NATM Celebrates 30 Years of Advocacy, Education and Growth
Tracks
NATM Celebrates 30 Years of Advocacy, Education and Growth By Pam Trusdale, Executive Director
Sept. 22, 2017 will mark the 30th Anniversary of the National Association of Trailer Manufacturers (NATM). The following are highlights from the last 30 years:
1987 Five trailer manufacturers established the National
1988
Association of Livestock Trailer Manufacturers (NALTM) in Chickasha, Okla. Bill Bernhardt, President of Sooner Trailer, was elected as the first President of this new association. The group originally came together in an effort to get better rates for product liability insurance. Those in attendance decided to establish an association, and selected Professional Association Management (PAM) of Oklahoma City to manage the Association for 70 percent of its total income. The first Annual Membership Meeting was held in Kansas City, Mo. with 25 members in attendance. The initial nine-member Board of Directors was elected and dues were set at $400 for Regular Members (trailer manufacturers) and $500 for Associate Members (suppliers).
1989 Management of the Association was moved to
Association & Society Management, Inc., Austin, Texas for 40 percent of annual income plus office expenses.
1990 The Association was incorporated in Texas as
the National Association of Livestock Trailer Manufacturers (NALTM). The first NATM “Mark of Excellence” Decals were sold to members for one dollar per decal (below). The purpose of the decal was to promote pride in membership and to raise revenue for the Association.
1991 Work started on
manufacturing guidelines for livestock trailer manufacturers – initially published as The Guidelines for Recommended Minimum Manufacturing Practices for Trailers Under 26,000 lbs. GVWR.
1992 Revised Articles of
NALTM's Tracks black and white newsletter published in 1990.
Incorporation were filed in Texas changing the name of the Association to the National Association of Trailer Manufacturers (NATM). The Board of Directors determined that the issues they were facing were not specific to livestock trailer manufacturers and that the industry would be better served if all light- and medium-duty trailer manufacturers were unified in one association.
1993 Membership grew to 81 members and the annual meeting was held in Dallas, Texas.
1994 Membership reported at 117 with an annual budget of $85,800. Convention revenue was 30 percent of the anticipated annual revenue. Dues were $400 for both Regular and Associate members.
1995 Membership reported at 125 members. The convention was held in New Orleans, La. and discussion topics included compliance issues, business liabilities and the fluctuation in the steel and aluminum markets.
1996 Reports for the year noted improvements in The
Guidelines and Tracks, and completion of a trailer industry survey. Dick Klein, P.E., was hired as NATM’s Consulting Engineer to assist members with technical questions. Membership totaled 147 and the annual budget was $104,150.
The first NATM “Mark of Excellence” Decals were sold in 1990.
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NATM Celebrates 30 Years of Advocacy, Education and Growth
1997
Tracks
Accomplishments for this year were reported as addition of Dick Klein’s Engineers Corner for each issue of Tracks.
1998 NATM headquarters was moved to Topeka, Kan. under the management of Association Services Corporation. A dedicated Executive Director, Pam Trusdale, was hired to manage the NATM account.
1999 The NATM Bylaws were rewritten and adopted by
the Board of Directors. The Awards Program was established and the first Outstanding Member Award was presented to founding member and first President, Bill Bernhardt.
2000 Members volunteered for third party inspections
by T.R. Arnold to pave the way for establishing a compliance program. Membership exceeded 300.
In 2002, the NATM Decal was serialized.
2001 The first NATM Compliance Director, Greg Soden,
was hired to conduct consultations free of charge to member volunteers. The serialized compliance decal was adopted and sold to members that successfully completed the compliance verification process for 75 cents each. Decal sales were used to underwrite the cost of the program.
2002 NATM withdrew from the management company
to become a self-managed association with four employees, three of which have been with NATM until this year. The Association also developed ANSI tested warning labels for use by trailer manufacturers and revamped The Guidelines to make it a more userfriendly resource for members.
NATM Total Membership 1987-2017
NATM Total Membership Numbers
1200
1978-2017
1000 1000
800 800 600 600
400 400 200 200
00
1997 1999 1999 2001 2001 2003 1987 1989 1987 1989 1991 1991 1993 1993 1995 1995 1997 2003 2005 2005 2007 2007 2009 2009 2011 2011 2013 2013 2015 2015 2017 2017
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2003 The Bylaws were revised to recognize the compliance program.
2004 The first issue of Tracks magazine was published in
December 2004. Total revenue for the Association exceeded $1.0 million, with decal sales exceeding 300,000.
2005 The first facilitated strategic planning session was held to
review the mission and vision of the Association and to establish a strategic plan to outline the key objectives of the Association moving forward. Attendance at the Annual Convention & Trade Show in Orlando exceeded 1,000. Membership exceeded 700.
2006 NATM staff grew to eight and the Board of Directors
decided to purchase a building to house NATM Headquarters. Cash reserves had grown and the Board of Directors approved the cash purchase of the headquarters building at 1320 Topeka Blvd. in the Topeka, Kan. A second compliance consultant was hired to assist with the growing number of compliance consultations.
The first fully colored NATM Tracks magazine published Dec. 2004.
NATM Compliance Decals Sales
Annual NATM Compliance Decal Sales
1,000,000 900,000 900,000 800,000 800,000 700,000 700,000 600,000 600,000 500,000 500,000 400,000 400,000 300,000 300,000 200,000 200,000
The current NATM Compliance Decal features a serial number and QR code.
100,000 100,000 0
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0
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2008 2008
2009 2009
2010 2010
2011 2011
2012 2012
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2014 2014
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2016 2016
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NATM Celebrates 30 Years of Advocacy, Education and Growth
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2007 NATM first began to advocate
allowing for the tandem towing of unladen trailers. Board members met with Featherlite legal counsel and four Congressional staff members to discuss a uniform law to allow tandem delivery of trailers in all 50 states. NATM began negotiations with the National Marine Manufacturers Association (NMMA) to allow NATM compliance consultants to conduct NMMA certification inspections for boat trailer manufacturers.
2008 Dick Klein retired as NATM’s
2009
Consulting Engineer. NATM hired a full-time Technical Director to oversee the technical program and After seven years of advocating on behalf of doubles towaway legislation, the language was assist with member’s technical included in The Fixing America’s Surface Transportation (FAST) Act that was adopted by Congress in 2015. questions. A strategic planning session was held to review the progress on the 2005 Strategic Plan and make revisions 2012 Implementation of mandatory participation in the Compliance Verification Program took place, and the as necessary for future goals and objectives. A proactive Association worked with RVIA and NMMA to revise government affairs program was established and K&L an FMVSS 110 requirement that was threatening to Gates was engaged to represent NATM. halt the export of trailers to Canada. A governance plan was created to establish policies and ensure continuity with an ever-changing volunteer leadership.
2010 NATM developed generic owner’s manuals so that
all NATM members could afford to provide a manual with their trailers. The Association worked to defeat proposed legislation that would have cost trailer manufacturers over $9 million dollars in taxes annually. NATM Political Action Committee (NATM PAC) was established.
2011 The membership unanimously approved a Bylaws
amendment making participation in the Compliance Verification Program (CVP) a requirement of membership for all trailer manufacturers beginning Jan. 1, 2012.
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2013 Due to a growing staff size, NATM headquarters
moved to its current location at 2420 SW 17th Street in Topeka, Kan. NATM took over the leadership role in planning the Trailer Regulatory Roundup and Capitol Hill Visits in Washington, D.C. in conjunction with the Boat Trailer Manufacturers Association (BTMA), an annual event. NATM exceeded the five million mark in compliance decal sales since the inception of the program in 2002, and added a QR code to its compliance decals.
2014 NATM worked with a coalition to successfully
exclude Specialty Trailer (ST) tires from a Department of Commerce Anti-dumping and Countervailing Investigation of imports of certain passenger vehicle and light-truck tires from China, saving trailer manufacturers millions of dollars in potential tariffs. NATM created safety videos and introduced a mobile app for the Convention & Trade Show.
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2015 NATM was awarded its certification of accreditation
for ISO 17020:2012 by the ANSI-ASQ National Accreditation Board (ANAB). After seven years of advocating on behalf of doubles towaway legislation, language was included in The Fixing America’s Surface Transportation (FAST) Act that was adopted by Congress. The FAST Act language allowed tandem delivery of trailers with a total length of up to 82’ on all federal highways. A strategic planning session was held and the NATM mission and vision statements were revised. The 2016-2018 Strategic Plan was developed.
2016 NATM began to implement the new strategic plan
including hosting the first Regional Educational workshop in Elkhart, Ind., with over 80 members in attendance. In order to meet the needs of the growing membership, NATM hired an additional compliance consultant and a membership director focused solely on membership. The Safely Towing a Trailer booklet was published to enhance consumer awareness and promote trailer safety.
Today The National Association of Trailer Manufacturers
now stands at 888 members with an annual budget of $2,000,000. The 2017 Convention & Trade Show had record attendance and sponsorships, and Tracks magazine has its largest circulation of subscribers and advertisers. Over the last thirty years, NATM has seen both growth, and due to the economic downturn, contraction. But, the staff has grown and is the strongest staff-to-date, participation in the Annual Convention & Trade Show is increasing, and numerous programs have been added over the years. With a robust Strategic Plan in place, a visionary board of directors, dedicated committee volunteers, loyal members and an enthusiastic staff, the Association is poised to continue to grow and thrive over the next 30 years.
NATM Financial History $2,500,000
Revenue Expense Net
$2,000,000 $1,500,000 $1,000,000 $500,000 $0 -$500,000
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