LAS VEGAS - Michael S. Card, president of Combined Transport Inc., Central Point, Ore., has been named the American Trucking Associations' 68th chairman.

"Regardless of who's going to be elected, we're going to have lot of fights on our hands this year, a lot of rulemaking coming down the pike," Card told journalists shortly after the announcement.

"But we've got a great staff. We hit a home run with MAP 21 (the recent highway bill.)

"In a way, I'm looking forward to having a two-year (highway) bill, because we're going to get out there and get some more stuff we want in that bill," he said. "But the challenge if finding the money, and we're going to work on finding some solutions for that."

In fact, ATA also formed a new subcommittee to take a close look at all highway funding options in preparation for the next round of highway bill negotiations, announced ATA President Bill Graves.

Both Graves and Card emphasized the need for coalition-building to get things done in Washington, especially the battle of improving - and paying for - infrastructure improvements.

"We have to be careful when we say things like how do we get transit out of the trust fund," Card said. "We need them to help build [political] capital. We need to embrace bike lane people to build a solid coalition. Coalition building is going to be our main goal. We may have to embrace some things we don't like" in order to accomplish broader goals.

"It is not secret that our nation and our industry are at a crossroads - with looming changes in hours-of-service, a steady, but still slow economic recovery, a federal government threatening to impose even more onerous regulations on our industry while all the while underinvesting in the highway system we depend on," Card said. "I truly believe that in order to overcome this myriad of challenges, we need to continue to work together as an industry and I hope to play a role in doing that."

"Mike is emblematic of what makes our industry great," said ATA President and CEO Bill Graves. "The son of a driver-turned-entrepreneur and the leader of a family business, Mike will be a tremendous ambassador for ATA and for trucking."

Card is the President of Combined Transport, Central Point, Ore., which hauls building materials, glass and heavy haul equipment on flatbeds and lowboys in all 48-states and Canada. It was founded in 1980 by his father, Richard Card.

Card is a past president of the Oregon Trucking Association and served as the Oregon state vice president to the American Trucking Associations from 2003-2009. He has served on the ATA Executive Committee and has been chairman of the Highway Policy Committee and the Insurance Task Force.

He is a graduate of the University of Oregon and has degrees in Economics and Business Administration (Finance.)

Card takes over as chairman from Dan England, chairman of C.R. England Inc., Salt Lake City.

"This past year as ATA chairman has been an extraordinary experience," England said. "I'd like to once again thank my fellow ATA members and wish my friend Mike Card the best of luck this year. I'm sure he'll be an excellent representative of our industry."