Bottomed Out; ATAs Chairman

Bill Graves, a former two-term governor of Kansas and now chairman and CEO of the American Trucking Associations, was surprisingly blunt during his state of the industry address in St. Louis, Missouri as he assessed the current outlook for trucking driving employment..

Graves had considered following the formula of presenting the achievements of the trucking industry, but the reality faced by those with OTR driver jobs made him change the direction of his address. Facts are facts.

All is not well in the trucking industry, he stated, a reflection of the grim mindset of many of the trucking industry executives attending the annual conference.

Graves listed the credit crunch, the economic downturn, soaring fuel prices, shrinking consumer confidence, looming additional governmental regulation, and the uncertain political scene as the ingredients for hard times. To add to the gloomy climate, he noted that he was not sure anyone knows if the low point of the economic cycle has been reached or how long it will take for the economy to recover.

However, in the face of previous crises, the trucking industry has initiated innovation that has allowed it to survive.

Graves went on to discuss the necessity of evolving to survive in trucking, citing the differences between the industry of 25 years ago and today. He pointed out the impact that efforts to set a nation-wide 65 mph speed limit, truck speed limiter legislation, strategies for reductions in idling, and support of the industry’s SmartWay partnering with government as being valuable assets in the ongoing battle against high fuel costs.

He went on to outline the hard lessons learned in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina three years ago. In 2005, the ATA’s convention site, the Ernest N. Morial Convention Center, was a temporary shelter for the overflow of 20,000 people who could not shelter in the overcrowded Superdome.

Graves cited the following points learned that are applicable to nearly any crisis:

1.Preparation and planning are the key to successful management of a disaster.
2.Teams are integral to accomplishing goals.
3.Ignore important infrastructure at your peril.

As a follow-on from the last point, Graves emphasized how revealing Katrina was in uncovering the outmoded conditions of American infrastructure. Changing those conditions is the ATA’s most profound mission. If this is not done, if there is no investment in U.S. infrastructure, the rest of the globe will catch up and overtake us.