Transport Topics: Trucking Groups Launch Image Campaign

By Jonathan Reiskin

Trucking industry groups launched a campaign here to educate America on the importance of trucking to the nation’s economy and to help recruit a new generation of desperately needed drivers to keep freight moving.

Top officials with American Trucking Associations, the Owner-Operator Independent Drivers Association and large industry suppliers known as ACT 1 kicked off Trucking Moves America Forward here March 26, on the eve of the annual Mid-America Trucking Show.

“We have to think about how to get more people into this industry. This is way overdue,” said Kevin Burch, TMAF’s vice chairman, president of truckload carrier Jet Express in Dayton, Ohio, and an ATA vice chairman.

Todd Spencer, OOIDA’s executive vice president, said trucking has a great story to tell but has not done enough to date. “We pay a dear price for not singing our own praises,” he said.

Mike Pennington, immediate past chairman of ACT 1, said the campaign will address both government policymakers and the public at large about trucking’s importance to the U.S. economy.