David Bell started as the new president of the American Truck Dealers (ATD) last week. But Bell’s no stranger to the trucking space and the challenges faced by commercial vehicle dealer operations.
Before a recent spell with the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) as its director of the Office of Governmental Affairs, Policy and Strategic Planning, Bell spent five years at the National Automobile Dealers Association (NADA), supporting ATD initiatives in Washington and advocating on behalf of truck dealers.
It’s experience he’s eager to leverage as he returns to the association.
“I’m so excited to work on behalf of the ATD. I really love the membership and what they stand for,” Bell told TPS late last month. “Just how important they are to, not just the local communities and the states, and really the entire nation and the role that they have. It’s a really great fit.”
That fit means Bell is well versed on ATD’s many priorities for 2026.
Like outgoing president Jacqueline Gelb, Bell believes this is a great time for ATD to push for a Federal Excise Tax (FET) repeal in Washington. With the Surface Transportation Reauthorization set to expire on Sept. 30, Bell says Congress must act this summer to continue funding American roadways, which means ATD must demonstrate the pitfalls of the 12% excise tax on heavy trucks — the highest excise tax in the country.
ATD has been recruiting co-sponsors for a House bill to eliminate FET and Bell says that will continue, as will efforts to introduce a similar bill in the Senate. He believes there are legislators on both sides who will support the bills, but more bipartisan recruitment is necessary to get a repeal to the finish line.
“Repealing the FET is going to take an effort from both sides of the aisle,” he says. “It’s going to take dealership engagement, but I am optimistic moving forward.”
Bell also says ATD will remain “vocal on the Right to Repair issue,” and continue generating awareness on Capitol Hill of the PART Act to address component theft.
On the former, Bell says dealers and their OEM partners are monitoring a bill in Congress that would grant access to technical information to aftermarket entities in the light-, medium- and heavy-duty sectors. He says ATD continues to oppose the heavy-duty being included in the bill due to the complexity of today’s equipment.
Bell is equally committed to the PART Act, and believes the entire trucking industry should feel the same.
He says the legislation would address the theft of diesel particulate filters (DPF) and diesel oxidation catalysts (DOC) from heavy trucks due to the precious metals (rhodium, platinum and palladium) they contain. Equivalent to the catalytic converter theft epidemic that has impacted the automotive space for years, Bell believes sow is the time for ATD to act to protect dealers and consumers alike.
Finally, Bell says he’s eager to reengage with the dealer channel and wants dealers to feel the same about ATD.
He references the organization’s refreshed and rebranded Emerging Leaders group as a point of emphasis, but says ultimately he wants to increase member participation across everything the organization is doing.
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“The Emerging Leaders, the board. Those are our customers, so how can we be of better service to them?” he asks.
Bell believes a good starting point is generating engagement in upcoming events, like ATD’s Legislative Fly-In in June, or connecting legislators and regulators with dealers for visits to dealerships across the country.
“There’s no greater value [for government representatives] than seeing what you’re legislating, seeing what you’re regulating,” Bell says, adding he’s hopeful dealers will continue to be willing “to take time away from their business to show up and advocate for the issues that matter to them most, but at the same time matter to society.”
