TRALA Pays Tribute to a Trucking Industry Leader and Friend

Alexandria, VA, November 1, 2005 - Tony A. Pope, a former chairman of the Truck Renting and Leasing Association, who passed away in June, was honored at TRALA's October Leadership Meeting held in Colorado Springs, Colorado. In attendance were his wife, Patty and daughter, Tina.

TRALA President and CEO Peter Vroom remembered Tony at the closing dinner and his remarkable career and substantial contributions to the trucking and truck leasing industry. "Tony Pope rolled up his sleeves and dug in to put TRALA on the map as a prominent national trade association. He continued to contribute to the welfare and leadership of TRALA throughout his lifetime. More importantly, you could not have known a more friendly and supportive colleague." It was also announced at the meeting that the TRALA Board of Directors had contributed $5,000 in memory of Tony to the Tony A. Pope, CT Group Endowment Fund at Baptist Hospital Cancer Center, Wake Forest University Health Sciences Center.

Pope began his career in 1966 with a newly formed leasing company, Catawba Truck Rental in Claremont, N.C. He served as its president from 1980 to 1985, later becoming president of CT Group, a company formed to include the three operations of Catawba Truck Rental, Cargo Transporters, a truckload carrier, and Consolidated Services, a logistics company.

Pope served as a TRALA board member for almost 20 years, including service as chairman of the government relations committee, second v. chairman, first v. chairman, and as the chairman of TRALA from 1991-1992. He was also vice president and director of the board for Amtralease (an independent truck leasing system) in 1986, a four-time president of the North Carolina Car and Truck Renting and Leasing Association (CATRALA), and in 1991, director and chairman of the North Carolina Trucking Association.

"We were so pleased that Patty and Tina were able to join us for the meeting because the Pope Family has been such an important part of TRALA's family for many years." said TRALA President and CEO Peter Vroom. AmeriQuest President and CEO, Doug Clark, remarked "Tony was the kind of person we all aspire to be - a man of deep faith, a man with a positive attitude about our human existence and a man who truly loved his family and friends."

TRALA, based in Alexandria, VA, is a voluntary, non-profit national trade association, organized in 1978 to provide a unified and focused voice for the truck renting and leasing industry. TRALA's membership includes more than 500 leasing and rental firms and 100 suppliers that make up nearly the entire truck renting and leasing industry. The renting and leasing industry is responsible for approximately 35 percent of all new Class 3 through 8 commercial truck registrations.

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