Changing of the Guard
ATR talks to new American Trucking Associations president Chris Spear about trucking leadership in Washington
By Bethany May Managing Editor
On July 9, the American Trucking
Associations named a new president and CEO after Bill Graves, who held the position for 14 years, retired. Former Senior Vice President of Legislative Affairs for the American Trucking Associations Chris Spear is returning to take the top job following a short tenure at Hyundai Motor Company, and he’s bringing over two decades of experience on five continents to the table. Just two weeks into his new role,
Spear spoke to Arkansas Trucking Report about the new vision for trucking lead- ership in Washington.
A DIFFERENT LEADER FOR A DIFFERENT ENVIRONMENT The surprising rise of Donald
Trump and Bernie Sanders in this year’s presidential campaigns is evidence of the changing views of the establishment in Washington, and lobbyists are find- ing a new strategy is necessary. Spear will be taking the same
title as his predecessor, Governor Bill Graves, but his job will be markedly different. “Bill and I have very differ- ent backgrounds,” Spear says. “I have tremendous respect for his time as governor, his public service, his family history with the trucking industry. It’s quite frankly exceptional, and he’s come to the ATA at a time where we had a different environment and flavor here in Washington D.C. Now he leaves this role, and the environment has changed dramatically.”
ARKANSAS TRUCKING REPORT | Issue 4 2016 To cope with the changing envi-
ronment, fewer bills moving, fewer opportunities to tell the trucking story, Spear says his mindset is grounded in his previous experience legislating on the Hill and regulating in the agencies in recent years. Spear’s resume in government rela-
tions and economic development is long and impressive—the kind of list you’d want for an association that deals with strict regulations and interstate com- merce issues.
Spear spoke at the Arkansas
Trucking Association’s Annual Conference last year
Before he worked in legislative
affairs for ATA, Spear was vice president of emerging markets for Honeywell Process Solutions, based in Bracknell, United Kingdom and served as a board member for two joint ventures in Libya and Nigeria. Spear was also vice president for Honeywell Government Relations in Washington, D.C. and Brussels, Belgium, managing corpo- rate and business interests in the U.S., Europe, Middle East, Africa, Central
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