Peter Friedmann | Agriculture Transportation Coalition
My predecessors on the Senate Merchant Marine Subcommittee went for the obvious – to careers in law firms representing mostly foreign ocean carriers; I had those offers too, but went the opposite direction, which no one had done previously, but where my heart was, and still is today — to represent those that supply the cargo, the farmers, ag processors, forest products.
Going the opposite way, to advocate for those that had no advocates when it came to international transportation, export supply chain, has proven so rewarding, and together with those agriculture exporters we have built something powerful and lasting in the AgTC. This work has earned the respect of carriers and ports for exporters, and awareness even in quarters not given to concerning itself with the agriculture in “the hinterland”. For example, after a century of existence, the New York Maritime Society’s Hall of Fame, for the first time ever, apparently recognized that there is indeed a country to the east of the Hudson River. While I was honored to be inducted, in my mind this was recognition of the importance of those who grow, harvest, process, handle, transport food and fiber for the world, those whom the Agriculture Transportation Coalition serves. It happened because of our AgTC members who live and work in places that the maritime crowd in New York City and New Jersey never heard of, but which form the core of the AgTC: Euphrata, Hermiston, Tangent, Vidalia, Shawnee Mission, Minot, Idaho Falls, Dakota Dunes, Olive Branch, Moses Lake, Greeley, Greenwood, Lubbock, Wenatchee, Cordova, — the list of the “hometowns” of agriculture exporters goes on.
What a privilege it is that the JOC has called the AgTC “the principle voice of agriculture exporters in US transportation policy”. Because I did not follow that well-worn path from the Senate Commerce Committee to a maritime law firm representing ocean carriers.
Registration & Event Information:
- $10 registration is for the TCT’s Scholarship Program and a single entry into a randomized drawing
- Hosted through Zoom, link provided from TCT Executive Director email
- Event starts at noon
- $10 for each additional entry into a randomized drawing to support the TCT’s Scholarship Program
- Register online, by email, or fill out the registration form
The TCT meets September through June on the second Monday of every month for networking, lunch and dynamic speakers on important issues to the transportation industry. Members, their guests and others are invited.
Steve Hartmann is Vice President, Sales & Marketing for Lynden Transport, Inc., the original operating unit of the Lynden Family of Companies. Steve joined Lynden in 2011 and has worked within the trucking industry for over 40 years. Prior to Lynden, Steve spent most of his time within the regional domestic LTL markets with Oak harbor Freight Lines and Mid-States Express.
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