Despite a challenging economic and political environment, the American Trucking Associations (ATA) continues to score major victories for the trucking industry.
That was the theme of ATA President & CEO Chris Spear’s keynote “State of the Industry” address at the recent ATA 2025 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 an audience 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 co-sponsors to ATA’s priority bills in the first 10 months of the year.
He said ATA also testified seven times on Capitol Hill, communicating truckers’ priorities directly to Members of Congress.
“All of this engagement has achieved results. This year alone, ATA stopped California’s mad dash to zero emissions in its tracks and helped make your tax cuts permanent,” Spear said.
He went on to cite other 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,” said Spear.
He said one priority for the members is to fight the rise of what ATA sees as lawsuit abuse, which was added to the list of ATA priorities at its 2019 MCE.
“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 raised the challenge of cargo theft, which the American Transportation Research Institute (ATRI) recently calculated as costing the trucking industry as more than $18 million every day.
He said the 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.
Spear thanked the US Department of Transport 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 US 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 called on ATA members to remain united and help build on the body’s recent momentum.
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