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NTSB Report Highlights Dangers of Distracted Driving, CMV Enforcement Flaws

ATA Mourns Loss of Patrick Quinn, U.S. Xpress Founder and Past ATA Chairman

ATA Welcomes Hulett as New Chief Financial Officer

ATA Applauds Final Rule Banning Handheld Cellphone Use

ATA Announces Website Improvements

ATA President & CEO Bill
Graves Delivers 2011
"State of the Industry" Address

Proposed HOS Changes

ATA is a SmartWay^SM Transport Partnership Excellence Award Winner

Click here to see the details of ATA's progressive Sustainability Plan.

ATA Truck Tonnage Index Posts Largest Annual Gain in 13 Years

According to Chief Economist Bob Costello, American Trucking Associations’' seasonally adjusted Truck Tonnage Index rose 6.8% in December from the previous month. The increase was the largest since 2005.

December's tonnage figure is 10.5% higher than the same month in 2010, the largest yearly increase since July 1998 and sets the gain for all of 2011 at 5.9%, the best year for the index since 1998.

“Not only did truck tonnage increase due to solid manufacturing output in December, but also from some likely inventory restocking. Inventories, especially at the retail level, are exceedingly lean, and I suspect that tonnage was higher than expected as the supply chain did some restocking during the month.” Costello said. For more, click here.

Graves Calls on Obama, Congress to Identify Real Infrastructure Funding

ATA President and CEO Bill Graves said while it was heartening to hear President Obama use his State of the Union Address to highlight the need for increased spending to repair our nation's roads and bridges, the administration and Congress need to work together to identify real funding sources to finance our many needs.

"Right now, the country doesn’t need more empty promises and rhetoric about the importance of repairing roads and bridges as a way to put Americans back to work. What the country needs is money – money from real sources, not promises of private investment or redirected savings,” Graves said. “While promises of speeding the construction process will help in the short term, in the long term, it still boils down to funding."

In order to continue to move the nation's freight efficiently and safely, Graves said, trucking needs the administration and Congress to "come together on a well-funded multiyear highway bill that makes smart investments in roads and bridges with real dollars. As the president said, 'There's never been a better time to build'"

For more information click here.

Industry Pioneer Don Schneider Mourned by ATA

American Trucking Associations President and CEO Bill Graves, on behalf of the industry, expressed their condolences and sympathy for the family of Donald Schneider, chairman emeritus and former president and CEO of Schneider National Inc., following news of his passing on January 13.

“The transportation and logistics industry has lost one of its most passionate and influential voices,” ATA President and CEO Bill Graves said. “Don Schneider was a visionary, bringing business acumen and technology to blaze a trail and set the standard in the modern day development of our industry."

ATA Chairman Dan England said Schneider was "a man of incredible talent, vision and success, yet he was very unassuming. I valued those traits in him very much."

For more, click here.

TMC Annual Meeting Features ATA Chairman, Special Rate for First-Time ATA Fleet Attendees

ATA Chairman Dan England, Chairman, C.R. England, is the featured speaker for the Industry Awards Luncheon at the American Trucking Associations’ Technology & Maintenance Council’s (TMC) 2012 Annual Meeting and Transportation Technology Exhibition, February 20-23, at the Tampa Convention Center, Tampa, Florida.

ATA President & CEO Bill Graves describes the TMC Annual Meeting as a “must-attend event” for all fleet equipment and maintenance professionals – and TMC is making that easy in 2012: First-time attendees from ATA-member fleets can register for the meeting free and TMC has lowered registration fees for the 2012 Annual Meeting for fleet attendees who are members of TMC or ATA to $195—a $300 savings off the non-member rate. Article continued...

Obama Administration’s Final Hours-of-Service Rule Puts Safety in the Backseat

DOT released a final rule governing hours-of-service for professional truck drivers that will become effective July 1, 2013 for interstate motor carriers and professional drivers. ATA expressed frustration and disappointment that the rule will do nothing to improve highway safety, but will very likely increase the risk of truck-involved crashes. Since the current rules went into effect in 2004, fatalities have fallen 29.9%, even as overall miles traveled for trucks increased by tens of billions of miles. The new rule will put more truck traffic onto the roadways during morning rush hour, when the largest percentage of truck-involved crashes occur between 6 a.m. and noon. For more information click here. To see a summary of changes, click here.