LAKE BUENA VISTA, Fla. — Members of the Truckload Carriers Association voted March 22 to reject a plan to integrate the 762-member organization with American Trucking Associations.
Both leaders and rank-and-file members of the association said the closeness of the 206-213 vote illustrated their commitment to remaining affiliated with the nation’s largest trucking association.
“This is not a vote against ATA. This is a vote against mandatory membership,” said TCA Chairman Gary Baumhover in his final speech before his year-long tenure ends. “The hope is that this is not the end of a 63-year relationship with ATA. It means that we are going to date a little differently, as equals, not subservient,” said Baumhover, senior vice president of Grojean Transportation, in Dubuque, Iowa.
The vote came a month after TCA’s executive committee voted 20-8 to recommend integration (2-14, p. 33). TCA’s officers voted in December to recommend integration, although Baumhover publicly declared his opposition to integration in early March.
For the full story, see the Mar. 27 print edition of Transport Topics. Subscribe today.