A must-attend event for any professional in transportation or logistics!

Interested in Exhibiting?
Click here.

Interested in Sponsoring?
Click here.

Interested in Presenting?
Click here.

Check back soon
for more details
on the upcoming
2007 Conference.

"Change @ The Speed of Business"

2006 NASSTRAC Logistics Conference & Expo Highlights

More than 300 logistics professionals attended the 2006 NASSTRAC Logistics Conference and Exhibition April 30-May 3 in Orlando, Florida.

Rising Fuel Costs • Driver Shortage • Pending Legislation:
Key Concerns Covered at NASSTRAC Annual Conference

Honorable Bill Graves, President and CEO of the American Trucking Association, was a special keynote. He underscored that these challenges are particularly of concern, given freight tonnage is expected to grow markedly with a growing population and expanding U.S. economy.

During a general session on transportation capacity crunches, John Langley, Ph.D of Georgia Institute of Technology and NASSTRAC’s education advisor, suggested that capacity issues have been preoccupying transportation executives for quite some time.

Langley also echoed Roger Nober’s (formerly of the STB) recent suggestion that truck capacity is strained primarily due to the following factors: Increased fuel prices, driver shortage and costly training and recruitment, high insurance costs, uncertain hours of service rules, freeze on productivity improvements, unlikely significant additions to an already aged highway network, and strained capacity of rail system. Langley also underscored that demand for transportation will grow significantly in the next 20 years.

Major legislative issues highlighted at the NASSTRAC Conference:

• FMCSA 2005 Rules on the Hours of Service issue are similar to 2003 rules, while safety advocates want shorter hours and carriers want sleeper berth flexibility. NASSTRAC has intervened in support of FMCSA.
• It’s clear that fallout from the Dubai Ports episode is far from over. With Congress considering measures to require 100 percent scanning of import containers, momentum to legislate new security measures is growing in Congress.
• The Highway Bill gives DOT new inspection authority, and the DOT
  seems to want to avoid disruption and contamination.

NASSTRAC Announces 2006 Member of the Year Awards

Eric Morley (pictured at right), Director of Logistics for Best Buy Company, was named the 2006 “NASSTRAC Member of the Year.” Each year, this honor is awarded to an individual logistics professional with a shipper organization who has demonstrated personal leadership, commitment, and dedication to the industry as well as to the association.

In addition, NASSTRAC also announced that Lanny Fleming (pictured at left), Vice President of Corporate Account Sales for FedEx Freight, is the recipient of the 2006 “NASSTRAC Associate Member of the Year.”

The “New” NASSTRAC: Covering All Transportation

“There are key benefits to attending the NASSTRAC annual conference, and they were clearly at work at this year’s conference,” said Chris Norek of Chain Connectors and NASSTRAC’s Education Committee Chair. "Part of the buzz at the conference was how NASSTRAC has been changing in recent years."

Gail Rutkowski of AIMS Logistics and current NASSTRAC President, explained these changes to attendees: “By expanding our scope to include all modes, NASSTRAC is acknowledging the need for transportation professionals to continually expand their knowledge base and stay current in order to effectively perform their jobs.”