Joyce Named ATA’s New Top Lobbyist
Veteran lobbyist Mike Joyce has joined American Trucking Associations as senior vice president of legislative affairs. He has more than 20 years of experience in public affairs, much of it in trucking.
The federation announced the appointment Feb. 16.
“Mike is well-known and respected in the halls of Congress and in our industry, and we are tremendously pleased that he will be part of the ATA family going forward.” ATA President Bill Graves said.
Joyce, 44, comes to ATA from Paccar Inc., where he was director of government relations for the parent company of Kenworth Truck Co. and Peterbilt Motors Co.
He previously worked for the Owner-Operator Independent Drivers Association, U.S. Reps. Bud Shuster and Bill Shuster of his native Pennsylvania — respectively, the former and current chairmen of the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee — as well as Rep. Mac Collins of Georgia.
Joyce replaces Chris Spear, who left ATA last year for Hyundai Motor Co.
Joyce will report to Dave Osiecki, chief of national advocacy for ATA.
“Mike’s depth of knowledge and experience with the issues that impact trucking the most made him an obvious choice for us and will make him a valuable member of the advocacy team,” Osiecki said.
Joyce said his first memory is watching his family’s possessions being moved by truckers into their new house.
After graduating from Gettysburg College, Joyce came to Washington at 22. He walked the halls of Congress in hopes of landing a job and was quickly hired by Bud Shuster’s office.
“I showed up for my first day wearing a suit and tie on a Friday morning at the end of August, not knowing what congressional recess was,” Joyce said. “I waited for a little while until someone came and unlocked the door and said, ‘You must be the new guy with your suit and tie.’ ”
After a couple of months, Shuster asked Joyce to run the congressman’s district office in Chambersburg, Pennsylvania, not far from Gettysburg. Joyce said he spent a lot of time driving Shuster to events in the district’s 11 counties and then played a key role in the successful battle to save the Letterkenny Army Depot in Chambersburg.
After two years getting “real-world” experience as a real estate agent, Joyce returned to Shuster as his legislative director. Shuster retired in 2001 and was succeeded by his son, Bill.
Joyce later served as the chief of staff for Collins, who had gotten his start hauling logs before founding a trucking company. After Collins ran for Senate and lost in 2004, Joyce was hired by OOIDA, where he served as its director of legislative affairs for five years before joining the Washington, D.C., office of original equipment manufacturer Paccar Inc.
“My experiences working for the Shuster family and Collins and then with OOIDA and Paccar have prepared me well for the next step of my career working at ATA, where I know I’ve got big shoes to fill,” Joyce said. “I understand the challenges and the [profit] margins of trucking as well as the regulatory and legislative impacts.”
Joyce is excited about working with ATA’s Capitol Hill staff as well as its state membership associations to tell trucking’s story, he said.
