Editorial: Overcoming Hell or High Water

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he 2006 installment of the National Truck Driving Championships will be held in New Orleans, despite the proverbial “hell or high water” that ravaged the city last summer.

The contest, which will be held Aug. 15-19, is expected to draw some 400 contestants and about 2,000 spectators to the Ernest N. Morial Convention Center, a building that became a primary public shelter after Hurricane Katrina flooded the low-lying city, forcing tens of thousands of people to abandon their homes.

The convention center and the hotels that surround it are being repaired and reopened as New Orleans struggles to restore a normal life to what was, before the hurricane, one of the nation’s top tourist draws.

While many groups have opted to move their meetings elsewhere, officials from American Trucking Associations recently visited the city and surveyed its rehabilitation efforts. Groups book their convention sites years in advance.

ATA leaders recently informed city leaders that they would stand by their commitment to bring the 2006 championships to New Orleans.

“The trucking industry and our professional drivers were first on the scene when Louisiana needed emergency help,” said Bill Graves, president of ATA. “The affirmation of our plans to hold the championships in New Orleans is another strong indication that our industry is committed to doing its part to rebuild the hurricane-damaged parts of the Southeastern U.S.”

Several local officials expressed their happiness over ATA’s decision.

“Keeping the championships in New Orleans is a great way to show faith in the state and community, and the fact that we are not going to go away — we’re coming back,” said Cathy Gautreaux, executive director of the Louisiana Motor Transport Association.

Laura Claverie, an official at the New Orleans Tourism and Marketing Corp., said of the news: “This is fantastic. I can’t tell you how important this is to the city. We badly need tourism dollars to help us reinvigorate this great city.”

New Orleans is well known for its good food and music, which have long drawn tourists to this Gulf Coast city.

So we can all look forward to another exciting championship, where the winners of contests in all 50 states will compete to be the best in their class and the new national grand champion.

We hope to see you in New Orleans come August.

This editorial appears in the Jan. 16 print edition of Transport Topics. Subscribe today.