Pro-Active Engagement in 2011
Positions Association for Continued Success in 2012
The year 2011 was a year of political turmoil in Washington, DC. Stalemates over the budget and impasses over taxes dominated the day. Important issues, for sure. Frustrating to the American public, no doubt. NATM did not let that stand in the way of continued progress in its government relations program.

Instead, NATM focused laser-like on governmental issues that are core to ensuring the success of its members, and further enhancing its standing in Washington, D.C. as a pro-active group dedicated to safety and committed to working with a range of stakeholders to achieve common goals. These efforts included actions to:

• Help prevent enactment of laws that would have increased costs and imposed regulatory burdens;
• Advocate for changes to law that would reduce impediments to more efficient and cost-effective trailer delivery from manufacturers to dealers;
• Continue progress to the establishment of a voluntary brake standard for trailers;
• Engage in a colaition effort with RVIA and NMMA to address potential import restrictions from Transport Canada due to an interpretation of tire performance testing requirements;
• Mitigate the impacts of new corporate average fuel economy standards on towing vehicles;
• Establish the NATM Political Action Committee, which enables the organization to participate in the political as well as policy process; and
• Invite members of Congress to tour trailer manufacturing plants in their districts and see in action the jobs the industry creates for constituents.

During the year, NATM representatives met with numerous Members of Congress, staff and agency officials to discuss issues of importance to, and advocate on behalf of, its members. In May 2011, for example, NATM Board Members participated in a “Lobby Day” on Capitol Hill as well as with officials from NHTSA and FMCSA. NATM also teamed up with the National Marine Manufacturers Association to host another annual Trailer Roundup, which featured presentations to both groups from federal regulators, Congressional staff and a representative from the National Association of Manufacturers. Plans are already underway for another Roundup in 2012.

As a follow up to Capitol Hill meetings held during May’s “Lobby Day”, NATM Board Member Doug Deaver coordinated an invitation for Congressman Steve Stivers to tour the M.H. Eby facility in West Jefferson, Ohio. The visit was the first by a Member of Congress to an NATM facility since the association accelerated its government affairs outreach and was a milestone in the program’s growth. One of the cornerstones of NATM’s efforts has been taking a pro-active approach to working with Congress and having manufacturers show their Representatives first-hand the industry’s impact on jobs in their districts is an important part of developing support among policymakers. We plan to increase this type of outreach during 2012 and encourage members to contact NATM headquarters for assistance in planning and executing such visits.

NATM also unanimously adopted a change to its bylaws at its February convention making participation in the compliance verification program (CVP) a requirement of membership for all trailer manufacturers, effective January 1, 2012. The CVP is a program to verify, through production-site consultations, that members have processes in place to build trailers that meet or exceed certain standards and federal regulations. The Administrator of the U.S.

Department of Transportation’s Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration, The Honorable Anne Ferro, thanked NATM for its “continued efforts to improve safety on our Nation’s roads and highways” in response to the news of NATM’s action. She added that “it certainly makes [FMCSA’s] job easier when a trade association such as NATM takes the lead in ensuring that safety is a primary concern to its members.”

NATM’s Uniform Brake Standard working group, comprised of stakeholders from the trailer industry as well as the Recreational Vehicle Industry Association and NMMA, met and made solid progress on establishing a voluntary brake performance standard.  The group, led by NATM Technical Director Clint Lancaster, is seeking to establish a brake standard to improve the performance of brakes on trailers through the Society of Automotive Engineers (SAE). The goal is to have a draft framework for consideration by SAE in 2012.

On the legislative side, NATM focused principally on motor vehicle safety bills and the transportation reauthorization bill.  One was defense. The other was offense. NATM was successful in ensuring that vehicle safety components of legislation introduced during the year appropriately distinguished between requirements aimed at passenger cars rather than the broader “motor vehicle” category which, as the industry has found out before, also includes trailers. Additionally, NATM continued to advocate for a change in law to permit manufacturers to deliver their products to dealers in double combinations as part of the transportation reauthorization bill. Negotiations on a long-term bill are on-going, but NATM is well positioned on the issue going forward.

Late in the year, NATM members began expressing significant concern about potential restrictions being imposed by Transport Canada on the importation of U.S.-made trailers into Canada. NATM worked with a group of stakeholders to discuss the issues, develop a strategy to protect the interests of the trailer industry and engage key regulatory decision-makers in the U.S. and Canada. It is expected that the results of these collective efforts will ensure that NATM’s U.S. members can continue to export trailers to Canada. Transport Canada has also committed to participate in NATM’s 2012 Convention to help educate NATM members on Canadian regulatory issues of importance.

What will the year 2012 bring? Who knows. But because of its pro-active engagement in Washington, D.C., NATM is well-position to successfully navigate the political storm that is likely to engulf Washington, D.C. in an election year.

Darrell Conner is a Government Affairs Counselor and Dennis Potter is a Government Affairs Analyst at the law and lobbying firm of K&L Gates, where they represent NATM and other clients on legislative, regulatory, policy and political matters. Conner can be reached at darrell.conner@klgates.com and Potter can be reached at dennis.potter@klgates.com.