ATA Names Fifth Class to LEAD ATA Program

Program Identifies and Cultivates Emerging Industry Leaders

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Oct 22, 2017, 12:11 ET

ORLANDO, Fla., Oct. 22, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Today, American Trucking Associations named its fifth class to the LEAD ATA industry leadership program, as well as announced the graduation of the fourth class during the annual ATA Management Conference & Exhibition.

"From class to class, we are able to find young men and women who are determined to do more than just enhance their professional profiles. These individuals truly want to gain a deeper understanding of how trucking can impact communities and how they can help position trucking as a safety-first industry with a strong public image," said ATA President and CEO Chris Spear.

Sponsored by PeopleNet, the program provides LEAD ATA participants the many tools available to industry executives through ATA. Each LEAD ATA class has exclusive education opportunities available to a select group of up-and-coming trucking industry professionals. ATA provides the class information about how the regulatory and legislative process affects the trucking industry and the important role ATA plays in influencing those processes.

"With our fifth class of the LEAD ATA program, as with our previous classes, we set out to attract the best and brightest in trucking and provide them with the tools to direct our industry and ATA into the future," said ATA Chairman Kevin Burch, president of Jet Express Inc. "The previous classes have been a tremendous success and I am excited to see the benefits that both the program and ATA will receive in the coming year."

"PeopleNet is honored to have the opportunity to participate in a hands-on capacity in the distinguished LEAD ATA program for half a decade now," said Bryan Coyne, PeopleNet senior vice president and general manager, truck group. "The opportunity to meet and work with these aspiring young executives is exciting and we are ready to interact with the 2018 LEAD ATA class members."

2018 LEAD ATA Class: Arnold Heath, ABF Freight Inc.; Ben Banks, TCW Inc.; Joey Crum, Northern Industrial Training LLC; Michael Drapeau, FedEx Freight; William Hathaway, Noregon Systems Inc.; Garrett Knollman, Transmark; Joey Mills, UPS Freight; Donald Slager, Slager Trucking Company; Joseph Sponseller, Dean Foods Company; Patrick Usher, Usher Transport Inc.; Gabrielle Wadhams, Wadhams Enterprises Inc.; Dan Kling, Reddaway.

2017 LEAD ATA Graduates:

Aaron Brown, NFI Industries; Daniel Horvath, TransForce Inc.; Wesley Davis, Big M Transportation Inc.; Jason Hunter, UPS; Jeffrey First, FedEx Freight; Colton Lawrence, Equinox Business Solutions LLC; Nelson Gonzalez, California Multimodal LLC; John Michell, Daseke Inc.; Johnathan Gravell, Pressure Systems International; Jake Rinehart, Celadon Group Inc.; Todd Hahn, Brown Integrated Logistics Inc.; Andrew Schilling, Fraley and Schilling Inc.; Andrew Walker, TransLand; Collins White, Alabama Motor Express Inc.; James Wright, Wright Transportation Inc.

Additional information on LEAD ATA can be found on the official LEAD ATA website.

American Trucking Associations is the largest national trade association for the trucking industry. Through a federation of 50 affiliated state trucking associations and industry-related conferences and councils, ATA is the voice of the industry America depends on most to move our nation's freight. Follow ATA on Twitter or on Facebook. Trucking Moves America Forward

SOURCE American Trucking Associations