A set of Hopper Transportation doubles in 1943.
Arizona truckers played a significant transportation role in the war effort during WWII.
Members enjoy dancing at 1955 AMTA convention
Incorporation with the Arizona Corporation Commission to officially launch the Arizona Motor Transport Association. The group hired Dudley L. Rothmund to run the day- to-operations and elected E. E. “Whitey” Chambers, owner of Chambers Transfer & Storage, as AMTA’s first president. (Until 2001, the volunteer elected leader of the association held the title of “president”.)
The 1940s By 1942 the Arizona Motor Transport
Association had been in existence five years. For over a year, the U.S. had been fighting World War II on two fronts. On the home front, the trucking industry felt the pinch of fuel rationing and a shortage of trucks even as it served a critical role in supplying factories and the military. The national speed limit was reduced from 40 mph to 35 mph to conserve fuel. Truck sizes and weights were increased to meet wartime emergencies. Nationwide, the industry was growing.
By 1947, there were 2,251 Class I carriers - defined as those with annual revenues of
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$100,000 - and 360 with revenues in excess of $1 million. Just a decade earlier, those numbers were 883 and 54, respectively. Total revenues for those Class I carriers had grown from $312 million in 1937 to $1.5 billion in 1947.
After the war, the American Association
of State Highway Officials (AASHO) issued a new truck size and weight code, and pushed for the states to adopt the code. However, many states had their own ideas about truck size and weight, as well as how much to charge trucks to use their roads. In 1943, there were 474 intrastate
freight carriers and 92 passenger carriers, while 210 interstate freight and eight passenger carriers were based in Arizona. Governor Sidney P. Osborn proclaimed June 1 as Arizona Motor Transport Day and convened a War Conference to discuss the industry’s role in transporting war materiel. Sam and Anna Mary Schoen launched U-Haul in 1945 to serve do-it-yourself household movers. In 1947 AMTA celebrated its 10th
Anniversary and launched its long-running magazine, the Arizona Roadrunner. By 1948, trucking employed only about 4,200 Arizonans, but the association was big enough that 300 people attended the combined 11th Annual Convention and State Truck Rodeo. In 1949, Glenn Sharpe was hired as AMTA’s new executive secretary-manager.
The 1950s Despite recessions in 1953-54
and again in 1957-58, the 1950s saw consolidation of trucking companies, the emergence of much larger fleets and a growing proportion of freight being hauled by truck. Forty-foot trailers became the norm. The ICC started allowing trailers to be piggybacked on rail flatcars and intermodal transportation began. In 1956, the Federal Aid Highway Act
authorized a massive, $24 billion interstate highway building program, championed by President Eisenhower, but at a price to trucking in the form of new “user fees”
Arizona Trucking Association 2012 Yearbook
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