AMTA moved into its new 2111 W. McDowell headquarters in September 1964.


Lou and Lois Edwards at the 1962 AMTA convention.


 Hurley trucks in front of the Republic & Gazette Building in 1962.


 Navajo Freight Lines “tribute” trailer at the Capitol for Transportation Safety Day in 1963.


Western Truck Lines, Navajo Freight, Illinois-California Express and Watson Brothers Trucking filed a petition asking the ICC to deny the Santa Fe Railroad trucking subsidiary operating rights between Los Angeles and Holbrook, Arizona.


The 1960s Trucking industry consolidation


continued throughout the ’60s. Consolidated Freightways bought out Motor Cargo and dozens of other major mergers occurred over the decade to dramatically change the face of the industry. The grip of the Teamsters Union grew and the ICC continued to strengthen its regulatory oversight of trucking. The first Clean Air Act was passed in 1963 and the Federal Highway Administration was established in 1966. Richard Nixon became the 37th president in 1968.


In 1960, a three-year study was published outlining a network of freeways 20


for Phoenix and Maricopa County to promote economic growth. But politics intervened and few freeways were built in the greater Phoenix area until the 1990s. Driven by a largely rural influence on the State Transportation Board, Arizona ramped up highway construction outside the metro areas. State Route 79 connecting Cordes Junction with Flagstaff was completed in 1960, when the final section between Camp Verde and Flagstaff was opened. The road was the first direct highway link between Phoenix and Flagstaff, and would later be incorporated into Interstate 17. Spending on highway construction rose from $61 million in 1961-62 to $109 million in 1966-67. In 1960, AMTA hired Emral Ruth as its


managing director and in April 1961 moved its offices to 333 W. Indian School Road in Phoenix. In March, 1964, Arizona Governor Paul Fannin signed into law the state’s prorate licensing law, the culmination of an eight-year effort to allow trucks to pay fees


according to the actual number of miles they traveled in each state. That same year, ladies whose husbands were members of AMTA organized themselves into a Ladies Auxiliary and called themselves “The Fifth Wheels.” In September, AMTA celebrated its move into a brand-new headquarters at 2111 W. McDowell Road in Phoenix. By 1966 the trucking industry


employed 109,000 Arizonans, or one of every 15 residents. Highway user taxes paid by Arizona trucks totaled $850,000 a week. AMTA’s membership numbered 85 in-state and 22 out-of-state companies. Thunderbird Freight Lines and Hopper Truck Lines led the way in Arizona in the use of computers for shipment information, payroll and other tracking.


The 1970s Large unionized less-than-truckload


carriers dominated the trucking industry. The for-hire sector was dominated by


Arizona Trucking Association 2012 Yearbook


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