By Jonathan S. Reiskin, Associate News Editor This story appears in the Jan. 13 print edition of Transport Topics.
Mary Phillips, the chief lobbyist for American Trucking Associations for more than three years, announced her departure from the federation last week.
Several days after Phillips’ departure, ATA President Bill Graves said Dave Osiecki will oversee ATA’s congressional advocacy staff while keeping his position as senior vice president for policy and regulatory affairs.
Phillips said she has opened her own government affairs consulting firm — Phillips Strategic Services — which ATA plans to use.
“We’re going to miss Mary, but we are thrilled that she will still be part of our team in a consulting role,” Graves said.
In a separate statement, he added: “Dave Osiecki has been a stalwart for the trucking industry since coming to ATA in 1996.”
Phillips said she is proud of the role she played in MAP-21, the two-year highway-funding act that expires in September. She cited the pending electronic-logging mandate and a requirement for a field study of the hours-of-service rule as important provisions.
“We’ve come a long way, so this is a good time for this change,” Phillips said.
Phillips said her firm in Alexandria, Va., will focus on transportation policy, which has been the foundation of her public affairs career. Prior to joining ATA, she was an associate administrator of the Federal Highway Administration and a staff member on the Senate Commerce Committee.
In October 2010, Phillips succeeded Tim Lynch as the federation’s chief Capitol Hill lobbyist.
She said the key challenge for trucking this year will be the writing of a new surface transportation funding law to replace MAP-21. If Congress completes the task, Phillips said, the new transportation act might be the mirror image of MAP-21.
“MAP-21 was policy heavy. There were six years of policy crammed into a two-year bill,” Phillips said. With concerns over safety and motor carrier policy addressed fairly recently, funding will become the overwhelming issue, she said.
“This round will be more about the money. Since about 2008, the Highway Trust Fund has really been in dire straits. With the crisis continuing, Congress really needs to address its long-term solvency,” Phillips said.
While ATA has urged members of Congress to fund more infrastructure with higher diesel and gasoline taxes, Phillips said that is far from a certainty.
“People in trucking need to prepare for something other than a fuel tax,” she said.
