ATA’s Spear Trumpets Trucking Wins, Lays Out Path for More Policy Triumphs

San Diego, CA - Despite a challenging economic and political environment, the American Trucking Associations continues to rack up monumental victories for the trucking industry.

That was the theme of ATA President & CEO Chris Spear's keynote "State of the Industry" address today at ATA's Management Conference & Exhibition.

"Our success this year is a reflection of who we are, what we stand for, and what it all means to the more than 340 million Americans who depend on trucking each day," Spear told a crowd of the industry's top leaders. "In this new era, winning isn't everything; it's the only thing."

Spear attributed this progress to record-setting levels of advocacy by ATA and its members on Capitol Hill and within the Executive Branch. Nearly 400 truckers from 36 states have held nearly 500 meetings with their representatives through ATA's Call on Washington program, adding over 200 cosponsors to ATA's priority bills in the first 10 months of the year. Additionally, ATA testified seven times on Capitol Hill, communicating truckers' priorities directly to Members of Congress.

"All of this engagement has achieved results," Spear said. "This year alone, ATA stopped California's mad dash to zero emissions in its tracks and helped make your tax cuts permanent."

Spear went on to cite several additional accomplishments, including:

• Rolling back the Environmental Protection Agency's GHG3 rule.
• Working with the Department of Transportation to address enforcement and regulatory gaps to ensure highway safety.
• Convincing the Department of Labor to protect independent contractors.
• Passing tort reform in multiple states and making significant strides on federal solutions.
• Adding a $200 million investment to expand truck parking.

"These major wins are historic game changers for ATA members, giving us more time and energy to push forward other tier 1 priorities as we round out the first two years of this Administration," Spear said.

One of those priorities is to fight the scourge of lawsuit abuse, which was initially added to ATA's tier 1 list of priorities at MCE in San Diego in 2019.

"Five years later, nearly 20 states have passed legislation, with more to come," Spear said. "This White House and Congress may well be in a position to help us push through some federal reforms, including a bill we introduced last month that would move these frivolous state suits to a level playing field in federal court."

Spear also took aim at another pressing challenge, cargo theft, which ATRI recently calculated costs trucking over $18 million every day. Spear noted that ATA is leading the charge by endorsing a solution-the Combating Organized Retail Crime Act-that has been co-sponsored by one-third of the House and Senate. ATA has testified on Capitol Hill three times this year to urge Congress to act.

Praising the strong partnership that has been forged between the ATA and the Trump Administration, Spear thanked USDOT Secretary Sean Duffy for listening to truckers and working to ensure that only safe, qualified drivers are on the road.

"The ATA supports Secretary Duffy's efforts to crack down on states that refuse to enforce the federal English Language Proficiency requirement, suspend visas for foreign truck drivers while audits and investigations are conducted; require every state to root out bad actors…and target rogue actors who abuse U.S. drivers by illegally handing foreign B1 visa drivers their loads to avoid paying higher wages," Spear said. "We now have an Administration willing to step up and enforce the law."

Spear concluded his remarks by calling on members to remain united and help build on recent momentum.

"I have one ask this afternoon: Stay the course," Spear said. "Don't concede anything to the plaintiffs' bar and union bosses. Together, I am convinced that our efforts will leave a lasting impact, not just for our industry, but for our great nation."