Photo by Gage Skidmore
President-elect Donald Trump’s has selected U.S. Representative Sean Duffy as his nomination for Secretary of Transportation. The trucking industry has largely responded positively to the announcement.
Duffy’s political resume is as a former Wisconsin Republican congressman, who served for 8 years from 2011 to 2019. Prior to that, he served as the district attorney of Ashland County. Much media attention has also been given to his time as a Fox News personality, a reality TV show contestant, and even a lumberjack.
Of course, Duffy’s record is what’s most important when looking at what he will do as the head of the Department of Transportation, the agency in charge of the country’s highways, railroads, ports, and aviation network. The DOT carries a budget of about $110 billion with 57,000 employees.
As a member of the House, Duffy supported reducing regulations and easing regulatory compliance for small business, moves that are welcomed by trucking companies. He also supported some investments in infrastructure, a critical issue for the trucking industry.
Duffy also supported an Electronic Logging Device (ELD) exemption that would have allowed truck drivers with good safety records to opt out of the strict Hours of Service compliance that comes along with such devices. The exemption, supported by the Owner Operator Independent Drivers Association, ultimately failed to pass.
The former congressman is considered to be more pro-business than pro-labor, which should be something to keep an eye on when the interests of trucking companies and their company driver employees begin to clash. It is also expected that Duffy will support relaxing emissions regulations and be less concerned with environmental issues.
The American Trucking Associations (ATA) came out with a quick endorsement of the pick. In an official statement, CEO Chris Spear said:
“During his time in the House, Sean Duffy was focused on issues facing our industry and supported pro-trucking policies to strengthen the supply chain and our ability to keep the nation’s goods moving safely and efficiently.”
President-elect Trump wrote about Duffy: “He will prioritize Excellence, Competence, Competitiveness and Beauty when rebuilding America’s highways, tunnels, bridges and airports.”