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TRALA Meeting Draws Record Numbers Expressing Optimism on Industry Growth

Alexandria, VA – March 25, 2014 – Almost 400 hundred industry professionals met at the Truck Renting and Leasing Association's (TRALA) 36th Annual Meeting at the Westin Kierland Resort and Spa in Scottsdale, Arizona March 10-14, 2014. The strong turnout for the largest meeting of the vehicle renting and leasing industry in North America signaled renewed optimism for the industry's future and economic growth in the broader truck transportation arena. Over 100 different truck renting and leasing companies were represented at the meeting, as well as over 50 companies supplying products and services to the industry. The NationaLease System, Mack Leasing and Volvo Truck Leasing System and the PacLease System all held meetings of their respective organizations in conjunction with the TRALA meeting.

 “The increase in attendance and participation at this year's meeting is a reflection of the growing involvement our members continue to have in the organization as well as the large number of challenges our industry faces from the federal government and state and local governments.”
 
This year's General Assembly held on March 12 included a keynote address from President and CEO of Navistar, Inc., Troy Clarke, who discussed the growing role of technology in the future of trucks. Clarke presented a bold vision of not only truck technology, but the necessity to interrelate truck and component technology with broader infrastructure technologies. He also focused on the interaction of these new technologies with drivers and services to establish a unified, flowing system of transportation that can work in a safe, reliable, and quality manner.

Also addressing the TRALA membership was United States Air Force four- star General Michael Hayden. Hayden drew on his years of experience as the former Director of the National Security Agency (NSA) and former Director of the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) to address cybersecurity and privacy issues currently in the headlines. General Hayden gave an eye-opening presentation about the potential impacts of cyber threats to information, business and government networks, and actual infrastructure destruction.   He also discussed current geopolitical situations and the roles of leaders in Iran, Syria, North Korea and Russia in the stability of critical regions of the world.
 
Other highlights from TRALA's Annual Meeting included a business session with Daryl Buck, a Board member for the Financial Accounting Standards Board (FASB). Buck led a briefing followed by a business workshop on the lease accounting project aimed at globally overhauling accounting standards used in the truck renting and n leasing industry.    All of the presentations at the TRALA Annual Meeting will be available on the association's website at www.trala.org.
 
 During Thursday's Awards Dinner, Dan Murphy, president and CEO for Idealease, Inc. made his first remarks as 2014-2015 TRALA chairman after receiving the gavel from outgoing chairman, Steve Lawrence, CEO of Lawrence Leasing. The dinner concluded with the 2014 presentation of the Driver of the Year Award which was awarded to Jerry Stalder of Clopay Transportation Company. Stalder's impressive resume includes a career that begins in 1975 and over 4.7 million accident-free miles of driving.
 
About TRALA
TRALA, based in Alexandria, VA, is a voluntary, non-profit national trade association, organized in 1978 to provide a unified and focused voice for the truck renting and leasing industry. TRALA's membership includes more than 500 leasing and rental firms and 100 suppliers that make up nearly the entire truck renting and leasing industry. The renting and leasing industry is responsible for approximately 35 percent of all new Class 3 through 8 commercial truck registrations.
 
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