IF you are going to do it, do it right. With that as background, members of the National Association of Trailer Manufacturers voted overwhelmingly to make participation in its compliance program mandatory to be NATM members.
The vote was one of the highlights of the association's annual convention, held this year in Albuquerque, New Mexico.
The program verifies that its members meet applicable rules and regulations for manufacturers of light and medium duty trailers. The NATM board of directors wanted the association to vote on making the voluntary program mandatory when participation reached 80%.
“We achieved that goal this year and even exceeded it,” says Mike Skoglund, president. “Almost every new member joins NATM to participate in the compliance program. Our compliance checklist simply verifies that the company has the manufacturing processes in place to manufacture trailers in accordance with the law. We will simply be requiring all NATM members to obey the laws.”
Another convention highlight was the presentation of the association's first NATM Green Manufacturing Award. The winner was Engelbrecht Grills & Cookers of Paxton, Illinois. The award was established to recognize the best innovation or novel solutions by a manufacturer in the trailer industry to positively impact our environment.
Michael Terry received the association's coveted Distinguished Outstanding Member Award during the annual awards luncheon. The Outstanding Member Award is presented each year to an individual who has made significant contributions to the trailer manufacturing industry.
Terry has been active in NATM since its inception in 1987. He was one of the eight trailer manufacturers at the first meeting in Chickasha, Oklahoma in 1987 and was immediately elected as the first vice president of the organization. Terry was again elected to the NATM board of directors in 2005 and served on the board from 2005 - 2011. In 2007, he was elected treasurer and subsequently served as vice president and as president from 2009 - 2010. During his tenure on the board, he served on and chaired numerous committees including executive, technical, finance, trailer dealers, governance and government affairs.