California Construction Trucking Association (CCTA)

We had a very successful Annual Board Meeting at the Bahia Resort in San Diego November 4 & 5. I want to especially thank Lorraine Perluss and the staff, along with Lee, who work so hard to put these meetings together three times a year and making them run so smoothly.

I also want to thank all the members and affiliates who take the time to show up and be part of this Association. Thank you also to Brooks, Pat and Kirk for their representation of our Association in Sacramento and act as our legal counsel at the board meetings. We have come a long way through some very tough times together. I believe things are getting better for at least the Association; all of us working together really makes a difference – I’m convinced of that.

It has been a fast paced two years serving as the CDTOA President. And I should add, a very rewarding experience meeting and hearing from all of you, the members of this great Association. I feel we have made many important changes to the dump truck industry. A few years ago we decided to partner-up with member businesses in Heavy-haul and Concrete-pumping, yet there are many others in the construction industry that we can appeal to as well. We have a unique opportunity to make more effective changes in California and within the construction industry if our reach is broadened.

To facilitate this effort, we have discussed the issue and have voted unanimously on a name change for our Association. We will soon be evolving into the “California Construction Trucking Association” (CCTA). Just as we did with our world-class drug program, the California Drug & Alcohol Testing Alliance or C-DATA our sister non-profit’s name was changed to the American Alliance Drug Testing or AADT three years ago to better reflect the broader, larger real world we live in. CDTOA has become more and more encompassing in its leadership role within the construction transportation industry and it became necessary to change our name to include the many facets or types of construction trucks within our industry. We will continue with the transition to California Construction Trucking Association in the coming year, so watch us grow and be part of moving forward with our organization.

I would like to thank all of you personally for your support; it has meant the world to me. I thank you for allowing me to represent you for the last two years. With the election of your new President and Executive committee, I ask that all of you consider getting a little more involved. You can make a difference; it is worth considering giving back to the industry that supports you and in fact us all.

With the many challenges ahead, now more than ever we need “strength in numbers” to succeed. Now is the right time to become more active in your association. This is YOUR association, now is the time to build up our membership and make ourselves be heard in Sacramento, Washington and throughout the rest of the trucking industry.

Ask your trucking broker if they dispatch CDTOA members first or why they do not require all their subhaulers to belong to CDTOA. Why do they ride for free on our (CDTOA) dime? With all the legislation we have sponsored for construction truckers, is it fair to work non-CDTOA/CCTA subhaulers ahead of members that have chosen to make a difference? Look towards the membership models member brokers like Dan Ugalde, Fred ReCupido and Susan Jones who have pioneered. Their commitments are to incentivize subhaulers to get more involved through CDTOA membership.

Keeping the pressure on our legislators to do the right thing is a fulltime job and with all the special interests in Sacramento our lobbyist Brooks needs all of our support.

Killing CARB (and to a certain degree the AQMD’s and EPA) is my passion. I cannot think of any other state government agency that commands so much power without any public oversight or answerability to ALL citizens. There is probably no other agency that has done so much to hurm our way of earning a living. I hope none of us rest until Mary Nichols and her band of Jihadist thugs are sent packing. California is a great state, ande we all want clean air and water, but the public health effect lies continually spewed by these institutions are intolerable. Let’s work together to bring back sensibility to government, and rid our political system of these socialist zealots that continually infringe on our rights. And while we are at it, let’s reform our environmental regulatory system; it needs an entire make-over – now!

We have received some press coverage in the recent months about our battle against CARB’s On-road rule and CO2 regulation related lawsuits against EPA through the Pacific Legal Foundation (PLF). I believe that it is important to understand that the enviro powerhouse from New York via San Francisco has slithered its way into our lawsuit at CARBs’ behest – the NRDC. The more I read about them, the more I’m guessing that they have taken our FAAAA argument seriously and are hoping to push us from the issue and off into the green-hell, la-la land where they exist. Just more enviro activist hired guns for Mary Nichols and that band of “save-the-planet-and-kids-at-all-costs” liars.

We are not backing down from this fight and in fact we have some new declarations coming out soon asking for an injunction against the implementation of the CARB regulation. We intend to not miss one opportunity in this fight. So many lawsuits so little time!

Finally, thanks to all of the hard work of the scholarship committee and those that supported the efforts by buying tickets to the event. The results were pretty incredible, as we netted about $3,760 for CDTOA’s continuing scholarship program. Special thanks should also go out to Susan Jones who helped sell over 40 tickets in this great effort. Kudos to all!

Strength in numbers, and one last official: KILL CARB!

CDTOA Past President
Robert McClernon