Pat Thomas Reflects on ATA’s Achievements of His Well-Traveled Year as Chairman
This story appears in the Oct. 10 print edition of Transport Topics.
Pat Thomas, the immediate past chairman of American Trucking Associations, estimates he has racked up enough miles to circle the globe five times and has taken 3 million steps during his travels representing the trucking industry.
As chairman — a tenure that lasts a year — he came to represent drivers, dockworkers and executives alike around the country.
He said shaking hands across the United States, giving countless speeches and rubbing elbows with powerful people in Washington has renewed his faith that the American Dream is alive and well.
MCE PHOTO GALLERY: Best pictures from Las Vegas
COMPLETE MCE COVERAGE: Live stories, photos, video, social media and more
Now he’s looking forward to returning to work at UPS Inc. as its senior vice president of government affairs.
His long-term goal, he said, is to return to his native Wyoming, where he’ll ponder a possible run for Congress, following in the footsteps of his father, the late Craig Thomas, a Republican senator from Wyoming.
“In Wyoming, we used to have a saying: ‘What America was,’ ” Thomas told several hundred people attending an ATA Management Conference & Exhibition banquet last week. “I would tell you that trucking is what America was. We have the values and the grit and the determination, and the entrepreneurial spirit this country was founded upon, and it’s still alive and well in this industry.”
At the end of the conference on Oct. 4, Thomas was given the traditional red jacket worn by the outgoing chairman. The presentation was made by his successor, Kevin Burch, president of Dayton, Ohio-based Jet Express Inc.
Thomas will remain active in the federation as ATA’s executive committee chairman — also a one-year term.
He reflected on his past year as chairman during the banquet.
“What a year it’s been, what an honor it’s been to represent you all around the country from coast to coast, and from north to south,” he said.
He said he’s made good on the three promises he made to ATA’s members:
“One, I said we need to get a long-term highway bill — we hadn’t had one in a decade. We had 32 extensions, and we needed a long-term bill that states could count on. And we got that,” Thomas said.
Secondly, he said he wanted to make safety the No. 1 issue at ATA. “And folks, I think we’ve lived up to that,” he said.
“The third thing, that is probably nearest and dearest to my heart was to advance our participation in the Hiring Our Heroes project,” Thomas said.
That project was in part an attempt to fill some of the industry’s driver shortage with military veterans.
“We have a moral obligation because we have 1% of this country who raise their hand to voluntarily put themselves in harm’s way to protect the other 99% of us,” he added.
Joining Thomas and Burch among executive changes:
• David Manning, president of TCW Inc., rises to first vice chairman.
• Barry Pottle, CEO of Pottle’s Transportation Inc., rises to second vice chairman.
• Randy Guillot, president of Triple G Express Inc. becomes a vice chairman.
Remaining in their posts are: Sherri Garner Brumbaugh, CEO of Garner Transportation Group, as vice chairman; Mike Drucker, president of FedEx Freight, as treasurer; and John Smith, chairman of CRST International, as secretary.
