taxpayer’s regular tax or [alternative minimum tax] liability,” Smith said in a draft of his statement introducing the legislation.