4 Oregon Trucking Association, Inc. Oregon Truck Dispatch FROM THE PRESIDENT Jana Jarvis OTA President/CEO ADVOCACY. WEBSTER’S DEFINES it as “the act or process of supporting a cause or proposal.” It is often the purpose behind groups coming together to advocate for change. And it has been the basis for the establishment of trade organizations since the turn of the 20th century. Prior to 1880, individuals from various businesses testified before Congress, but there was no real collective activity as an industry. As the country grew, professional trade organizations began to emerge to collectively speak with one voice. The American Trucking Association was established in 1933, and Oregon trucking interests organized themselves together as the Oregon Motor Transport Association in 1939. In 1954, the name was changed to the Oregon Trucking Associations and just last year our Board of Directors voted to remove the “s” so that we could speak as one single organization. OTA represents to policymakers at both the local and state level the “voice of trucking,” and how we use that voice is instrumental to our success. Today, any number of issues under consideration by the Oregon Legislature could have a tremendous impact on your business. Labor policies, taxes, environmental regulations, and judicial policies have added to the transportation issues that OTA represents on your behalf. The 82nd Legislative Assembly convened on January 17 this year and has already published over 2,400 legislative proposals as of this writing. Many of these bills will never receive a legislative hearing and move forward through the process, but many of them will. How legislators view these ideas will be influenced by what they hear from proponents and opponents. On large, controversial issues, they may be influenced simply by the number of “for” and “against” that register to testify or submit written comments. Our democracy depends on the participation of those who would be impacted by these changes. As an industry, you cannot afford to not get involved. As a business association, OTA has a number of opportunities for member involvement. OTA looks to its committee structure for ideas and direction on how to implement programs that benefit both membership and the trucking industry. From providing input in the policy arena to helping grow our membership, we have a committee to meet your interest and expertise and we are grateful to those members who volunteer their time and knowledge to helping make OTA even more relevant to its membership. This year, OTA is doing something different to put the voice of Oregon trucking at the forefront of conversations involving our industry. OTA has established a Key Contact program to help inform policymakers on issues relevant to the trucking industry. Our goal for this program is to establish at least one OTA member as a Key Contact for each of the 90 elected members of the Oregon Legislature to provide a constituent voice on issues that impact your bottom line. This effort will take time to develop, but it is key to accomplishing our goal of protecting our industry. In addition to our new Key Contact program, with the Legislative Session underway and our industry under attack, this is certainly the year for you to participate in our Trucking Day at the Capitol on April 27 in Salem. This is certainly one of those events where numbers matter…and where OTA could use your support. We will be organizing dayof issue briefings, meetings with legislators, and a late afternoon reception that will help show all 90 legislators how much you care about the issues our industry faces. The more faces we have in person Take a small step this year. Volunteer. Participate. We will all be the better for it. Showing the Strength of Our Industry Through Advocacy
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