The Truck Renting and Leasing Association (TRALA) Board of Directors unanimously elected Kevin Coughlin, manager, Contract Maintenance, of Daimler Trucks North America of Portland, OR, as its new chairman.

“I am honored to accept this gavel and grateful to the Board of Directors for electing me to serve TRALA as its Chairman over the next year,” said Coughlin during his acceptance speech. “TRALA has already filed at least three amicus briefs with various courts of law this year, including one to the U.S. Supreme Court, to defend our industry from attacks on the Graves Amendment and overreaching state mandates. These briefs that TRALA has filed over the years have largely resulted in ‘wins’; where the judge or panel of judges has agreed with us. Work like this can be costly, but I know that TRALA staff and leadership use great discretion when deciding whether or not to get involved in an issue via courts of law, and I think their record of success proves that and I will continue to support and promote TRALA’s Legal Action Fund while chairman.”

In addition to Coughlin, the TRALA Board of Directors elected the following members as officers:

• Doug Clark, CEO for NationaLease, Cherry Hill, NJ, was elected vice chairman
• Steve Lawrence, CEO for Lawrence Leasing, Red Wing, MN, was elected secretary
• Tom Brown, president of Brown NationaLease, Des Moines, IO, was elected treasurer
• Daniel Murphy, President and CEO of Idealease, North Barrington, IL, was elected immediate past chairman