Mike Joyce Named ATA’s Top Legislative Advocate
Mike Joyce, announced on Feb. 16 as American Trucking Associations’ senior vice president of legislative affairs, brings a range of experience to his new position. Joyce has spent all but two of the 22-plus years since his graduation from Gettysburg College working for members of Congress or as a lobbyist for trucking concerns.
“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, whose first memory is watching his family’s possessions being moved by truckers into their new house, most recently worked as director of government relations for Paccar Inc. He previously worked for the Owner-Operator Independent Drivers Association, Reps. Bud and Bill Shuster of his native Pennsylvania — the current and former chairmen of the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee — as well as Rep. Mac Collins of Georgia.
The 44-year-old Joyce first came to Washington at 22 when he moved into a group house in Alexandria, Virginia, with some college buddies. He walked the halls of Congress in hopes of landing a job and was quickly hired by Bud Shuster’s office.
“The congressman told me he liked my resume, but there was one thing wrong; that I had chosen the wrong fraternity since he was a Sigma Chi and I was a Phi Sigma Kappa,” Joyce said with a chuckle. “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. 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 district office in Chambersburg, Pennsylvania, not far from Gettysburg. He spent a lot of time driving the congressman 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 replaced by his son, allowing Joyce to make a smooth transition. Joyce then went to work 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. After five years as its director of legislative affairs, he joined Paccar as director of government relations.
“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,” said Joyce, citing his predecessors in his ATA position — most recently Chris Spear, now a vice president at Hyundai Motor Co. “I understand the challenges and the 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 member associations to tell trucking’s story, he said.
“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,” said Dave Osiecki, ATA’s executive vice president and chief of national advocacy.
