ATA Continues Transformation

The last year of the 20th century was a period of rebuilding for American Trucking Associations, which began a top-to-bottom restructuring in 1998.

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ATA under President Walter B. McCormick Jr. brought in a number of new faces to enhance its advocacy efforts involving federal policies, legal affairs and media coverage. Among the hires were David Addington as general counsel, Beth Law as head of the ATA Litigation Center and Tom Amontree as vice president of strategic communications.

The ATA Foundation refocused its research efforts on safety and human factors, environmental issues and information technology. The Litigation Center began exploring ways to head off class-action lawsuits against trucking.

table width=110 align=left border=0>In February, the ATA board of directors approved a $54.4 million investment budget that included a $2.9 million operating deficit to help pay for an anticipated 25% drop in dues — part of the restructuring in which discount rates were eliminated. More money was also allocated for information technology to improve the association’s Web sites and publications, including Transport Topics.

For the full story, see the Jan. 10 print edition of Transport Topics. Subscribe today.