Dear Members,

In December of 2017, I sat in a room at the LMTA office on Bennington Avenue during an interview, hoping to become the next Executive Director. That room would later become my office, and a place my staff and I would spend countless hours doing good work for the Louisiana trucking industry. I am proud of all that we accomplished together.

In each professional role that I've held during my career, I have learned a great deal that prepared me well for my next step. I am grateful for many lessons learned during my time leading the LMTA. I am a better man because of the knowledge that I gained and the people who shaped my time here.

I have always tried to be a change agent who believes in and roots for the underdog. That is one of the reasons I was drawn to the LMTA and the trucking industry: the opportunity to do good things for good people who deserve much more recognition than they get. That has me written all over it.

COVID-19 has changed our world in ways that we do not yet fully understand. LMTA's business model, like many event-based associations, is one of many that will need to be re-evaluated for the future. My wife and I re-evaluated our own family's future (which is growing by one in October!!!) and decided that it was time for a meaningful change.

I have launched my own consulting firm, Premier Policy Solutions, to assist businesses and governments in working with one another, and much more. It's an exciting time for my family and me.

Thank you, sincerely, for giving me the opportunity to serve the Louisiana trucking industry. I wish each of you well, and am very confident the LMTA - which has been around since 1939 - will continue to deliver for the industry that delivers for Louisiana.

Rachel and Allison are both hardworking, committed individuals. The membership is in good, caring hands. I will be in the office tomorrow as my last day, if you need to conclude any LMTA business with me.

If you wish to connect with me in the future, my cell phone remains the same: 318-518-5367. My new email is chance@premierpolicies.com.

Wishing each of you well, always.

Chance McNeely
LMTA Executive Director (2018-2020)

PS: I leave you with a favorite quote of mine that I try to live and work by:

“It is not the critic who counts; not the man who points out how the strong man stumbles, or where the doer of deeds could have done them better. The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood; who strives valiantly; who errs, who comes short again and again, because there is no effort without error and shortcoming; but who does actually strive to do the deeds; who knows great enthusiasms, the great devotions; who spends himself in a worthy cause; who at the best knows in the end the triumph of high achievement, and who at the worst, if he fails, at least fails while daring greatly, so that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who neither know victory nor defeat.” -Teddy Roosevelt