Interview
New ATA President Bill Graves Aims To Steer A Steady Course
New trucking leader hopes to get industry consensus on tough issues.
By Oliver B. Patton,
Washington Editor
Two months into his new job as president and CEO of American Trucking Assns., Bill Graves has a crisis on his hands. Severe winter weather, the tight supply of crude oil and fears of war with Iraq have driven fuel prices crazy. In early March they hit an all-time high of more than $1.75 a gallon after a 30-cent run-up since the beginning of the year. Many trucking companies, particularly smaller operations, are running out of options.
Trouble is, as Graves well knows, there's not much an ATA president can do about fuel prices. The numbers on the pump are added up by forces beyond any person's control, and the quick fixes can only address the margins.
"But it is important for the industry to be heard," Graves says.
So his first major public campaign as ATA's chief has been to alert federal and state officials about the impact fuel prices are having on trucking. In letters to the Federal Trade Commission, the U.S. Department of Energy and the state attorneys general, Graves warned that price gougers might try to take advantage. He also called for opening the Strategic Petroleum Reserve as a way to ease pressure on fuel prices — a tactic the Bush administration is resisting unless war with Iraq disrupts oil supplies.
Missing from this list of traditional remedies was any action on fuel surcharges. ATA in the past has not taken a position on surcharges because some of its members like them and others do not. Graves plans to continue that approach — and in fact, his answer to the question sends a signal about how he will handle other issues that potentially divide the ATA membership.
"I've heard it said that one of the worst things ATA could do is to not have policies on some of these tough issues," he said. "I actually think that there is something that's worse, and that is to come up with a policy that people don't truly believe in or really want to support."
If ATA has policies that only some of its members support, it sends confusing signals, Graves believes. "I think we have to be careful, as an association, that we don't have policies that in fact send mixed messages to public officials, because I think then we really get egg on our face."
Graves may not be a trucking expert — he says his first priority is to get on top of complex industry issues — but he is comfortable with this sort of political challenge. He spent eight years as governor of Kansas, and eight years before that as Kansas Secretary of State. This experience will serve him well as he takes on the challenge of running ATA — an organization that has been through tough times recently.
In the past six years, the association has endured leadership changes — Graves is the fourth ATA president since 1997 — restructuring, staff layoffs and membership losses. As Graves puts it, there has been some uncertainty, "an unsettled feeling." His aim is to build on the work begun by his immediate predecessor, Billy Canary, who tried to refurbish relations with state trucking associations that had been damaged during the period of restructuring.
"The (ATA) board in effect challenged me to try to make this transition as calm (as possible)," Graves said. He said he has no plans for significant changes in terms of staff or structure, although he reserves the right to make changes as he gets more involved — "the kind of restructuring that gives us a little more orderly flow of business and focus to what we do."
Graves hopes that his arrival signals a new stability at ATA. It will be one of the "selling points," as he put it, for his bid to attract new members and bring lapsed members back to the fold.
"Membership is a big issue for us right now," Graves said. "Our numbers are down and we need to build this organization back."
He plans to knock on doors that have been shut in the recent past. "It's my feeling that we lost some members over the last three or five years . . . maybe simply because they didn't feel there was enough communication from this office to them on issues they had concerns about. If I can just reopen channels of communication, then perhaps some folks will come back to the fold."
Graves also intends to repair relations with ATA conferences that were damaged during the restructuring process, a process begun during Canary's tenure with the reaffiliation of the Truckload Carriers Assn. "Either strengthening an affiliation or actually getting an affiliation agreement is in and of itself a good positive thing for us," Graves said. "It gives us a chance to legitimately say we have a broader base of motor carrier interests at ATA."
Discussions are under way with the National Tank Truck Carriers, the Distribution & LTL Carriers Assn. and the Truck Renting and Leasing Assn., he noted.
The key to increasing membership is showing that ATA has value — not an easy thing considering the diverse interests of the association's members. "Value in ATA is about like beauty in the eye of the beholder," Graves said.
Some members will find value if they get what they want in the pending hours of service rules. Others want to see changes in size and weight restrictions. And others need to see progress in tort reform. "We offer a wide variety of services to our members. I'll try to enhance and maximize all of those things."
ATA recently enacted a dues increase — entry-level dues were boosted from $50 to $300, to cover the fixed costs of maintaining a member, and participation in an ATA council now costs $250 where it used to be free. This decision was made before Graves came on board. "I intend to assess over the course of the year how we're doing on our dues," he said. "If we need more money it's my job to figure out how to bring it through the door, or to cut the expenses to make the two match."
Graves acknowledged "budget issues" but said ATA is in a strong fiscal position. The association had to draw from its reserves in 2002, but its reserves are substantial, he said.
"Obviously, my goal is to have us in a position where each year we are adding a little bit to reserves, not drawing some out."
Amid all this Graves puts top priority on the upcoming reauthorization of the federal highway program. The current law, the Transportation Equity Act for the 21st Century (TEA 21), expires next October, and Congress is deeply engaged in preparing its replacement. This legislation touches on all the fundamentals for trucking — taxes, sizes and weights, safety laws, highway utilization, to name a few — and Graves intends to be fully engaged.
He also is concerned about the 2006-2007 engine emission regulations pending at the Environmental Protection Agency. The industry's recent experience, in which EPA rules triggered a serious disruption in the engine market, taught him that ATA has to be a full-fledged participant in the rulemaking process.
Advocate, policy maker, spokesman, salesman, manager — "It's not unlike being governor ... it feels pretty comfortable."
Washington Report continued...
