CALGARY, (Jan. 13, 2005) — Kim Royal, executive director of the Alberta Motor Transport Association, has been relieved of his position with the trucking group.

The association also announced that Spencer Hempstock, manger of injury reduction & training, is also no longer employed by the AMTA.

“Kim is no longer employed by the association,” AMTA President Wayne Pedersen confirmed to Today’s Trucking.

Asked for the reason why Royal was let go, Pedersen said: “Basically, the board knows where we’ve been, knows where we want to go, and (Kim) didn’t fit in with those plans.”

Hempstock was fired by Royal the day before his own dismissal, although Pedersen says Hempstock’s firing was not directly related to the AMTA’s decision to let Royal go. He also said AMTA has no plan to bring Hempstock back.

“Our goal now is to strengthen our relationships with our partners, and service our customers-the carriers-and establish confidences in the industry that we can best serve all involved,” Pedersen says. “We have an excellent staff that will allow us to press forward to a safe, profitable industry in Alberta.”

Pedersen says the board doesn’t have a successor in mind right now, and will issue a job posting in the near future.