Trucking Industry Gathers in Crescent City as Global Financial Crisis Deepens
By Transport Topics Staff
This story appears in the Oct. 6 print edition of Transport Topics.
Trucking industry leaders gathering in New Orleans this week at American Trucking Associations’ annual Management Conference & Exhibition will hear from experts on topics including the current financial turmoil, the upcoming elections, and preparations for next year’s highway bill and the 2010 engine emissions rules.
The conference, scheduled for Oct. 4-7, will feature an “Eyes on the Economy” panel that will discuss how the upheaval in the financial industry could affect trucking, said Bob Costello, ATA’s chief economist.
“The financial markets will figure prominently in this, looking at both the short term and the long term,” said Costello, who is one of the four panelists.
ATA President Bill Graves, who will deliver his State of the Industry speech on Oct. 6, several hours before the economy panel, said the current shocks in the markets were likely to have an effect on trucking.
“Since commercial trucking reflects the vibrancy, or lack thereof, in the economy, this is not just another hit,” he said. “It’s a major hit against the economic recovery that we’ve been so desperately looking for, for about the past year and one-half. For us, that means less freight, less volume.”
Costello will be joined on the panel by Mark Vitner, senior economist for Wachovia Corp., and T. Peter Ruane, president of the American Road & Transportation Builders Association. Ruane will talk about next year’s reauthorization process for a new multiyear federal highway bill.
Even though bank holding company Citigroup Inc. agreed Sept. 29 to purchase Wachovia’s banking operations in a federally brokered deal, Costello said Vitner will still be coming to MCE to discuss financial and other economic issues.
With major engine changes coming to the heavy-duty truck market in 2010, Transport Topics will host a two-part Diesel Engine Summit, with TT Publisher and Editorial Director Howard S. Abramson serving as moderator.
On Oct. 7, Jed Mandel, president of the Engine Manufacturers Association, and attorney Jeffrey Holmstead will discuss the regulatory aspects of the tightening of nitrogen oxide emission standards by the Environmental Protection Agency. Holmstead was a top EPA official earlier this decade.
In the afternoon, executives from the four major truck making corporations operating in North America will talk about what their specific companies are doing. The truck makers are Bill Jackson, general manager of Peterbilt Motors, a division of Paccar Inc.; Deepak “Dee” Kapur, president of the truck group at Navistar Inc.; Scott Kress, senior vice president of Volvo Trucks North America; and Andreas Renschler, member of the Daimler AG Board of Management in charge of the truck group.
Prior to the engine panel, Rose McMurray, chief safety officer of the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration, is expected to moderate a discussion on changes in safety compliance. The panel will also feature former ATA chairman Steve Williams of Maverick USA, as well as Douglas Duncan of FedEx Freight, Chris Lofgren of Schneider National and Craig Harper of J.B. Hunt Transport Services.
Graves also cited pollster Frank Luntz as “worth the price of admission.”
Luntz is scheduled to appear on Oct. 5 to discuss the 2008 election, which will be held less than a month after MCE concludes.
The conference also features retired Lt. Gen. Russel Honoré, who was commander of Joint Task Force Katrina, and Grammy award-winning singer Lee Ann Womack at the closing banquet.
