Recently, Shawn Goad, vice president of operations, was selected to participate in the American Trucking Associations' (ATA) prestigious LEAD ATA program. This one-year program covered such topics as the regulatory and legislative process, leadership and management skills and took a thorough look at the ATA and trucking industry.
“The two greatest takeaways from the program for me came from our training on media and government relations. They really focused on the strategies we could use to facilitate a positive relationship with media outlets, especially our local affiliates,” said Goad. “We also spent two full sessions learning about the industry's relationship with both the rulemaking bodies (FMCSA and DOT) and the legislative bodies (the House and Senate).”
Goad was given the opportunity to meet with several legislative representatives, including trips to Capitol Hill for meetings with Chuck Grassley, Joni Ernst and David Young. During these meetings, Goad ensured the representatives knew where Ruan stood on the HOS rule changes from 2013, and what needs to be done to fix them.
“We also spent a great deal of time discussing the FAAA Preemption, which has allowed trucking to operate under federal jurisdiction for the last 20 plus years, but is currently under attack by states that want different rules for trucking every time a driver crosses a state, county or city border,” remarked Goad. “I was able to give specific examples of routes that cross three or even four state lines in an hour, and demonstrate the impossibilities of trying to operate under a completely different set of rules each time that happens.”