BOSTON, Mass. – GE Trailer Fleet Services, a business unit of GE Equipment Services, a global provider of transport solutions, announced some big changes and other big news at the American Trucking Associations’ (ATA) Management Conference and Exhibition in Boston Oct. 17.

Joe Artuso, an experienced GE leasing executive, has been named president and CEO of GE’s Trailer Fleet Services business, which is operated as a combined entity with GE’s Modular Space business.

Artuso will lead the two businesses, which own more than $3 billion in over-the-road trailers and modular buildings that generate annual sales revenue in excess of $1 billion. He replaces Marty Thomas, who has accepted an executive assignment with GE’s Lighting business.

Artuso was previously the chief risk officer of GE Equipment Services, following an earlier assignment as asset management leader in the former GE Capital business.

GE Trailer also announced that its North American headquarters has moved from its Devon, Pa. location to a new, larger building in the Philadelphia suburb of Wayne. Company officials said the action was taken to combine support staff previously located in separate buildings and better position the company for growth.

The new headquarters has more than 100,000-sq. ft. of office space in the four-storey building.

The company also announced it has joined with the ATA to re-launch a travelling safety demonstration that instructs local drivers on sharing the road with commercial vehicles.

A new custom-designed truck and 53-foot trailer unit are now touring the country as part of the ATA’s “Share the Road” highway safety program. The truck was donated by Mack, and the full “graphic-wrapped” trailer – equipped with GE VeriWise – was provided by GE.

“This new custom truck and trailer will help get the message out that we all have a responsibility to share the road safely,” said ATA president and CEO, Bill Graves.

The Share the Road program visits cities around the U.S. and works with local law enforcement and the media to teach the motoring public specific skills to drive safely around trucks and large commercial vehicles on the highways. Company officials said educating people about truck’s blind spots, safe merging and stopping distances is essential to highway safety.

GE Trailer has also reported that its VeriWise technology recently helped a customer recover a trailer filled with GE products and crack a case involving a crime ring.

Employees at C&C Trucking of Duncan, Inc. reviewed their VeriWise asset intelligence polling data at a company terminal and discovered that an Atlanta-bound trailer had been stolen overnight.

Armed with this information, the company was able to recover the trailer within hours and provide valuable real-time data to the police leading to the recovery of the GE products three days later.

Company officials said the cargo, valued at $75,000, was recovered intact and was delivered to the final destination with no monetary loss.

Charlie Tapp, president of C&C Trucking said the VeriWise asset tracking system installed on the company’s long-haul trailers enables the company to keep tabs on fleet at all times.

“Knowing the exact location of our fleet assets enables us to offer efficient, premium service…across the country.”

For more information visit www.trailerservices.com.