Opinion: Working to Change Trucking’s Image

This Opinion piece appears in the Oct. 7 print edition of Transport Topics. Click here to subscribe today.

By Michael Card

Chairman

American Trucking Associations

It was about this time last year that I had the privilege of addressing you in these pages as I started my year as chairman of American Trucking Associations.

It was a great honor to represent you and to represent the industry we all care for so much, and now that my journey is nearing its end, I want to share with you a few things I’ve learned — and maybe offer some guidance for how ATA should move forward.

Trucking is one of the most diverse industries in America, and I have been in a unique position over this past year to observe it from across the country — state to state. I was blessed with the opportunity to travel to our state trucking associations, as well as to visit other associations, conferences, councils and trucking leadership events.

I have always believed that:

• Coming together is a beginning.

• Keeping together is progress.

• Working together is success.

Visiting with our state trucking association executives and industry leaders gives me great hope that our industry is indeed making progress and achieving successes; they are truly the backbone of our industry, and I want to thank the state trucking associations and affiliates that make up the Trucking Association Executives Council. ATA was founded as a federation, and TAEC is a wonderful example of how groups can come together to solve common problems. We must continue to support the state associations, as it appears that more and more of the trucking industry’s battles will be at the state level.

Every state, though, is faced with distinctive situations. It seems that everywhere I go, I hear of some different type of trucking operation fighting an issue that I had never heard of before. Each carrier’s circumstances are unique. The federal and state governments must be made aware of the diversity

in our industry and the difficulty we all face when they try to pass a law or regulation that supposedly covers everyone equally.

Truckers everywhere tell me the same thing — they wish the government would better understand how our industry works and its essentiality. They want better respect in the state houses, in Washington and in the courts. How can our government make decisions about us without understanding the unique characteristics we all deal with every day?

There are so many great stories in our industry. Every day I learn a wonderful story of how some company was started, how their father or grandfather took a risk and battled the odds to achieve the American dream. We hear about the assistance some trucker gives during a natural disaster or charity events such as  Troops Direct, Wreaths Across America or Operation Good Cheer. I am always excited to visit with the America’s Road Team captains and to see the Share the Road truck in action.

However, most of these stories are only shared within our industry. The public rarely hears or sees these images, and when it does, the stories are fragmented and lack a consistent message.

To address this, we began laying the foundation for a new image movement, a movement designed to include our entire industry that will help us tell the stories we are so fond of telling each other.

Though we’re not quite ready to turn the key, the response so far has far exceeded our expectations. Everyone feels pent-up frustration with the poor image our industry has with the media and public opinion.

Before I close, I want to thank my fellow ATA members for this opportunity. These past 12 months have been among the most exhilarating of my life, and I’m truly grateful for that. I want to thank the ATA staff for its hard work and dedication — and for putting up with me this past year. I’ve truly enjoyed working with you.

I also want to wish great success to the next ATA chairman, Phil Byrd, and his wife, Lynda. Being chairman is a tremendous honor and an immense challenge; best of luck to you both over the coming year.

In reflection, it has been a fantastic year for me, for this industry and for our association. Now, as I am about to end my term as chairman of the ATA, I hope the industry will continue to promote the clarity of its image with the public for years to come. It’s the right thing to do.

The author is president of Combined Transport Inc., Central Point, Ore. Founded in 1980, the company operates in the 48 contiguous states and parts of Canada as a specialized and heavy-haul carrier and logistics company with three divisions: glass, heavy haul — including wind towers — and general flatbed and specialized commodities.