TCA, Natso to Focus on Economic Recovery, Government Regulations During Meetings
This story appears in the Feb. 15 print edition of Transport Topics.
Hopes for an economic recovery and the looming threat of government regulations will be main themes as the Truckload Carriers Association and Natso, the national association representing truck stops and travel plazas, hold their annual conferences from Feb. 27 to March 3 at separate locations in Las Vegas.
The meetings are set to kick off with a joint session on Feb. 27, focusing on critical issues facing trucking and their effects on the truck-stop industry. Scheduled participants include Patrick Quinn, co-chairman and president of truckload carrier U.S. Xpress Enterprises; Jim O’Neal, president of O&S Trucking; A.C.T. Research analyst Kenny Vieth; and Ernie Betancourt, former president of Innovative Computing Corp. and current head of QuikQ LLC.
The session will take place at Caesars Palace — site of the Natso show — but it is open to registrants of either conference.
“The transportation industry must continually transform itself to remain competitive,” said TCA President Christopher Burruss. “This session allows opportunities for industry partners to exchange ideas and promote innovations that will chart a road map back to profit for everyone’s benefit.”
“This is a pivotal moment to identify steps to take today to prepare our industries for tomorrow’s opportunities,” said Natso President Lisa Mullings.
The economy will garner much attention at TCA’s meeting, which is scheduled for the Wynn Resort. A panel on March 1 will bring together leading economists from the trucking, retail, manufacturing and construction sectors. The next day, Mark Zandi, chief economist and co-founder of Moody’s Economy.com, will share his insight on what the economic landscape will look like in the future.
The federal government’s Comprehensive Safety Analysis 2010 program will be another key topic during the meeting. Several sessions will discuss how the safety ratings system could affect a fleet’s ability to obtain insurance and how the operations of individual departments within a carrier could be affected.
Natso, which is celebrating its 50th anniversary, also has planned a session on potential and proposed federal legislation and regulatory action that could affect truck-stop operations.
Natso said cap-and-trade proposals, low-carbon fuel standards and renewable fuel mandates are examples of measures that could require operational changes for the industry.
The association will feature a series of “Revolutionary Retail” guest speakers, including author George Whalin. His “Retail Superstars” book is a study of how the best independent stores in the United States are successfully competing with big business, Natso said.
Other speakers are author Jeff Jarvis, marketing specialist Rick Segel and Chris Harris, managing director of Retail Strategies.
