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Summer | 2015
CHAIR’S MESSAGE
Welcome to the new updated version of your OTA magazine,
Oregon Truck Dispatch
.
This change comes as the result of OTA’s ongoing efforts to improve how members and
potential members receive important information, as well as how OTA itself is promoted
to industry stakeholders.
OTA leadership and staff are dedicated to the continued growth of our membership.
Part of this outreach involves providing timely and relevant information that helps you
to better understand the challenges facing trucking today. We hope that you in turn use
this knowledge to proactively influence future regulation and legislation that is poised
to impact how we do business.
The new OTA magazine is just one step in the overall enhancements we have planned.
The OTA website design and format has also been updated to provide additional news and
information, offering the potential for greater member interaction and a focus on training
opportunities. The website
www.ortrucking.orgis the gateway to the knowledge that
can help your business and promote the trucking industry. OTA members can also access
exclusive “Members Only” information online. If you haven’t already done so, get signed
up for the Members Only section. Not a member yet? Join today to get an inside look.
In this issue: Bob Russell, OTA Vice President of Government
Affairs, provides a summary of the recently-concluded 2015 Oregon
legislative session, offering his insight on the eventual outcome.
There were several issues this session that were not exactly friendly
to businesses as a whole, or trucking in particular. Bob, along with
OTA President Jana Jarvis, worked hard to ensure that OTA
members had a voice and trucking interests were fully represented.
I would also like to thank all of the OTA members who actively
participated in shaping this session by writing letters to their
representatives or who took the time to testify before various
committees at hearings in Salem. Presenting a united front and
putting a face to trucking are powerful tools that have a direct
impact on influencing our elected officials.
OTA offers a number of opportunities to help shape the future of the trucking industry
in Oregon and beyond. On an individual level, you can serve on a member committee;
become part of the Safety Management Council or Technology & Maintenance Council:
or attend a training session or one of OTA’s annual events. Organizations can also be
involved in making OTA a success by showing their support through sponsorships,
donations or just encouraging their employees to get involved. Another means of showing
support is the Oregon Truck PAC fund, which makes OTA’s government affairs activities
possible. OTA members make it all possible.
You can learn more about what OTA has accomplished in the last year and what the future
may hold during our annual member business meeting, being held on September 10, at the
Wilsonville Holiday Inn. This meeting will feature the election of the next board of directors
who will help lead OTA in its ongoing mission to serve the trucking industry in Oregon.
Mark your calendars now for this one day event and watch for more details soon. I look
forward to seeing you there.
◉
Mike Boyd
OTA Chair
Thank you to the OTA members
who participated in shaping this
legislative session by writing
letters to their representatives
or testifying before various
committees at hearings in Salem.
Presenting a united front and putting a face to trucking are powerful
tools that have a direct impact on influencing our elected officials.