Senate Staffer Joins Trucking Group as Top Lobbyist

The American Trucking Associations recruited a top Republican Senate staffer to lead its advocacy efforts on Capitol Hill, including its campaign to secure reauthorization of the surface transportation bill and increased highway funding.

It should be déjà vu for Mary Phillips, who was named ATA senior vice president of legislative affairs Wednesday. She played a similar role at ATA in 2005 and 2006.

Phillips left ATA in 2006 to join the Senate Commerce Committee's Surface Transportation Subcommittee as its senior professional staff member.

She also held that job from 2002 through 2004, and left it to serve as associate administrator for policy and governmental affairs at the Federal Highway Administration before her first stint at ATA.

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She'll face some familiar issues on Capitol Hill - particularly the reauthorization of the highway bill and trucking security, as well as trucking safety and sustainability.

In an increasingly multimodal policy world, Phillips will also have to stress what ATA President and CEO Bill Graves called trucking's "essentiality" - its importance to the U.S. economy, shippers and even other transportation services.

Before 2002, Phillips worked in the rail industry in a number of marketing, sales, strategic planning and government affairs positions.

"Her tremendous understanding of trucking, transportation and the workings of Capitol Hill will be a great asset to our members," Graves said.

Phillips succeeds Timothy P. Lynch, who left ATA recently to join Morgan Lewis as senior director of its Washington Government Relations and Public Policy Practice.

-- Contact William B. Cassidy at wcassidy@joc.com.