This commentary is by Dana Doran, who is the executive director of Professional Logging Contractors of the Northeast.
It has been said that silence can be a loud cry for help, and for Vermont’s logging and forest trucking industry, the silence right now is deafening.
This industry asks for relatively little help in exchange for the major benefits it provides. As loggers struggle quietly in the woods of Vermont to survive the most difficult times they have ever faced, the state Legislature has an opportunity to provide relief with a sales tax exemption on repair parts for log trucks and trailers before this legislative session ends.
The effort to secure such relief began in 2025 with identical bills in the state House and Senate, H.85 and S.46, to exempt log trucks and trailers from both the purchase and use tax and the sales tax. H.85 never moved forward, and a significantly pared-down version of S.46 moved from the Senate to the House, only to stall for more than a year.
This year, efforts to move forward with the sales tax exemption on repair parts for log trucks and trailers finally have a chance to succeed. In mid-April, the Senate Agriculture Committee agreed to include the sales tax exemption in the House miscellaneous agricultural bill. Loggers and forest truckers are now waiting for the committee to take a final vote on this so it can move to the Senate Finance and Senate Appropriations committees for further action.
Make no mistake, this relief is critical to the industry as it grapples with rising costs and declining markets, forcing many companies to the edge of insolvency. The cost of trucks has more than doubled in the last decade, due in part to the cost of mandatory Tier 4 engines designed to reduce emissions, although that increase is preventing many in the logging industry from upgrading to these lower-emissions engines. The sales tax exemption would put Vermont loggers on a more equal footing with those in neighboring states, including Maine, New Hampshire and New York, where such exemptions already exist.
According to a recent study on the economic impact of Northeast logging and forest trucking, the sector in Vermont generates $140 million in economic output, supports 1,300 jobs, produces an estimated $9 million in tax revenue, and is the foundation of the entire $2.1 billion forest products economy. But, like its counterparts in neighboring states, the sector is under strain from a perfect storm of market, weather and financial pressures.
The survey results show an industry under substantial stress. Firms across the region reported a significant decline in their ability to sell or harvest wood over the past five years. More than 70% of contractors experienced either moderate or significant decreases in market access and pricing. Contractors face shrinking markets, rising operating costs and persistent labor shortages, challenges that are amplified for larger firms and those operating in regions with recent mill closures.
In Vermont, more than 125 total jobs and more than $11 million in total economic output have been lost since 2019. Logging is arguably Vermont’s oldest heritage industry, and it is vital to the state’s economy and character. A responsible and thriving logging industry is also Vermont’s best asset in the effort to conserve its forestland for future generations by managing forest health and protecting woodland from development.
Before the General Assembly leaves for the year, I would urge legislators to support the sales tax exemption and provide some help to an industry that rarely asks for it but needs it now more than ever.
