Summer 2009

James Dill
The Dill Firm
Layfayette, LA

The last year has certainly been a roller coaster ride. The economy continues to present challenges to the industry and TIDA alike. The Board of Directors has spent countless hours in putting together plans to help our industry partners and at the same time meet TIDA's commitment to share knowledge and resources in the defense of the trucking industry.

Our scholarship program for the annual meeting has been well received with some 51 industry members taking advantage of the grants. We will continue to offer the scholarships to the industry until all of them are used or there is no further interest. While each company is limited to one scholarship per round, I expect that each could have several members obtain a scholarship. The educational program for the meeting will provide useful tools to combat the day-to-day challenges we face. The current registration numbers reflect that interest as we are far ahead of years past. I certainly hope that we continue on this track.

The Board has also revised the corporate membership dues structure. The dues were changed to assist in tracking the membership of individuals who were part of a corporate plan and to make sure that they enjoyed the full extent of benefits that membership affords. We have lowered the cost of industry corporate membership (five members or more) to $50 per person per year and put a company cap on dues at $500 regardless of location. A corporation with 10+ members may have as many as it wishes (again regardless of location) for the $500 membership. While we realize that our corporate members are not likely to send all of their members to the seminars, we believe that having the web site privileges together with webinars that are offered and other membership benefits provide great value especially to those who might not otherwise receive the information.

As my time as President quickly comes to an end, I want to emphasize again the importance of what TIDA is and will be in the future. The plaintiff bar will not end its assault on our industry simply because the economy is down. They will not take it easy because you are having a bad year. If anything, they will redouble their efforts to take your money as quickly as they can. Our efforts as an organization to collectively protect this industry are needed now more than ever. The success of TIDA is not on the shoulders of the board or the various committees, it is dependent on the whole of its membership sharing knowledge and experiences (good and bad) for the betterment of our claims handling processes.

I hope to see all of you in San Antonio!

Jim Dill
The Dill Firm
jdill@dillfirm.com