About Us
Our Mission
The mission of the Georgia Motor Trucking Association is to make Georgia the best state in the nation in which to base and operate a trucking company.
Our Purpose
The Georgia Motor Trucking Association is the only organization in the state that provides full-time service and representation for the trucking industry. The Association serves as the “voice” of the trucking industry in Georgia, representing for-hire carriers, private carriers, and affiliate members.
Our Team
Ed Crowell
Ed Crowell
President & CEO
Ed Crowell joined the professional staff of Georgia Motor Trucking Association in late 1992 and has served as its President and CEO since April 1993.
Crowell got his start in trucking when he closed his freelance public relations and advertising practice to take on a role with what is now the American Transportation Research Institute (ATRI), then known as the ATA Foundation.
Ed’s political experience was already well-established before he GMTA. He earned a degree in political science from Liberty University and a master’s from Georgia State University. Additionally, Crowell had worked in Washington, both for a U.S. Senator and as a staffer in the Executive Office of the President during the first Reagan Administration.
After two years with ATA, GMTA selected Ed to succeed their retiring Managing Director. He has been President & CEO ever since. Along with fostering more than 30 years of positive legislative changes, Crowell has served on many committees of importance to industry. He has been a member of the national Anti-Terrorism Action Committee, a member of the Industry Policy Committee of the Georgia Regional Transportation Authority, as well as a member of Georgia’s Commercial Freight Advisory Committee. Crowell served on Governor Deal’s Severe Weather Advisory Taskforce and served a term as national chairman of the Trucking Association Executives Council (the group of all the trucking associations in country).
More locally, Ed has been involved in his Cobb County community as well. He has been youth soccer coach, Sunday School teacher and deacon and a member of the Cobb County Neighborhood Safety Commission until his election to the Board of Cobb EMC, the nation’s fourth largest electric cooperative. He is also on the Board of Gas South, the state’s largest gas marketing company.
state’s leading gas marketing companies.
Curt Earnest
Curt Earnest
Chief Operating Officer
Curt Earnest is GMTA’s Chief Operating Officer, which means he’s involved in a lot of different things. Curt has oversight of general operations including management of GMTA’s headquarters building and tenant relationships, the association’s financial accounting and the Georgia Truck Driving Championships.
Curt also has responsibility for GMTA’s IT areas. His knowledge of information technology has benefited the organization allowing for modernization and lowering costs of member management tools, accounting tools, as well as general IT operations.
Curt first joined GMTA to build and develop the operating structure for recruiting, training, marketing, and communications related to Highway Watch, a federally sponsored anti-terror training program for the trucking industry. His work was recognized nationwide as GMTA trained over 100,000 commercial driver’s license holders and was noted as the most efficient and effective Highway Watch training group in the nation.
Prior to joining the GMTA Curt held several leadership positions. He owned and operated a remodeling firm with his brother. Before that, Curt worked for IBM where he held various Support, Sales, Sales Management and Marketing roles in IBM's Enterprise Systems Group when he started with IBM in 1993. He was Brand Marketing Manager for the iSeries in the North America Sales Centers and a Project Manager for the Gold Service Sales Team, NA Sales Center in Atlanta; working with IBM’s largest accounts. He was the named Sales Manager of the Year 2000 Sales Team for the NA Sales Centers; a team Curt built and structured from scratch.
A native Georgian, Curt graduated from Walton High School in Cobb County and he earned a B.S. in Business Communications with an emphasis in Marketing from Kennesaw State University in Kennesaw, GA.
Curt and his wife Jan live in Marietta, GA and have three adult children. They are active members of the Church of Apostles in Atlanta, GA. Curt is a Board Member of the LGE Community Credit Union based in Marietta, GA. In his free time, he enjoys spending time with his family, working on cars, home improvement projects and vegetable gardening.
Nathan Goolsby
Nathan Goolsby
Chief Revenue Officer
Nathan Goolsby joined the staff in January of 2017. He has an associate’s degree in business administration from Gordon State College in Barnesville, GA, and a B.A. in history and political science from Georgia State University.
Nathan brings a solid history of sales and development work to his position at GMTA. While in school at Georgia State, Nathan worked in sales for H. Stockton Atlanta handling in-store sales and merchandising. Upon graduation, he joined the Tom James Company in an outside sales role selling clothes to executives throughout the city of Atlanta. During his time with the Tom James Company, Nathan attended an extensive sales school in Pennsylvania and obtained valuable experience in outside sales and brand marketing.
He has some unique work experience along with his commercial background. Nathan left the Tom James Company in 2014 thinking of attending law school, but instead was offered and accepted a chance to join the Ga Dept. of Corrections (now the Ga. Dept. of Community Supervision) as a violent felony probation officer. As a certified state law enforcement officer, Nathan served the state of Georgia by performing warrant and drug operations, and serving as the Drug Court Officer for an Atlanta Metro county.
After leaving the DCS, Nathan returned to H. Stockton Atlanta to get back into his first passion which was sales and marketing. Nathan brings passion and enthusiasm to the Georgia Motor Trucking Association, which he hopes will help grow the organization in the years to come. In his spare time, Nathan enjoys playing golf, duck hunting, and most importantly spending time with his wife, Kristin, and their sons, James and Thomas. They live in Marietta, Georgia.
Emily Crane
Emily Crane
Vice President of Safety & Education
Emily Crane joined the association as a summer intern in 2005 and has advanced through several roles to her current position. Prior to joining the association Emily managed a flower and interior design shop in Roswell, GA., was an instructor for Wilton and had her own custom cake and invitation business, all while earning her college degree.
Emily’s primary responsibility is working with the staff to plan events that allow members to further their education on the ever-changing trucking industry and to ensure members get the best care from GMTA when it comes to their interactions with the association. “A valuable benefit of being part of GMTA is access to the events, meetings and trainings that we host,” she notes. “Having a hand in creating value through these events and environments for our members is a privilege and I look forward to getting to do this part of my job every day.” She also is responsible for the marketing and outreach efforts of the association.
Emily’s role has her involved with the GMTA’s Safety & Security Council as well and that blends nicely with her other passion -- racing. She regularly assists in coordinating events for several racing and karting organizations, Atlanta Motorsports Park; Rides to Remember, an annual charity event for childhood cancer patients.
Emily has a B.S. in communications with an emphasis in public relations from Kennesaw State University. She also completed her Certified Meeting Professional certification in 2013 from the Convention Industry Council. She and her husband, Phillip, live in Marietta. Phillip is a counselor at Mill Creek Middle School in Woodstock and a professional racing driver and instructor. They spend most of their free time at the track, traveling with their race team and spending time with friends. Emily serves on the leadership team for Lazarus Ministries, a homeless ministry in Atlanta, and enjoys baking, decorating and crafting.
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