Editorial: Standing Together
img src="/sites/default/files/images/articles/printeditiontag_new.gif" width=120 align=right>The theme for this year's ATA Management Conference & Exhibition could not have been timelier: Standing together, moving America forward.
In the framework of today's events, we applaud any effort that helps us stand together as a nation, stand together as an industry and stand together as a federation.
Too bad everyday Americans were not able to join the hundreds of truckers and their families who gathered last week in Orlando for the industry's 69th annual convention. Everyday Americans probably would have seen trucking as they never imagined it. They would have seen how deeply patriotic and committed to this country truckers are. They would have seen truckers buying up more than 1,200 copies of ATA's “On
The industry is standing tall, that's for sure. By now, most everyday Americans know that a veteran truck driver summoned police to the car bearing two individuals suspected of being the snipers who terrorized the Washington, D.C., region for three weeks in October. Not everyone may know Ron Lantz's name, but they know that his vigilance paid off big time.
And it is becoming clearer that the industry is standing together on some of its own key economic issues, including recognition that a unified voice needs to be raised now to avoid problems that could be generated by the next set of environmental standards for engines, due in 2007. No one wants a repeat of the current imbroglio over 2002 reduced-emissions engines that have not been tested or proved in daily use.
At the close of last week's convention, we saw the federation of trucking interests, represented by American Trucking Associations, standing strong, having recovered a sense of unity after being buffeted by the propwash of progress. It was good to reaffirm the participation and counsel of the Truckload Carriers Association, New Hampshire Motor Truck Association and National Automobile Transporters Association, which have signed new vows of common purpose. We also look forward to soon welcoming home the Truck Renting and Leasing Association, and all others representing trucking's diverse parts that seek sustenance in the federation.
No surprise, then, that trucking stands fully prepared to move America forward.
This article appears in the Nov. 4 print edition of Transport Topics. Subscribe today.
