ATA Hires Spear as New Chief Lobbyist

This story appears in the May 19 print edition of Transport Topics.

Christopher Spear, a longtime government aide, was recently named American Trucking Associations’ new chief of legislative affairs to represent the industry on Capitol Hill.

Spear “brings a wealth of experience from the private sector, which benefits our vital industry as we pursue our legislative priorities on Capitol Hill,” ATA President Bill Graves said May 6.

Spear, 44, comes to ATA after eight years with diversified manufacturer Honeywell International Inc., having worked for the company in Washington and overseas. Prior to that, he served as assistant secretary of labor for policy in the George W. Bush administration.

He told Transport Topics he thinks Congress will act this year to shore up finances for the Highway Trust Fund, and at that point, ATA will attempt to insert a provision defunding enforcement of the 34-hour restart section of the hours-of-service rule.

“We’re working with appropriators to rescind funding,” Spear said of discussions with members of the House Appropriations Committee. “I’m optimistic on this,” he said.

On the job since March, Spear said ATA generally supports the hours-of-service rule but is opposed specifically to the new restart provision, which requires drivers to take off 1-5 a.m. on consecutive days during the minimum 34-hour weekend.

Also, Spear doubts Congress will pass a multiyear transportation bill this year to replace MAP-21, which expires Sept. 30, because of midterm House and Senate elections in November.

Next year should work well, he said, but there is no guarantee of success then, either.

If surface transportation infrastructure is delayed until 2016, then it would butt up against the presidential election, and lengthy highway projects would have to be planned around annual appropriations, severely hobbling their efficiency, he said.

Spear’s job also entails telling legislators and their aides about trucking’s safety efforts.

“We’ve got a great story to tell,” Spear said, and that allows him to argue that motor carriers already are operating safely, making the new restart provision a costly annoyance that does not improve safety.

“Bringing Chris onboard as our chief of legislative affairs is an important part of our strategic efforts at ATA to more closely align our policy, regulatory and legislative efforts,” said Dave Osiecki, ATA’s chief of national advocacy.

After earning two degrees from the University of Wyoming, Spear worked on Capitol Hill for Sen. Alan Simpson, the three-term Wyoming Republican who stepped down in 1997. Spear said legislating has changed for the worse since then, calling the present a “dysfunctional environment.”

For a lobbyist seeking to have an effect on policy, he said it is even more important to choose causes wisely because Congress is doing so much less than before.

“There used to be an 80-20 rule,” he explained, meaning a legislator would try to obtain 80% of his or her goals on a given bill and then come back next year for the other 20%.

“Now it’s more like 20-80,” he said.

Spear said he is highly motivated to “move the needle” on policy issues affecting trucking and run lobbying efforts in a business-like way where results can be measured.

“At the end of the year, just saying we went to a lot of cool meetings is not enough,” he said.