Jim Johnston, OOIDA president, dies

Jim Johnston, who served as president of the Owner-Operator Independent Drivers Association since 1974, died Monday after a year-long battle with lung cancer.     The Owner-Operator Independent Drivers Association (OOIDA) longtime president, Jim Johnston, died Monday after a year-long battle with lung cancer. He was 78.
   Johnston, who served as OOIDA president from 1974 to the present, died at his home in Grain Valley, Mo.
   “The trucking industry has lost a visionary and crusader for the rights of all truckers,” said Todd Spencer, who will now serve as acting president of OOIDA, in a statement.
    OOIDA was started in 1973 by a group of truck drivers who sought to have their voices heard in Washington. From its start in an office trailer chained to a light pole at a truck stop in Grain Valley, Johnston turned the OOIDA into a highly recognized truckers’ association.
   “We are saddened by the news of Jim’s passing,” said American Trucking Associations President and CEO Chris Spear. “One of the first meetings I had in this role was with Jim and his team. He was a passionate leader for drivers and the industry, advocating issues that helped build this great nation. Jim never strayed from who he was and who he represented – truckers. Jim was a warrior, and he will be missed.”