President’s Report › › › › › › › › › › › › › › › › › › › › ›

By Marty Lorick, Triple Crown Trailers

As we begin a new year in 2023, companies across the globe are renewing their membership and affiliation with the National Association Of Trailer Manufacturers (NATM). To those of you that have recommitted to NATM’s efforts, thank you. NATM would be unable to achieve its growth and positive influence on this industry without dedicated suppliers, service providers, dealers, and trailer manufacturers supporting the Association’s mission to "promote trailer safety and the success of the trailer manufacturing industry through education and advocacy." Renewing NATM members also understand the multifaceted benefits of being a member of a trade association specific to the light- and medium-duty trailer industry.

For our trailer manufacturer members, participation in NATM and its Compliance Verification Program is entirely voluntary. Choosing to renew your membership and invest the time and money necessary to ensure your compliance demonstrates your company’s sense of civic responsibility. The NATM members that choose to renew membership year after year recognize that building trailers to meet Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standards is not only the right thing to do. It is the law.

Participation in the NATM Compliance Verification Program lends credibility to member companies. Biennially, our trailer manufacturers receive an unbiased, third-party consultation by NATM Compliance Consultants to verify that they have the processes in place to build trailers to Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standards (FMVSS). By renewing membership, NATM members demonstrate their dedication to their customers in building compliant trailers. In addition, these trailer manufacturers also purchase the NATM Decal. NATM Decal purchases create awareness of NATM’s mission to promote trailer safety and applying the decal to trailers raises the visibility of their company’s affiliation with NATM as a reputable resource.

Belonging to NATM offers improved representation of your company’s needs on a federal level when it comes to legislation and regulation. It can be difficult for one small company to be heard above the racket. NATM membership unifies the voice of the light- and medium-duty trailer industry by bringing together over 1,100 companies. The Association advocates on behalf of our priorities so that we do not individually have to invest our already scarce resources. For example, NATM spent years advocating for a national bill that would allow unladen trailers to be towed in tandem, subject to certain limitations, by someone with a commercial driver’s license. Had the Association not regularly met legislators in person on Capitol Hill and submitted comments, such legislation would not have passed. Without NATM’s efforts, there would still be a random patchwork of differing state laws across the nation forcing trailer manufacturers and dealers to inefficiently deliver products.

Being a member of NATM also grants you connections to others in the industry. Active members in NATM recognize that participating in NATM through the NATM Convention & Trade Show, committees, and advertising gives you access to those that can help your company achieve its goals. Trailer manufacturers can find suppliers that offer an improved component or part, or access to a service provider that can assist with financing or insurance. NATM membership links trailer manufacturers to vendors, prospective customers, and other leaders in the industry and vice versa.

One of the most apparent benefits of renewing membership with NATM is access to information. NATM provides solutions for businesses in the industry, both trailer manufacturer companies and suppliers alike. By pooling together the collective brainpower of leaders in companies in all facets of this industry, NATM helps problem solve. The challenges NATM member companies face are often not unique. For example, most of us in the industry are struggling with the economic uncertainty as the nation faces a potential recession, and the NATM Education Committee planned the webinar line up with a focus on the economy with the State of the Industry Update with Statistical Surveys in September and the Economic & Inflation Outlook webinar with Merrill Lynch held in October.

Suppliers and service providers play an equally important role in NATM’s success. These associate members support the light- and medium-duty trailer industry through their committee and Board participation, monetary investments such as advertising and membership dues. Most helpful to the industry has been suppliers leveraging their expertise to share with the industry through educational articles and workshops. Suppliers work with many different trailer manufacturers directly and get a broad view and better understanding of the industry. They can identify trends and challenges faced by trailer manufacturers and use their understanding of the collective group. This information helps NATM better understand the needs of the membership in a way that one trailer manufacturing company may struggle to convey thanks to the strength of having extra data.

As a result, supplier members have improved NATM’s ability to provide educational resources, workshops, and informative articles. Supplier member companies are also often NATM’s greatest asset in recruiting new trailer manufacturers to the Association. Suppliers are the Association’s biggest cheerleaders. Many of them advocate on behalf of NATM to encourage the trailer manufacturing companies they work with to participate in the Compliance Verification Program or to attend the NATM Convention & Trade Show.

The Association is the combined effort, expertise, and support of all members, and without your annual recommitment to membership, none of this would have been possible. For more information about renewing your company’s membership with NATM, contact NATM Membership & Events Coordinator Catie Rutkowski at Catie.Rutkowski@natm. com or by calling NATM’s headquarters at (785) 272-4433.

Thank you again to those that have re-enlisted to support the light- and medium-duty trailer industry. I look forward to seeing you all at the 2023 Convention & Trade Show in Fort Worth, Texas. ■