Affects on trucking from no overtime tax 2025-2028

First and foremost everyone, let's keep the politics out of this thread. We have a separate and private forum on here for that, where me and everyone else will be happy to debate.

This thread is SOLEY about the no federal taxes on overtime from 2025 - 2028 (so federal taxes on overtime will resume on January 01, 2029) and how this will affect the trucking industry.

Some questions to consider:

1. If the economy booms, does this create pressure on OTR companies to raise the CPM pay if they can't keep enough drivers, due to there being no overtime for CPM and drivers fleeing the CPM for the hourly positions the first chance they get?

2. Do trucking companies decide to raise what working hours the overtime kicks in?

3. Do trucking companies who pay by the hour adjust their pay scales accordingly and LOWER them, because they know drivers are going to get the same amount on their paychecks every week thanks to no overtime tax. And thus, the companies are the only ones to benefit from the no taxes on overtime because no taxes on overtime allows the companies to lower their salaries.

4. Does the no taxes on overtime perhaps start a reform for how OTR drivers are paid?

5. Who do you guys think will ultimately benefit from this, the workers, the employers or a mixture of both?

Thoughts on these questions, new ideas and predictions welcome.

 

So I did some more research and I thought this was some more good information to share for discussion. It says this (from two different sources):

From 2025 through 2028, workers can deduct overtime pay from federal income tax.

The deduction is capped at $12,500 for single filers and $25,000 for married couples filing jointly. The break begins to phase out for single filers making $150,000 or more ($300,000 for joint filers) and is unavailable to those making more than $275,000, or $550,000 for couples.

It’s important to note this isn’t an immediate paycheck change. Employers will still withhold federal taxes from tips and OT throughout 2025. Workers will see the savings when they file their taxes in early 2026.

 

You bring up an excellent point. Do you think the federal government will leave it up to trucking companies to choose how they want to set their overtime parameters, like they do now?

If so, does any trucker or groups of truckers (especially unionized truckers) bring a lawsuit to the courts, demanding OT at 40 from their employer's so that they're not discriminated against as far as taxation is concerned, with this new law that passed?

Or does the federal government come in almost a century after the FLSA laws were passed that exempted trucking from overtime, and finally legally redefine what overtime laws should look like in trucking?

What about the dock workers, who for some reason despite not needing CDL's for their jobs are somehow exempt from overtime as well?

You're absolutely right, it's going to get very interesting.