By Transport Topics Staff This story appears in the Aug. 6 print edition of Transport Topics.
American Trucking Associations last week unveiled several spotlight events of its 2012 Management Conference & Exhibition, scheduled for Oct. 7-10 in Las Vegas.
“With each passing year, it becomes clear that MCE is the place to be to hear from the top names in trucking and see the latest our industry has to offer, and this year is no exception, with another first-class lineup scheduled to join us in October,” ATA President Bill Graves said in a statement.
Graves will present the “State of the Industry” address during the opening session of the conference on Oct. 8. Later that day, Haley Barbour, a former governor of Mississippi, will provide his own insight on the upcoming presidential and congressional elections at the ATA Advocacy and Government Affairs Luncheon.
Immediately following the opening session will be the ribbon-cutting for the exhibit hall, which will be open for business a total of 10 hours throughout the conference.
Two more panels are planned for Oct. 9, starting with a morning session on the growing shortage of qualified truck drivers. Recent estimates put the shortage as high as 500,000 drivers by the end of next year, ATA said.
The session on drivers will be moderated by Howard Abramson, publisher and editorial director of Transport Topics Publishing Group.
“When the recession ended, the industry’s holiday from worrying about finding enough qualified drivers also came to an end,” Abramson said. “This session will offer some insight into what fleets can do to find more good drivers.”
That afternoon, the annual “All Eyes on the Economy” panel will once again bring together Bob Costello, ATA’s chief economist, and Fox Business Channel host Stuart Varney.
On the final day of the conference, Douglas Stotlar, CEO of Con-way Inc., will moderate a panel focusing on trucking’s role in the supply chain.
Con-way ranks No. 3 on the Transport Topics 100 listing of the largest U.S. and Canadian for-hire trucking fleets.
ATA also announced that the Doobie Brothers will headline the annual banquet at the conclusion of the conference.
