The American Transportation Research Institute has named Page Siplon its next president and chief operating officer, the second leadership appointment in as many days across the American Trucking Associations' orbit.

ATA announced the hire Friday. It came one day after the national federation said Mark Colson, currently head of the Alabama Trucking Association, will lead the entire organization.

Siplon joins ATRI next month. He will work alongside current president Rebecca Brewster until she retires in February 2027, then assume the top job outright.

Who is Page Siplon?

Siplon arrives from TeamOne Logistics, a Georgia-based firm that partners with companies to supply drivers and other employees to carriers. He served as its CEO.

ATRI's announcement said his leadership there focused "extensively on the trucking workforce, driver recruitment and retention, safety, and the operational challenges facing motor carriers." That background tracks closely with ATRI's own research agenda, which centers on driver-side issues year after year.

Before TeamOne, Siplon was executive director of the Georgia Center of Innovation for Logistics. He also founded the Georgia Logistics Summit, which ATRI describes as "one of the nation's largest logistics conferences."

His policy credentials include a stint as vice chairman of the U.S. Department of Commerce's Advisory Committee on Supply Chain Competitiveness.

What's on ATRI's plate this month?

The timing is tight. The ATA's Management Conference & Exhibition begins Sunday, and ATRI traditionally uses that event to release the results of its annual Top 10 trucking issues survey.

That survey splits results between driver responses and management responses, and the two groups frequently diverge sharply on what matters most. Whether Siplon's workforce-heavy background shifts how ATRI weights those competing perspectives remains an open question — the announcement itself says nothing about research priorities.

A new driver health study is already running

Earlier this week, ATRI launched two new surveys on driver health: one aimed at carriers, the other at drivers, each with a different methodology.

Drivers will be asked to share several inputs anonymously, "as well as their experience with maintaining health and wellness while on the road," ATRI said.

Carriers face a different set of questions: fleet medical card durations, insurance costs and other key performance indicators. ATRI strongly encouraged carriers to pass the driver survey to their own workforces.

A medical card — formally a Medical Examiner's Certificate — certifies a driver's fitness to operate and is required under federal law.

Project 61 Founder & CEO Jeremy Reymer framed the stakes in ATRI's launch statement: "We already know driver health can affect safety. The next question is how much it may also be affecting operational risk and cost."

What changes for carriers and shippers?

In the near term, little. Brewster remains president for more than two years, and ATRI's survey pipeline — the Top 10 report and the health studies — proceeds on its existing schedule.

The longer-term signal matters more for carriers and, by extension, shippers dependent on capacity. An ATRI president drawn from the driver-staffing side of the industry suggests recruitment, retention and driver wellbeing research will keep priority status at a time when the sector's workforce constraints remain a structural cost driver. That is an inference, though, not a stated commitment; Friday's announcement contains no research roadmap.

Expect the first concrete read on priorities when the Top 10 survey results land at MCE next week.