Yesterday, during the Alabama Trucking Association’s final Board of Directors meeting of the fiscal year, Chairman Daniel Wright handed the gavel to Scott Smith, co-founder and CEO of PS Logistics, as the incoming Chairman for fiscal year 2026-2027.
Mr. Wright thanked the board for their confidence and support in a successful year of leading Alabama Trucking during a transformational era for the industry as it finds solution to leading issues and agendas, including an industry-wide push to eliminate ‘bad actors’ from its ranks, recalibrate legal unfairness against trucking businesses, and refocus the association’s mission of safety and compliance through training and advocacy from its safety and maintenance leaders.
Mr. Smith took the opportunity as Alabama Trucking’s newly elected chairman to encourage the board members to stay vigilant in their dedication to legal reform efforts, continue the fight for industry fairness while removing bad actors.
Hunter Lyons of Gulf City Body & Trailer Works was tapped Vice Chairman, overseeing ATA’s marquee event, the Alabama Trucking Convention, and will step into the chairman’s role in 2027-2028.
Safety Report
With a year under his belt as the Association’s senior safety advocate, regulatory liaison and advisor, Clinton Seymour delivered his first annual report for the Safety & Maintenance Management Council, highlighting the group’s momentum heading into the new year.
Last December, at the organization’s end-of-year meetings, SMMC leaders and members set plans to revitalize its meetings, events, and training options, focusing on training from the top down, with initiatives to identify and develop experienced members as advocates and mentors for new hires and emerging leaders. Seymour noted that training participation doubled from 65 to more than 120 per chapter.
Meanwhile, the recent Alabama Truck Driving Championships drew over 90 drivers to Pelham, marking one of the more successful TDCs since the pandemic. Looking ahead, Seymour pointed to the SMMC Mock Trial event set for August 6 in Montgomery and said there are plans to expand the popular roadside inspection events to four annually with more locations across the state.
Advocacy Wins
“We currently have unprecedented collaboration, communications, and influence with the top leadership officials at ALEA and FMCSA. This has allowed ATA an insight and to provide input into the creation of laws, policies, and procedures for each organization to level the playing field with strategic approaches for enforcement agencies to address bad actors in the industry who undercut our member companies and drive insurance rates up and freight rates down.”
Alabama Trucking and, by extension, its members’ relationships, influence and partnerships have never been stronger or closer, according to ATA President & CEO Mark Colson.
“We currently have unprecedented collaboration, communications, and influence with the top leadership officials at ALEA and FMCSA,” he told the Board. “This has allowed ATA an insight and to provide input into the creation of laws, policies, and procedures for each organization to level the playing field with strategic approaches for enforcement agencies to address bad actors in the industry who undercut our member companies and drive insurance rates up and freight rates down.”
Colson noted that this year, ATA promoted, sponsored, and helped successfully enact legislation in Alabama to address two of the most pressing safety and predatory practices depressing the trucking freight market by addressing fraudulent CDLs and English Proficiency for drivers.
“We also helped draft and deliver the “Trucking Resurgence Plan” to the FMCSA Administrator, which is serving as an outline to tackle the most pressing issues depressing freight rates and increasing insurance costs within the industry,” he added. “The result has been increased enforcement by ALEA and FMCSA and a measurable set of outcomes that are addressing nefarious activities undercutting our members.”
Golf Classic Preview
Spearheading the 2026 Alabama Trucking Golf Classic Finance Committee this year is Edmund Doss, President of Birmingham’s Deep South Freight. This year’s event, which is the sole fundraiser for TRUK PAC, is set for October 5-6 at the Robert Trent Jones’s Capitol Hill Courses in Prattville, Ala. Fundraising goal and sponsorship update to be announced at a later date when the tournament committee meets in July.
Working Groups
For a first time in recent history, the summer board meeting concluded with a member driven issue explorative session. Board members broke out in five small groups to discuss ideas and suggestions around organizational strategy. Topics surrounded association membership engagement looking at things that have been working and ways we can improve.
