West Virginia trucking executive Fred Burns Jr. has been named chairman of the American Trucking Associations, the nation’s largest trucking trade group.
Burns was selected at the ATA’s annual Management Conference and Exhibition this week in San Antonio. Burns will lead the association in 2004. Through a combination of direct members, 50 affiliated state trucking associations and other trucking groups, ATA represents the interests of over 37,000 trucking companies.
Burns’ selection comes as the U.S. trucking industry celebrates its 100th anniversary and ATA marks its 70th year of operation.
Burns, of Marlinton, W.Va., is president of Burns Motor Freight, a family-run trucking operation founded by his father in 1946. The firm operates 100 tractor-trailer units out of its Marlinton headquarters and terminals in Beverly and Sam Black Church, W.Va., specializing in service to the wood products industry.
Burns is a past president of the West Virginia Trucking Association. Within ATA, he has served on the safety, human resources and technology committees. He founded and later chaired the ATA Small Carrier Committee. The committee gives small companies access to the same trucking business and safety resources that major national motor carriers enjoy.
He will continue to serve as chairman of the ATA Insurance Task Force, a group working to drive down trucking insurance costs. Burns has focused the group’s efforts on nationwide tort reform. During his tenure, 22 states have adopted tort reforms, nine of them with provisions targeted at helping trucking companies.
