National Tank Truck Carriers members are heading to Austin, Texas, for the association's 65th Annual Conference and Tank Truck Equipment Show.
This year's meeting will start on a Sunday, April 28 with exhibit setup from 11 am to 2 pm and the NTTC Executive Committee meeting at 2:30 pm. The equipment show and registration opens at 3 pm, followed by a spouse/guest welcome reception at 3:30 pm and the NTTC Chairman's reception at 5:30 pm.
New York Times bestselling author and former Navy SEAL Eric Greitens will be the keynote speaker on Monday, April 29 at 8:30 am. In “Why It Takes The Heart and the Fist,” he'll address the importance of leadership during the most challenging times, and how to turn pain and suffering into wisdom and strength to create cohesion amongst teammates.
Greitens will share personal stories from his inspirational memoir The Heart & the Fist, highlighting how audiences can live with both courage and compassion to create meaning in one's life.
Greitens was born and raised in Missouri, where he was educated in the public schools. He was an Angier B Duke Scholar at Duke University, where he studied ethics, philosophy, and public policy.
Selected as a Rhodes and a Truman Scholar, he attended the University of Oxford from 1996 through 2000. He earned a master's degree in 1998 and a PhD in 2000. His doctoral thesis, Children First, investigated how international humanitarian organizations can best serve war-affected children. He has worked as a humanitarian volunteer, documentary photographer, and researcher in Rwanda, Cambodia, Albania, Mexico, India, Bosnia, and Bolivia.
As a Navy SEAL officer, he was deployed four times during the global war on terrorism to Afghanistan, Southeast Asia, the Horn of Africa, and Iraq. He served as the Commander of a Mark V Special Operations Craft Detachment, Commander of a Joint Special Operations Task Unit, and as Commander of an al Qaeda Targeting Cell.
In 2005, he was appointed by President George W Bush to serve as a White House Fellow, and in 2011 the Association of the United States Navy named him the Navy Reserve Junior Line Officer of the Year.
His military awards include the Navy Achievement Medal, the Joint Service Achievement Medal, the Navy Commendation Medal, the Joint Service Commendation Medal, the Combat Action Ribbon, the Purple Heart, and the Bronze Star.
After returning from Iraq in 2007, Greitens donated his combat pay to found The Mission Continues, a national nonprofit organization that challenges veterans to serve and inspire in communities across America. As chief executive officer, Greitens has been recognized as one of the most innovative leaders in America. The Manhattan Institute for Social Entrepreneurship recognized him as one of the five leading social entrepreneurs in America. Major League Baseball and People Magazine named Greitens an “All-Star Among Us,” and the National Conference on Citizenship named him its “Citizen Soldier of the Year.”
In 2008 President Bush personally presented Greitens with the President's Volunteer Service Award, and in 2012 Greitens was awarded the Charles Bronfman Prize, recognizing him as a leader whose work is of universal benefit and inspires future generations.
A photographer and writer, Greitens is the author of three books. Strength & Compassion is a collection of photographs and essays that was recognized as ForeWord Magazine's Photography Book of the Year, and as the Grand Prize Winner of the 2009 New York Book Festival. His second book, The Heart and the Fist: The Education of a Humanitarian, the Making of a Navy SEAL, relates his story of leadership and service as a humanitarian and a warrior, and is a New York Times bestseller. Greitens' newest book, The Warrior's Heart, was released in October and was recognized as one of the Best Teen Books of 2012 by Barnes & Noble and Kirkus Reviews.
Greitens teaches as a Senior Fellow at the Truman School of Public Affairs at the University of Missouri and at the Olin School of Business at Washington University in St. Louis. His work has been covered by national media outlets, including NPR, CNN, NBC Nightly News, Fox, CBS, MSNBC, The Colbert Report, the TODAY Show, USA Today, New York Times, Wall Street Journal, and Washington Post.
He is a sub-three-hour marathon runner and the winner of the Shamrock Marathon at Camp Fallujah, Iraq. As a boxer, he won two Oxford Boxing Blues and the Gold Medal at the BUSA National Boxing Championships. He holds a Black Belt in Taekwondo, and lives in St Louis, Missouri with his wife, Sheena.
Exhibits open at 9:30 am on Monday, followed by the opening general session at 11:15 am, featuring “Economic Outlook and Focus on the Tank Truck Industry” by Bob Costello, chief economist for the American Trucking Associations and the Driver of the Year Roll-Out & The Value of Recognition Programs. There's an Advocacy Committee meeting at noon, then the carrier/exhibition buffet luncheon at 12:30 pm and the NTTC Membership & Board of Directors meeting at 2:30 pm, featuring Recognition of 50-Year NTTC Member Companies, and the Board of Directors meeting, and then a reception at 4:30 pm.
On Tuesday, April 30, the second general session is at 9 am, featuring Jim Harger, chief marketing officer of Clean Energy Fuels, John Felmy of API, and John D Esparza of TMTA.
After the exhibit show ends at noon, there are four events: the NTTC Safety Awards luncheon at 12:30, the Safety Committee meeting at 2:30 pm, the NTTC Market Segment Breakout Sessions at 3 pm, and the Allied Committee for the Trucking Industry Reception at 5:30 pm.
The conference is being held at the Hilton Austin hotel in downtown Austin, adjacent to the Austin Convention Center.
The hotel is surrounded by the city's vibrant shopping, dining, and entertainment scene. The famous 6th Street Entertainment District, Warehouse District and 2nd Street District are all located within walking distance of the hotel, and Austin Bergstrom International Airport is just seven miles away.
Towering 31 floors, this Austin hotel offers views over the city and Lady Bird Lake.