Dave Elniski | Industry Advisor, Safety & Compliance, AMTA

Dave is AMTA’s Industry Advisor in Safety & Compliance within the Member Services department. In this role, he offers advice to carriers and individuals on occupational health and safety as well as transportation-specific safety and compliance. Dave started in transportation as a trucker before working in fleet safety management for an Alberta-based carrier and, now, the AMTA. Dave holds the Certified Transportation Safety Professional (CTSP) and Canadian Registered Safety Professional (CRSP) designations, the workplace psychological health and safety certification from the Canadian Mental Health Association (CMHA), a Master of Arts degree in Women and Gender Studies where he examined safety and social factors in Alberta's trucking industry, and is currently a PhD student in Public Health at the University of Saskatchewan where he is continuing his research on trucking industry safety performance. Outside of transportation safety, Dave is an active reservist in the Canadian Armed Forces.

Steve Keppler | Co-Director, Scopelitis Transportation Consulting

Stephen (Steve) Keppler began his 32-year transportation career in the field as an investigator and inspector for the Federal Highway Administration’s Office of Motor Carriers (predecessor to the FMCSA). In addition to his field work in conducting investigations and roadside inspections, he worked in various positions within the agency on truck and bus safety issues, to include policy, regulatory and research positions both in the field and in Washington, DC. He then served for several years as the Department Director for Vehicle Systems at the Intelligent Transportation Society of America. His next stop for nearly 16 years was at the Commercial Vehicle Safety Alliance, the last six of which as its Executive Director. While there he worked with federal, state and provincial jurisdictions and industry to advance a variety of enforcement, regulatory, policy, and advocacy issues relating to truck and bus safety. Prior to joining STC as Co-Director in 2021, for over 5 years he was employed with the Intermodal Association of North America as its Senior Vice President of Member Services, where he was responsible for a variety of member services and membership driven activities, to include policy, regulatory, recommended practices, and advocacy. Keppler graduated from Drexel University with two Bachelor of Science Degrees in Engineering – Civil and Architectural.