J.R. ‘Bob’ Halladay Dies; Longtime Trucking Leader

J.R. “Bob” Halladay, a longtime trucking leader who formerly served as senior vice president for federation relations for American Trucking Associations, died last week at the age of 91 after complications from a stroke and Parkinson’s disease.

“Bob Halladay’s passing is a great loss to ATA, our federation partners and the entire trucking industry,” said ATA President Bill Graves. “While the trucking industry has had many great leaders, Bob stands out as one of our greatest association leaders.

“His industry expertise, ability to build consensus and incisive strategic thinking made him one of the most respected advocates for the trucking industry and a recognized national leader,” Graves added. “Bob achieved that recognition while always being the consummate professional, leading by example and treating all with dignity and respect.”

Halladay started with ATA in 1965 as director of interstate cooperation, providing assistance to the state associations’ legislative struggles and generating grassroots support for national campaigns. He became known as the “dean of the ATA staff,” by former ATA president Thomas Donohue.

Halladay, who also headed Transport Topics during his tenure at ATA, began his trucking career in 1952 as manager of the Kansas Motor Carriers Association. The Chicago native took a pay cut from his position as public relations director of the Kansas State Chamber of Commerce to take the new job.

On meeting the KMCA executive committee in the association’s “dingy” Topeka office, he recalled in a 1990 TT article telling his wife that “they were the most delightful, interesting bunch of people I had ever encountered in my life.”

While head of the Kansas association, he became the first elected chairman of an informal meeting of state associations’ executives that has evolved into ATA’s Trucking Association Executives Council.

“To this day, many of our state trucking association executives consider Bob to be the consummate role model — symbolized by the ‘Halladay Award,’ given annually by TAEC to an individual who has distinguished themselves in service to the industry,” Graves said.

Halladay remained with ATA until his retirement in 1990. He then worked as a consultant and, in 1994, wrote the definitive history of ATA in his book “Partner in Progress — The Story of the American Trucking Associations.”

He dedicated the book to the “men and women of vision and courage and determination who have welded the partnership of the trucking industry and ATA” and to his wife, Barbara.

In 2008, he received ATA’s highest honor, the S. Earl Dove Highway Award, for his lifetime of dedication to the trucking industry.

“This honor I have been given today is the greatest I have ever received,” Halladay said when he received the award. “This is a great experience, and I am proud to have been a part of this industry and this association.”

Before he became involved in trucking, he worked as a reporter and editor for the Topeka Daily Capital and then spent several years in the early 1940s in Washington, D.C., on the staff of Sen. Arthur Capper (R-Kansas), who owned the paper.

He also served three years in the U.S. Army Air Corp as a public relations and intelligence officer during World War II.

He is survived by his wife, Barbara; sons Jay and Patrick; and daughters Nancy and Roberta.

The family requests that, in lieu of flowers, contributions be made to either So Others Might Eat or Little Sisters of the Poor.