Moving Pieces: Q&A with Alaska Trucking Association

AB: What are the primary objectives of ATA, and what services do you provide your members?

Benson: The two primary objectives are support and advocacy for the industry. Our membership is made up of trucking-related positions, drivers being the majority, but we also provide safety-focused training, which is led by our safety management committee. Recently, we partnered with Wrightway Auto Carriers, and they hosted a pipe tie-down demonstration and highlighted best safety practices and awareness. We have two DOT inspection classes coming up to educate drivers on what to expect if their vehicles are chosen for inspections. This helps the companies by reducing their violations.

We host CPR training classes and leadership training—I’m actively working on putting together an interview skills class for anyone who wants to promote within the industry, because I always felt that was my niche at FedEx. It took a long time to cultivate that skill, but I learned over the years—by interviewing myself and also interviewing hundreds of employees—what an employer is looking for and to make that time valuable for the employee and the employer.

ATA’s incredible staff also provides commercial and personal DMV services to our members and the public. I would say one of our greatest services that we provide here is networking and collaboration opportunities for our members, building that network so that they can find resources within their own industries. Those are the types of support services that we provide.

The other big thing is advocacy: we are all about advocating for our membership. We’re actively working to influence transportation policies at the state and the federal levels, and we want to ensure a favorable business environment for our members.

AB: What has been one of the highlights of your tenure with ATA to date?

Benson:I recently had an opportunity to ride along the Dalton Highway—the “haul road”—with three of our carriers. This experience was invaluable to me. The challenges facing our drivers on a daily basis cannot be overlooked. The Dalton is probably the hardest road to travel in the country, and our drivers are braving it every day to provide necessary goods and equipment to support the oil and gas industry. Their skills and professionalism play a vital role in ensuring a reliable transportation network. This experience truly amplified my respect and admiration for all of our drivers here in Alaska.

AB: What is your vision for the future of the organization?

Benson:The trucking industry has changed over the many years that we’ve had vehicles on the road. But I think overall our membership is so wonderfully diverse with a wealth of knowledge and experience. We have a board of twenty-one members, and they’re an amazing group of industry leaders: executives, frontline operators, sales. And every one of those members has a reason for belonging and contributing to the ATA. But it’s my vision and my goal to bring all of those voices together in a manner that strengthens the collective voice of the ATA. We want to foster innovation and collaboration and drive progress in this ever-changing environment. So my vision is to take this organization of 200-plus members and find a collective voice so that we all reach our goals.

AB: How are changes in shipping and logistics, such as the new Amazon hub in Anchorage, affecting the industry?

Benson:Even when I was with FedEx, I loved that Amazon had a place in Alaska. You saw the introduction of Amazon and their warehouses. And I never really saw them as a threat because of the way our industry is now and that need for instant gratification of delivery. There’s more than enough business out there for all of the trucking companies.

And when you mention Amazon, FedEx, UPS, USPS—they’re not instantly recognized as trucking companies, but they are: they provide a service through a vehicle. But I would definitely say our old saying of “If you got it, a truck brought it” still rings true, now more than ever. Your first thought about the trucking industry is the big tractor trailers, but the small package delivery system—they’re just as integral. And they’re driving vehicles. They’re driving trucks. So that last leg of a very intricate supply chain movement is critical.

AB: A lack of licensed drivers is obviously one of the challenges that Alaska and Outside companies are trying to address. What do you see as the root of this problem, and what is your organization doing to help attract more people to this career?

Benson:ATA is actively trying to remove the stigma of truck driving. I think for a lot of folks—especially our younger workforce—it doesn’t sound like a viable option. Removing the stigma of truck driving as just being a long-haul driver is what’s going to be critical to our industry to bring more people into this career.

There’s a myriad of support roles in the trucking industry: administrative, executive, maintenance. So we’re going to career fairs, and our stance is that a four-year degree is great if you’re focused enough and that’s where you want to go and a four-year degree is required. But that’s not necessarily what’s needed to have a fulfilling life and a long-term career.

I’ve told this story a hundred times over because I’m actually very proud of it: my son, with my affiliation with the ATA, he was really exposed at a young age to this industry. His father is an aircraft mechanic, so he’s mechanically inclined, but he wasn’t the best student. Academics wasn’t his forte, so we always knew that wasn’t a path for him. I was able to promote trade to him as an option for a career. So he’s been trained as a diesel mechanic, and now he works for one of our members.

AB: What other efforts is ATA making to remove the stigma from the trucking industry?

Benson:I really believe that exposure is going to make the impact: building partnerships with UAA and ASD [Anchorage School District] and introducing the trucking industry in ways that don’t immediately come to mind. Just because you’re good at accounting doesn’t mean you have to go and work for a big company downtown; the possibilities are endless in the trucking industry. It’s just about finding the right venue for that.

But for us right now, we’re working on apprenticeships within our industry, and there’s a maintenance apprenticeship program at Alaska Central Express that’s been really successful. But creating that pathway within the industry is going to help us as well. It’s all about introducing the possibilities early on and fostering them in-house.

AB: What do you think are the other biggest challenges facing this industry?

Benson:Right now, the biggest challenge for our industry is infrastructure. As soon as I came on board, the first issue that I was introduced to was the Dalton Highway and opportunities on the haul road. There’s a significant amount of regulatory bureaucracy that goes on there and funding that needs to be pursued. But in my mind, a basic need for safe driving and safe transport are safe and maintained roads. So we’re actively working with other associations to draw attention to the plight.

The Dalton Highway is kind of “out of sight, out of mind.” If you have a giant pothole on Minnesota [Drive] and Benson [Boulevard, in Midtown Anchorage], you’ve got 20,000 people going onto social media, posting videos, and drawing attention to it. With the Dalton Highway being so, like I said, out of sight and out of mind, it’s not getting the attention that it needs. So that’s something that we are actively working towards.

AB: What are your thoughts on self-driving or automated tech and how that might impact the industry?

Benson:I think self-driving and automated tech makes a lot of sense for the Lower 48 where you have longer stretches with less impact from environmental concerns. Alaska is wild, and I don’t think that our infrastructure lends itself to self-driving vehicles. At least not right now. Like I said before that, I don’t think the infrastructure is there to support that.

When I was with FedEx, we implemented a lot of systems in our vehicles so they’re very self-aware. These webcams that are in truck cabs can tell when you’re blinking, if you look like you’re tired. There’s all these systems that the vehicles have for driver awareness and health and safety.

But you cannot discount the human factor for the Alaska environment. We had, what, 130 inches of snow last year? You’re telling me that a self-driving vehicle will be able to navigate that safely or make decisions based on the safe driving conditions of the road? If that were true! [she laughs] You’ve got bears coming out of nowhere, moose, people breaking down on the sides of roads, and so you have an inherently human factor and emotional intelligence that I do not think that self-driving vehicles can support for Alaska driving conditions.

AB: If you could deliver one message to our readers, what would that be?

Benson:My message for the readers is that the trucking industry—especially in Alaska—is vital. It’s not going anywhere. We have freight handlers, executives, admins, dispatchers, maintenance teams, professional drivers—they’re always going to be vital to keeping our community and our economy moving. With the industry, you transport goods across the country in partnership with air and sea transport, and we are ensuring that you have these essential items reaching stores, businesses, your home. The members of this industry, this community, they’re the reason that we can live the lives that we do in Alaska.

I mean, we have a reputation for being wild. We’re distant. But there is a great benefit to living in Alaska…. We have everything that we need at our fingertips, but it is because of the trucking industry, the [Alaska] Marine Highway [System], and the air transport network. The trucking industry is an integral part of what makes it possible for us all to live here in this beautiful state.