The Agricultural Transporters Conference of the American Trucking Assns. has voted to change its name to the Agricultural and Food Transporters Conference.

Fletcher Hall, AFTC executive director, said the name change was approved by the group’s board of directors at its annual meeting in San Antonio, Texas.
Charles L. Whittington, chairman of the conference, said the name change "reflects the rapidly growing influence of new federal legislation, regulations and guidelines affecting security in the transportation of both agricultural commodities and food products.
"The trucking industry must be extremely vigilant and aware of all threats of intentional contamination to any part of the food chain, which touches all Americans each and every day," he said.
The Agricultural and Food Transporters Conference is the only national organization representing the commercial transporters of agricultural commodities, food, forest and mineral products.
ATA is the largest national trade association for the trucking industry. Through a federation of other trucking groups, industry-related conferences and its fifty affiliated state trucking associations, ATA represents more than 37,000 members covering every type of motor carrier in the United States.