A congressman and gubernatorial candidate from South Carolina says that the state is relying too heavily on truckers to foot the tax bill.
Norman says that the state of South Carolina has been double taxing truckers, forcing them to pay more than their fair share of the tax burden.
“Truckers are the lifeline in South Carolina. They deliver our food to our grocery stores, gas to our gas stations, and medical supplies to our hospitals. It doesn’t get there without truckers.”
Norman also states that load violations for truckers have gone up over the last 45 days, costing drivers over $1,000. Some drivers even say that road restriction changes have been made without any warning, and that often drivers are forced to drive an hour out of their way to avoid these restrictions.
“Somewhere these things should be posted. Let us know what’s going on. Don’t wait till I come out here, going to work, cross this bridge, you blue-light me and now you give me a ticket,” Stanley Clowney, owner of Metro Express Carriers said to Fox Carolina.
Clowney says he pays more than $5,000 in state taxes on his three CMVs each year.
“It’s costly for us to run these trucks and I just think something needs to be done about it,” Clowney continued. “It tears up the road. It also tears up our trucks. That’s something that we have to figure out. I think that we pay our fair share. I don’t think it’s fair that we have to pay the bulk and carry the bulk of the load. We’re moving products, goods, and raw materials. If we don’t run, we can’t live, we can’t function,” Clowney said. We just need to figure out how to earmark that money in the proper place and be fair.”
“If a defunct bridge that’s 60 years old has not had any attention, that’s intolerable and that’s unacceptable,” gubernatorial candidate Norman said. “If they can find money to build museums, to give away our tax money, frivolous things, we’re gonna reprioritize that. The bottom line is, this isn’t their fault. This is the government’s fault for not fixing it. We’re gonna change that.”
The state has directed approximately $400 million into bridge repair over the last year, with additional funds expected.