Earlier this year, ATD completed our months long Strategic Planning Process. I’m excited to announce that the ATD Board has been expanded to include four additional truck OEM seats. Our new board seats effectively cover each of the major brands that truck dealers sell: Chevrolet Trucks, Hino, Ram, and Western Star. They are also a much-needed addition of medium-duty voices to our ATD Board which will help us expand our focus on medium-duty truck dealers.

The ATD Board is excited that this expansion effectively grows the commercial truck dealer Voice across the organization and in our advocacy efforts in Washington, D.C. This also leads to increased engagement with dealer councils and improves our industry relations moving forward. More seats mean better representation for hundreds of truck dealers across the country, and these new board members help us to communicate more closely with our truck dealer community.

ATD wouldn’t have been able to implement this plan without engaged and passionate truck dealers who are willing to serve. After a few runoff elections for these important seats, we have our final slate of new line representatives.

I’m pleased to congratulate the newly elected members on the ATD board:

• Chevrolet Line Rep, Matthew Dierksmeier, Badger Chevrolet, Lake Mills, Wisconsin

• Hino Line Rep, John Doub, TMI Truck & Equipment Co., Chesapeake, Virginia

• Ram Line Rep, Chad Rigby, Ken Garff West Valley CJDR, West Valley City, Utah

• Western Star Line Rep, Maria Sherwood, Sherwood Freightliner and Western Star, Inc., Dunmore, Pennsylvania

Each ATD board member has an important role. They are dedicated men and women who are the first line of defense for your business and are staunch advocates for you with our OEMs, our suppliers, and the federal government. These new members are joining our great ranks and I know they are ready to tackle the challenges ahead.

Your elected board members will continue to work through today’s complex challenges so that our interests are well represented, whether on the steps of Capitol Hill or with federal agencies that regulate our industry and significantly impact our operations. They are also constantly working to improve relationships with our manufacturers and suppliers, particularly when they share the results of ATD’s dealer attitude surveys.

Ultimately, the goal of our newly expanded board is to better serve all our members. We are working hard to create new opportunities for engagement and to hear your concerns throughout the year. We want to hear from you and make sure we are advocating for truck dealers with all the power of ATD every single day.

I welcome you to get to know your entire ATD Board. Contact ATD at any time and reach out to the men and women who are representing you.