Secretary Chao to provide regulatory update at MATS on Friday

U.S. Secretary of Transportation Elaine Chao plans to deliver a speech at the Mid-America Trucking Show on Friday, March 29.

According to a news release announcing her address, Chao “will be providing an update on the Department of Transportation’s efforts on safety, infrastructure, truck parking, and reducing burdensome regulations on truck drivers.”

Chao is scheduled to speak from 1 p.m. to 2 p.m. EDT, on Friday, March 29, in conference room B101 at the Kentucky Expo Center. The show starts Thursday, March 28, and ends Saturday, March 30.

Mike Matousek, OOIDA’s manager of government affairs, said the Association is excited about Secretary Chao’s appearance at the show.

“Hopefully she has an opportunity to spend some time with the people that literally drive our economy,” Matousek said. “And while I hate to speculate, it’s entirely possibly she’ll finally deliver some good news regarding the ongoing hours-of-service reform rulemaking. So if you’re at MATS, we’d encourage you to attend Secretary Chao’s address.”

More information about other activities at MATS, including OOIDA’s Town Hall Meeting for members, can be found here.

A formal appearance by the sitting Transportation Secretary is a fairly rare event at MATS. In 2005, then-Secretary Norman Mineta traveled to Louisville for a breakfast event with OOIDA and other industry groups to encourage drivers to use seat belts as part of the “Be Ready, Be Buckled” campaign.