1931 -The General Assembly passed first laws in Indiana regulating sizes and weights of trucks operating on the highways. A group of pioneer truckers felt the time had come for a strong organization. The Indiana Motor Traffic Association was formed on Dec 13, 1931. Articles of Incorporation were filed with the Secretary of State on Jan 4, 1932. The original directors were: Samuel Schlosser (Plymouth), Edward Buhner (Seymour), John Madden (Indianapolis), and Samuel Hadden (Indianapolis).
First IMTA Chairman is Samuel Schlosser, Sr. 1931-33
1932 - Indiana was in fiscal straits. Gov. Harry Leslie called a special session in July and asked Legislators to find ways to raise additional revenues. HB701 was introduced and would have imposed a half a cent on every ton mile traveled by Indiana owned trucks and buses operating intra-state. Trucks and buses owned by railroads were exempt. Members of the IMTA rallied to fight, stating that many trucking companies would have been put out of business if this bill passed. 1935-36 IMTA Chairman, Maurice Tucker recalled at one point during the “terrific fight” sitting up all night, calling practically every truck operator in IN. He also sent telegrams via Western Union so that the next morning the Chairman of the Roads Committee had 500 telegrams on his desk voicing trucker’s opposition to the ton-mile tax. The newborn IMTA had limited resources compared to the Railroads who had sent 23 lobbyists with $35K to buy influence.
“Now this might not sound very important to a lot of people, but if you can realize at that time how the industry was struggling and knowing the fact that Indiana is a key state, and if the railroads were successful in putting that bill out, they would have bottled up the state to a point where it would have put the industry back years and maybe put a kibosh on the whole doggone thing, particularly in the Midwestern, southern and part of the eastern states because we could not have possibly operated under the bill except with parcel post shipments, and I don’t know if we could have competed with Uncle Sam on parcel post shipments at that time. I think that was the first time that the trucking industry got a start. Had this bill gone through, every state in the union would probably have tried to get the same kind of bill. A small group of us worked no less than 20 hours a day because it was a fight from the beginning to the end.” -Maurice Tucker
After 48 days of continuous scrambling and struggling, the truckers prevailed and the bill was killed.
1933 - With the help of Maurice Tucker, American Trucking Associations (ATA) is established. 1937 - Highway Safety Programs are evolving within the association:
Thirty two drivers with the Indianapolis branch of The Kroger Company are awarded for driving a year without an incident.
The IMTA wins an award from ATA - awarded annually to the association that makes the greatest contribution in safety. Three consecutive years, 1935-37.
