Opinion: Looking Back at a Year in Neutral

By Barbara Windsor

Chairman

American Trucking Associations

This Opinion piece appears in the Oct. 3 print edition of Transport Topics. Click here to subscribe today.

It has been almost a year since we gathered in Phoenix, and while it seems that the time has just flown by, as we prepare to come together in Grapevine, Texas, the issues we face now are identical to the issues we faced then.

When I took over from my friend Tommy Hodges as chairman of American Trucking Associations, I said that when I finished my term, I hoped to be able to tell the crowds at our Management Conference & Exhibition that we’d seen a highway bill passed, improvements to the federal Compliance, Safety, Accountability program and a favorable resolution to the hours-of-service issue.

Unfortunately, it seems that as I get fitted for my red blazer, I’m leaving incoming chairman Dan England much the same set of problems.

Congress and the Obama administration, with the help of a sputtering economic recovery, have left us, for lack of a better term, spinning our wheels on a number of our most pressing issues.

We’ve seen yet another extension of the highway bill but have yet to see either the administration or Congress put forward a workable proposal for the kind of robust, multiyear plan we need.

Even though both ends of Pennsylvania Avenue have talked about reducing the regulatory burdens on America’s businesses, every indication we have is that, sometime in the near future, the Department of Transportation will put forward a damaging and costly new hours-of-service rule based not on our industry’s exemplary safety record but on the desire to placate a vocal minority of interest groups.

My exasperation with the lack of progress on these two critical issues shouldn’t cover up the extraordinary pride in being your chairman for the past year. Having the opportunity to travel to every corner of the country — from Alaska to Florida, from Vermont to Hawaii — has been a humbling and heartwarming experience.

I’ve been honored to see the tremendous diversity in our industry and the strength that comes from that diversity. It has been amazing to talk with my fellow trucking industry executives, regardless of whether they run one truck or one thousand, and see that our issues are all the same.

We all are trying to find the best way to cope with the changing economic winds — which, depending on the day, can seem more like a roller coaster than any of us would like.

We’re all figuring out the most effective way to deal with the raft of regulations being thrown at us by Washington these days.

We’re all looking for the best drivers — drivers who really are at the heart of our industry — and realizing we never seem to have enough good, safety-conscious men and women to put behind the wheel.

On the subject of drivers, I’d be remiss if I didn’t mention ATA’s ambassadors of safety, our America’s Road Team captains. At meetings and events across the country, I had numerous occasions to watch these dedicated professionals talking about the importance of safety. They are a credit not just to their companies but to ATA and the industry as a whole and are deserving of our thanks.

I was also thankful to see our industry’s best on display in Orlando at the National Truck Driving Championships and again at the Technology & Maintenance Council’s SuperTech skills competition in Raleigh, N.C. Seeing our industry’s top drivers and technicians test their mettle left me with an even deeper appreciation for how vital these men and women are to an industry that is itself vital to our nation.

While I’m appreciating people, I need to take a moment to thank ATA’s staff. In the face of incredible head winds, the staff at ATA is out there every day, making our industry’s case before members of Congress and regulators. We ask a lot of our staff — I know I have this past year — but from Governor Graves on down, they’ve never failed to deliver their best effort, and that’s something we all should be thankful for.

One incredibly bright spot this year for ATA that I’ve been proud of has been the opening of our new Capitol Hill offices. Now, we’ve put a lot into this project, and it promises to be a beautiful home for our association and serve as a centerpiece for our Call on Washington efforts.

If this year has taught me anything about our industry, it is the importance of being involved. No matter how tough the road ahead is, by coming together — either through membership in ATA or by coming to tell your elected officials about the importance of trucking during Call on Washington or by supporting ATA’s lobbying efforts through TruckPAC — the more unified we are, the more likely it is we will move our industry forward.

It has been an incredible experience being your chairman this year, so for that I thank you and wish you all continued success for many years to come.

Barbara Windsor is president and CEO of Hahn Transportation Inc., New Market, Md., a specialized regional trucking firm that hauls refined petroleum and construction materials throughout the mid-Atlantic corridor.