WASHINGTON, D.C. - Trucking Management, Inc. announced today the start of a series of meetings with the Teamsters Union to prepare for the next round of National Master Freight Agreement (NMFA) contract negotiations.

Representatives of both TMI and the International Brotherhood of Teamsters (IBT) will begin meeting as the Joint Industry Development Committee. The Committee was created under Article 20 of the 1994 NMFA "to return the LTL [Less Than Truckload] industry to health and foster its growth."

Through the Committee, IBT and TMI will make joint recommendations to assist the negotiators of the next NMFA. These recommendations will lay important groundwork for the formal contract negotiations.

"We know that the LTL marketplace is highly competitive. We intend to reach a contract agreement without a disruption in services. These preparatory meetings will help us achieve this goal," said TMI President Arthur H. Bunte, Jr.

"This process was not part of the 1994 contract negotiations, from which we learned many valuable lessons," Bunte said. "While the union and management will come to the negotiations with different perspectives, the Article 20 meetings will help build a clear understanding of the facts and financial realities of the industry. Undertaking this common sense approach is the right thing to do for our customers, our companies and our employees."

The current collective bargaining agreement expires on March 31, 1998.