From the Desk of Gail Rutkowski:

I’d like to tell you a story. I’ll try to keep it short, but please bear with me for a few minutes. I want to share something I wrote when I first accepted the job as Executive Director of NASSTRAC.

First, let me come clean and admit the obvious: I’m a transportation junkie. I absolutely love this industry and am a passionate student of it. I’ve felt this way since my very first transportation job, working with The Quaker Oats Company private fleet, more years ago than I care to admit. I loved working with truck drivers, thought dispatching and being on 24-hour call was fun, heck I even enjoyed auditing driver logs.

Now, transportation wasn’t my first choice of career path. When I was young, I wanted to be a U.S. Senator. I thought I could change the world and make things better from the pulpit of the U.S. Senate.

At 17, I made my first trip to Washington, D.C. and was able to get access to the Senate gallery. I sat there over four hours, until they kicked me out, fascinated by the action on the floor below my seat. I felt privileged to be a citizen of the United States and to be part of this democratic process.

Once I started working in transportation and realized what a great industry this was, I jumped in and never left. I was lucky.

Early in my career, I worked for Sam Flint at Quaker Oats. Sam was a real mover and shaker in the industry—he helped write the Railroad Revitalization and Regulatory Reform Act back in the '70’s. I was his secretary and had a bird's eye view of how shippers make a difference and how he stepped up and helped the congressmen and senators he was working with. This was the first piece of transportation deregulation legislation. It was exciting to work with him and an exciting time to be in transportation, to be at the forefront of watching this unfold.

Which brings me back to the beginning of my story. Why I became Executive Director of NASSTRAC and why I’m writing to you today. Many years later, I’m able to marry my two passions, transportation and politics. It’s been enlightening, frustrating, and enjoyable. I’d like to share with you what I've learned:

We CAN make a difference!
While supply chain may not sound like a real sexy career choice, it’s fulfilling, challenging, and an ever-evolving industry.

“Never believe that a few caring people can’t change the world. For, indeed, that’s all who ever have.”
- Margaret Mead

Today I invite you to join your colleagues at NASSTRAC’s Spring Meeting, “Stand Up for Trucking,” this April 26-28 in Washington, D.C. Every voice is important, and every voice needs to be heard.

After a day of education sessions, we’ll go to the Hill on Tuesday to meet with our congressional representatives speaking about the issues impacting our supply chain. We’ll discuss the importance of passing a fully funded Highway Bill, how shippers are being impacted by regulatory issues such as changes to Hours of Service, the ELD Mandate, and the lack of any substantive productivity legislation (i.e., Twin 33 initiative).

We cannot depend on the “other guy” or our carriers and 3PL’s to do our work for us. We must join together until we achieve our goals.

Visit www.nasstrac.org "SpringEvent" to learn more about the full conference agenda, hotel, and travel information.

Please join us in D.C.
Register for the two-day event today!