The Alabama Trucking Association has named Gail Cooper as the chairman of its Board of Directors for the 2010-2011 fiscal year.

Cooper, CEO of Boyd Bros. Transportation, is the first woman to hold the position.

As chairman, Cooper said she will work to bolster the association's stature among the state's highway and driver safety advocates. She'll do this by investing in and assisting with initiatives administered by state and federal law enforcement agencies, including Alabama Department of Public Safety's Ticketing Aggressive Cars and Trucks (TACT) program; Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration's new fleet and driver safety monitoring program Comprehensive Safety Analysis 2010; and federal and state lawmakers' efforts to ban texting while driving by drivers.

Cooper said she will also seek to improve the industry's public image and political influence.

"I sometimes wonder why our industry doesn't receive the proper credit and respect it deserves as a major part of our state and nation's economies," she said. "I want the public and our elected leaders to understand that more than 80 percent of all goods transported into and out of this state travel by truck. Without trucks our nation's economy would stop. I am honored to represent the industry in this capacity, and I pledge to the do the very best I can to make our industry better, stronger and safer."

"Her father, Dempsey Boyd, is a trucking institution in the state, having served this association as its chairman in 1983," said Frank Filgo, ATA president and CEO, of Cooper. "Gail brings a fresh approach and a new sense of urgency to address the issues of today's trucker."

Cooper oversees daily operations at Boyd Bros., which offers more than 1,000 conventional tractors and 1,670 trailers at four terminals, including Clayton, Ala., Birmingham, Greenville, Miss., Cincinnati, Ohio, and Laredo, Texas.