Collectively, the ATRI team represents over 175 years of service to this organization and the trucking industry. Several were part of the ATA Foundation and played a role in the reorganization into the American Transportation Research Institute.
Rebecca M. Brewster
President and COO
Atlanta, ga
Rebecca Brewster is President and Chief Operating Officer of the American Transportation Research Institute (ATRI).
Rebecca is the recipient of several awards including Fleet Owner magazine’s 2016 Dozen Outstanding Women in Trucking, the 2013 Influential Woman in Trucking award from the Women in Trucking Association, and the 2010 J.R. Bob Halladay award given by the 50 state trucking associations.
Rebecca has been with ATRI for over 30 years. Prior to that, she was the Public and Governmental Affairs Director for the Cary, North Carolina Chamber of Commerce and a Fleet Analyst with Moen, Inc. She has a B.A. in English from Wofford College and is a Fellow of the North Carolina Institute of Political Leadership.
Daniel Murray
Senior Vice president
Minneapolis, MN
Daniel Murray has more than 30 years of experience in a broad range of transportation fields including trucking research and economics, transportation safety technologies and autonomous vehicles.
As Senior Vice President for the American Transportation Research Institute (ATRI), Dan is responsible for managing ATRI’s transportation research, testing and evaluation, and leads multiple national activities including the U.S. DOT-sponsored Freight Mobility Initiative. Dan’s efforts have led to transportation research awards from ITE, ITS America and the University of Minnesota, among others.
Prior to his employment with ATRI, Dan spent several years working in economic development for a Chicago business consortium and four years developing transit programs, policy and funding with the Regional Transit Board in Minneapolis/St. Paul, Minnesota.
Dan is actively involved in multiple committees of the National Academies’ Transportation Research Board, and presently sits on the Boards of the Freight Mobility Research Institute, Mid-America Transportation Center, Northwestern University’s Telemobility Center, and the Minnesota Freight Advisory Committee.
Dan received his B.A. from Gustavus Adolphus College in St. Peter, Minnesota, and his M.S. from Northwestern University in Evanston, Illinois.
Jeffrey Short
Vice President
Atlanta, ga
Jeffrey Short is the Vice President of the American Transportation Research Institute (ATRI) and is based in Atlanta, GA. His areas of expertise include transportation policy and regulations, data management and analysis, and freight-related safety, technology, and performance measurement.
During Jeff’s 19 years with ATRI, he has worked directly with anonymous telematics data, expanding the scale and scope of the organization’s truck GPS data research and analysis. Through this work he has built systems for measuring travel time, speed and reliability indices for freight movement across North America.
Jeff has published several trucking industry-focused reports on transportation finance and the costs/benefits of key funding mechanisms. Additionally, he has led numerous research initiatives assessing the impact of federal regulations, particularly those focused on the driver hours-of-service rules. His other research interests include safety culture within organizations and emerging freight technologies.
Jeff holds a B.A. from Emory University and an M.S. from the Georgia Institute of Technology.
Mike Tunnell
Senior Director of environmental Research
sacramento, ca
Mike Tunnell is the Senior Director of Environmental Research for the American Transportation Research Institute (ATRI).
With more than 26 years of experience, Mike has participated in numerous ATRI studies involving the energy and emissions impacts of freight transportation. These studies have investigated sustainable practices and strategies, the use of fuel saving technologies and equipment, and the environmental impacts of congestion relief. His experience includes designing and administering surveys and interviews to acquire freight-related data and contract/task management.
Prior to joining ATRI, Mike worked in the fields of air quality, transit and civil engineering.
Alexandra Shirk
Research Associate
State College, PA
Alexandra Shirk is a Research Associate with the American Transportation Research Institute (ATRI). Her areas of expertise include geographical information system analysis and general qualitative and quantitative analysis.
Alexandra plays an ongoing role in a number of Freight Mobility Initiative (FPM) research studies. She has led numerous truck parking studies that include collecting truck driver perspectives via custom designed surveys, and quantitative truck parking analyses with ATRI’s FPM truck database. She has contributed to a number research studies, including research regarding the impacts of marijuana legalization on the trucking industry. She also helps to maintain and update ATRI’s annual truck bottleneck list.
Prior to joining ATRI, Alexandra was a GIS Research Analyst with a private consultant. While there, she was part of a team that developed customized GIS applications for individual clients.
Alexandra holds a B.S. from Penn State University.
Carla Rose
Research Assistant
Atlanta, GA
Carla Rose is a research assistant with the American Transportation Research Institute (ATRI). She has over 30 years of administrative experience, with 26 years of experience in the trucking and transportation industry. She has also served as a ATRI’s meeting coordinator for many of ATRI’s meetings, workshops and focus groups.
In addition to her meeting planning experience, Carla also provides research support including survey development, data collection, research formatting and publication. She designed and manages the ATRI website and handles ATRI’s marketing and communications which include the ATRI newsletter, press releases and all other aspects of ATRI’s social media presence.
Carla has been with ATRI for over 17 years. Prior to joining ATRI, Carla did freelance publishing, graphic and web design.
Alex Leslie
Senior Research Associate
Minneapolis, MN
Dr. Alex Leslie is a Senior Research Associate with the American Transportation Research Institute (ATRI). His research combines a variety of qualitative and data science techniques to analyze industry economics, performance measurement, and labor issues.
Alex serves as the primary author of ATRI’s annual Analysis of the Operational Costs of Trucking, and he has led recent reports on driver-facing cameras, predatory towing, driver detention, and the cost of congestion. He is currently engaged in ATRI research on nuclear verdicts in the trucking industry. He also contributes to general data collection, programming, and editing across ATRI projects in addition to collaborating with government and industry task forces.
Alex holds a B.A. from the University of Notre Dame and a Ph.D. from Rutgers University, where he previously worked as an Instructor of English and Data Science.
Abbigail Huffman
research analyst
Minneapolis, mn
Abbigail Huffman is a Research Analyst with the American Transportation Research Institute (ATRI) in Roseville, MN. Her background in trucking research focuses on safety and workforce issues, while her technical skills center around survey design, project management, and both qualitative and quantitative analysis.
As a Research Analyst with ATRI, Abbigail plays an ongoing role in several studies. She is currently leading research on the demographic makeup of the truck driver population. Abbigail is also actively involved in cargo theft research and serves as Co-PI for an FMCSA project to research limb loss or impairment impacts on CMV operations and safety. She also leads the annual updates to ATRI’s State Fast Facts and served as the primary author of Identifying and Mitigating Challenges Faced by Women Truck Drivers, Membership Counts: Associations with Safety and Predicting Truck Crash Involvement: A 2022 Update.
Before joining ATRI, Abbigail attended Iowa State University, earning dual degrees in Statistics and Performing Arts. She is currently pursuing an MBA through the University of Iowa.
Andrew Fain
Research Analyst
Atlanta, GA
Andrew Fain is a Research Analyst with the American Transportation Research Institute (ATRI). His areas of expertise include survey design, data visualization, and general quantitative and qualitative analysis.
At ATRI, Andrew contributes to a wide range of studies, including the impact of nuclear verdicts on the trucking industry, an analysis of public truck parking nationwide, and societal costs associated with the Federal Excise Tax. His role involves conducting literature reviews, creating surveys, and cleaning and analyzing data. Additionally, he provides team-wide support in editing and refining research documents, ensuring accuracy and rigor across ATRI’s various projects.
Prior to joining ATRI, Andrew served as a research and data coordinator for a national youth organization.
Andrew holds a B.A. from Georgia State University.
Joy Miller
Contract Manager
Washington, DC
Joy Miller is the Contract Manager for the American Transportation Research Institute (ATRI). She has almost 30 years of government contract management experience, with a specialization in transportation and trucking research.
Joy is responsible for ATRI’s contract administration duties, including budget development and negotiations, auditing, state & federal compliance, and finance & accounting.
Joy received her B.A. from Stephens College, and has held multiple public and private positions including congressional staff support.
