CALGARY, Alta. – The newly formed Alberta Motor Transport Association (AMTA) has completed its first election, and a new board is now in place to tackle the issues facing the province’s trucking industry.

Six regional directors were elected, as well as four directors-at-large. AMTA executive director, Lane Kranenburg, says the elections featured a number of very close battles.

“Edmonton was fierce and close, Calgary was tight – the first vote was a tie – and Lethbridge was really tight. It was about one vote apart,” says Kranenburg. “There were nine people running for four positions as director-at-large,” he adds.

The regional council winners were Eric Astell of Cobra Oilfields in the Northwest; Bill Craig of Craig’s Trucking in Edmonton; Rocky Downton of Downton’s Transport in the Central Region; Gene Orlick of Gene Orlick Transport in Calgary; Dean Paisley of Lethbridge Truck Terminal in the South; and Jeff Taylor of Gibson’s Petroleum in the Northeast.

The new directors-at-large are Roy Craigen of ECL Group, Norm Shupe of Mullen Transportation, Dennis Pettit of Canadian Freightways and Ron Singer of Ron Singer Truck Lines.

New executives elected include past-president Andrew Vlasetti of Big Horn, who was formerly the president of the Alberta Trucking Industry Safety Association before its amalgamation with the Alberta Trucking Association (ATA).

Former ATA president Jurgen Mantei of Mantei’s Transport was elected as president, and John Finn of Exalta Transport will also be joining the AMTA as president-elect.

Kranenburg says now that the board is in place, it’s time to get down to business and work together towards achieving the AMTA’s goals.

“I am thrilled with the regional directors and also the sectoral coverage that we’re getting,” says Kranenburg. “We have fantastic sectoral representation and I look very forward to working with this new board and executive. The people who turned out were sincere, and obviously care about the industry.” n