Associated Equipment Distributors said that the Fast Act would pump $13.27 billion into the equipment industry and support more than 4,000 dealership jobs each year.
“This is more than a philosophical victory. Equipment dealers, manufacturers and their customers can now once again plan for the future,” AED president and CEO Brian McGuire said. “Over the next five years, the hundreds of billions of dollars in federal highway and transit investment guaranteed in the bill will stimulate more than $13 billion in equipment sales, rental and maintenance activity and support more than 4,000 dealership jobs each year.”
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The numbers, seen in a year-by-year breakdown below, come from a AED-funded study by George Mason University professor Stephen Fuller and are based on the fact that each dollar spent on infrastructure projects generates 6.4 cents in the construction equipment market.
And while the organization was quick to commend the boost the FAST Act will give the equipment industry, the AED did find fault with Congress failing to raise the gas tax. The organization wanted a highway bill that replenished the Highway Trust Fund with increased user fees.
“The FAST Act is a major victory for transportation advocates and we thank Speaker Ryan for making it the top priority during his first weeks in office. But our work isn’t finished. AED will continue to press Congress to create new, sustainable revenue streams for the Highway Trust Fund to ensure the chaos surrounding the program in recent years is an historical aberration and not the new normal,” McGuire said.
