ATA Extends Graves’ Tenure as President for Three Years

American Trucking Associations said it has reached agreement on a three-year contract extension with Bill Graves, which will keep him president of the federation through 2014.

“By retaining Gov. Graves, the members of ATA are sending a strong message: that, despite the challenges we face in Washington, the professional staff of ATA is doing an exemplary job of advancing the goals and interests of the trucking industry,” new ATA Chairman Dan England said in a statement.

ATA’s board approved the contract during the association’s Management Conference & Exhibition earlier this month.

Graves has been president of ATA since early 2003. He was hired in October 2001, but he completed his second four-year term of governor of the state of Kansas before formally taking charge of the trucking group.

“I’m very excited, and I’m very pleased,” Graves told Transport Topics. “I do love the industry and I love what I do, and I certainly enjoy the people I work with, both the professional staff and the industry,” he said.

“I’m excited about the next three years,” Graves, 58, said.

Former ATA Chairman Tommy Hodges, chairman of Titan Transfer, called Graves a “great leader and advocate for our industry.” “He understands our issues, he understands the different players, he understands the different functions that we have within the industry,” he said.

Graves’ nine years at ATA have been marked by major economic shifts. He arrived in 2003, with the United States still struggling to recover following an economic downturn that accelerated following the 9/11 terrorist attacks.

Trucking then enjoyed solid growth for much of the next four years, before another downturn took hold in 2008 through the recession.

“I’m certainly looking forward to what I think will be now a recovery for our industry and for the economy in the next two to three years,” Graves told TT. “I expect it to be a more enjoyable time to lead this trade association, and I expect it to be a more profitable time for our members.”

Reflecting on his time at ATA’s helm thus far, he said: “We’ve been getting a lot done. We haven’t just been sitting still. I don’t think I’d be back for three more years if we had been.” He noted the creation in recent years of task forces to help shape the ATA’s sustainability and safety programs have proved successful.

“We constantly talk about how committed we are to safety and how committed we are to being environmentally responsible, but I think those two initiatives . . . really allowed use to frame it in a more formalized way and package it in a manner that has really supplemented and benefited our advocacy efforts,” he said.

He praised the industry’s ability to meet diesel emissions regulations, ATA’s recent work with the federal hours-of-service rule and its successful lawsuit against the employee-concession plan at the Port of Los Angeles.

ATA also has “revamped our whole advocacy approach,” Graves said, with a focus on bringing association members to Washington, D.C., to meet directly with lawmakers rather than just staff members.

In 2007, ATA moved its headquarters to a new building in Arlington, Va., from Alexandria, Va., and earlier this year completed a $23 million renovation of its Capitol Hill office.

Asked to compare his ATA position to the governorship of Kansas, Graves said: “I really think this is a more difficult job. As a governor, you’re somewhat insulated from your constituents.”

At ATA, he directly interacts with member companies, lawmakers and employees, he said.