With fewer than 50 days remaining until the 2024 presidential election, financial support for campaigns coming from trucking interests remains tilted heavily to former President Donald Trump, based on contribution figures compiled by OpenSecrets.
As of the latest Federal Election Commission data released on Aug. 21, as mined by OpenSecrets, trucking companies and organizations have donated $8.8 million to political campaigns during the 2024 election cycle -- 84.93% of which has gone to Republican campaigns.
2024 donations from trucking are so far well short of the donations lodged during the last presidential election cycle in 2020, during which trucking donors contributed $19.5 million to campaigns. In 2016, trucking donated a total of $9.7 million.
In the presidential race, Trump has received $733,918 from trucking donors during the 2024 election cycle, by far the most of any presidential candidate. Though she dropped out of the race more than six months ago, former Republican candidate Nikki Haley has received the second-highest amount from trucking contributors at $103,145.
[Related: Where's Trump VP pick J.D. Vance stands on speed limiters, brokering fraud, parking]
Vice President Kamala Harris ranks third among presidential candidates receiving donations from trucking at $102,321 -- considerably higher than the $38,932 President Joe Biden had brought in from trucking donors when he was still the Democratic Party candidate in April.
Outside of the presidential race, Rep. Sam Graves (R-Missouri) is the top recipient from trucking donors, having brought in $92,050. Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) is next among non-presidential candidates, bringing in $70,421 from trucking donors, followed by Rep. Kevin McCarthy (R-California) at $70,217.
Top trucking contributors during the 2024 election cycle so far include Prime Inc. ($1,188,509); the American Trucking Associations ($395,968); Centra Inc. ($395,690); WB Transport ($386,274); and Select Dedicated Solutions ($362,669).
Other companies with trucking ties have also contributed significantly to campaigns, though OpenSecrets does not include them as part of its calculation of trucking contributions. UPS has contributed a total of $2,259,249, with $1,192,083 of that going to Republican campaigns. FedEx has donated $1,971,752, with $1,313,865 of that to Republicans. Penske Corp. has donated $1,154,576, with most of that going to outside conservative spending groups.
Among the top 20 trucking contributors, only one -- WB Transport -- has donated more to Democratic campaigns than Republican campaigns.
[Related: Will you vote? Resources on registration, early vote, absentee ballots and more]
If you haven't as yet, weigh in on our presidential poll below. Note: Since it was initially created, Robert F. Kennedy Jr.'s independent candidacy was partially suspended as he pledged his support in the close battleground states to the Republican ticket, though his name will remain on many states' ballots.
