Legislative Priorities

OTA advocates and advances issues at the Ohio Statehouse on behalf of the trucking industry. We take your problems and find solutions, that is what we do best.

The legislative agenda is directed and monitored by our Legislative Committee. The committee membership is open to all current members of the association and meets monthly by conference call.

Below is a list of priorities we are currently working on at the Ohio Statehouse.

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Limited to Third Party Litigation Financing

Protecting the industry from lawsuit abuse remains a priority for the Ohio Trucking Association. We created the Lawsuit Abuse Task Force within the Association to develop a comprehensive proposal that will increase transparency and create a better legal climate for trucking companies in Ohio.

• Status: SB 10 was introduced by Senators Steve Wilson and George Lang, which puts guardrails around the third-party litigation financing industry, which largely contributes to enormous settlements and verdicts in cases against trucking companies.  HB 105 was introduced as companion legislation by Representatives Meredith Craig and Jim Thomas. We remain committed to protecting our members from lawsuit abuse and will stay involved in the legislative process.

Sales Tax Exemption for Forklifts

Ohio currently exempts sales and use tax for forklifts purchased for manufacturing, yet does not extend this tax exemption for those in the logistics industry like our neighboring state of Indiana. This puts Ohio’s logistics industry, as well as Ohio-based forklift manufacturers and retailers, at a competitive disadvantage.

• Status: SB 126 was introduced by Senator Shane Wilkin this General Assembly.  Senator Wilkin has introduced this legislation in the past, and is actively assisting OTA in including this legislation in the operating budget, HB 96.

Tort Reform

While traditionally, Ohio has been a better venue for trucking-related court cases, that has degraded over the years. As efforts have been adopted in other states, the Ohio Trucking Association developed the Lawsuit Abuse Task Force to identify areas of law that could be amended to make Ohio a more amenable environment for trucking companies. The task force identified six focus areas—litigation finance, anchoring, marketing, staged accidents, phantom damages, and punitive damages caps.

• Status: While Third-Party Litigation Financing reform has been the focus, OTA is continuing to develop strategies to seek broader tort reform changes and identifying partners in the legislature to help us accomplish this.

Fuel Tax Parity

During the 2019 transportation funding bill the legislature increased the revenue for roads in the form of a fuel tax increase, something the Ohio Trucking Association supported, but they increased the diesel tax by 8.5 cents more than gasoline. This is the first time in Ohio’s history that the fuel tax has been bifurcated. While we advocated for paying our fair share, trucking now pays well over 50% of the taxes and fees for Ohio’s roads, while only operating 10% of the total vehicle miles. The Ohio Trucking Association is resolute in our policy that we will not support any increase or indexing of the diesel tax until the gasoline tax rate is raised to match diesel tax.

• Status: There have not been attempts to further increase Ohio’s fuel tax; however, there were efforts in the 134th Ohio General Assembly to reduce the fuel tax to pre-2019 levels. OTA is continuing to monitor activity in the 136^th General Assembly.

VIN Verification

Ohio is one of many states that require VINs to be visually verified by qualified individuals, such as dealers or law enforcement. Ohio law also requires that those inspections physically occur in the state. For trucking companies purchasing vehicles from out of state, such as in an acquisition, the logistics of getting the vehicle back to Ohio for inspection and then back to its original location is costly and takes the vehicle out of production. A small change in the law would eliminate the requirement for verification in Ohio and save trucking companies time and money while still achieving the goal of protection from theft.

• Status: OTA is working with the newly-formed Ohio Trucking Caucus to identify a legislative champion for this issue to include either in HB 96 or other legislation.

Continued Funding of CDL Student Aid Program

To date, OTA has secured over $10 million for the Commercial Truck Driver Student Aid Program, in partnership with the Ohio Department of Higher Education and many supporters in the General Assembly.  As Governor DeWine enters his final operating budget, and as the 136^th General Assembly with new leadership, OTA is actively working to continue this funding for the FY2025-2026 budget years.

• Status: HB 96, the operating budget for the 136^th General Assembly, is currently under review in the Ohio Senate.  OTA worked to secure $5.1 million for this program in the as-introduced version of HB 96, and worked further to increase that to $6 million in the House-passed version. OTA will continue to work to defend this funding throughout the rest of the budget process, which is required to be concluded by the end of June 2025.

 For-Hire Motor Carrier Sales Tax Exemption

Ohio law provides a sales tax exemption on vehicles and equipment that are primarily used in highway transportation for hire (TH). Those eligible for the TH exemption need to provide the Ohio Department of Taxation their PUCO number or their Interstate Commerce Commission number. Unfortunately, the Department of Taxation is often requiring companies to verify their tax exempt eligibility on each purchase. This antiquated process has become an accounting and administrative burden on companies, which are being forced to provide verification on hundreds of purchases. This process needs to be streamlined to allow Ohio’s for-hire motor carriers to more easily verify their tax exempt status.

• Status: The Ohio Trucking Association has coordinated meetings with the Department of Taxation and impacted members to discuss ideas on how to improve the verification process.

Updated Spring, 2025