America's Independent Truckers' Association, Inc.
FAQ's Click on the question for the answer.
What
is AITA?
I've
seen several organizations that say they get discounts, but there are always
conditions or catches, how is AITA different?
What
if I don't feel like I'm getting discounts?
What
are the fees?
How can
they do what they do for such low fees?
Why should
I join AITA rather than my local association.
I think
I can get better rates than offered through AITA on many things.
There
are so many professional organizations out there, how do I know which one( s)
to join?
AITA is an association that
brings independent truckers and small fleets together to establish a buying group
that can command price breaks for its members. Collectively, when individuals
band together, they create a group of buyers that many companies want as a customer,
and these companies will give pricing concessions to the group that they would
not give to the individuals that make up that group. Our goal is to group the
buyers together and refer them to the participating sellers, creating a situation
that is beneficial to all concerned.
We get businesses to join with
us for the benefit of our members and the participating business. We are attractive
to businesses because if they are able to service our members nationally, we
strive to offer exclusive endorsements and we normally will not seek more than
one participant per industry. The larger AITA gets, the more attractive we are
as a customer.
If you get that feeling from a
business listed as a participating vendor, notify us. If you use our recommended vendors
and do not realize some savings, we will investigate the vendor and attempt to correct the
problem.
When we make our agreements with the various vendors,
we ask for volume rebates from them
to support our programs, over and above your discounts,
which will be assigned to AITA to defer the costs of operations.
If there is a charge for services from a vendor, such as the Emergency Roadside Assistance package, we include that fee in our membership fee structure, making our membership fee worth every cent you pay. Fleet Membership will be recovered in rebates earned,
or we will reimburse them the difference.
That difference is calculated on the rebates earned thru AITA,
and not projecting discounts.
Because we represent such a large potential,
and whenever possible we offer exclusive recommendations to
our members, many vendors are willing to pay a rebate,
or commission. We pass the rebate along to the purchasing member,
withholding an administrative fee, based on various levels of
purchases and qualifying amounts.
Please consider this:
we save you money,
we send business to the participating vendor,
and the vendor rebates to AITA for the business volume.
That is a win-win-win proposition.
DON'T!!! AITA recommends that you join and take part in your local association as well as AITA. Normally, they have a membership fee that covers their administrative costs of operations, but the fee is usually justified. What we offer differs from what most local organizations offer, and you need them both. Most of our services are available on-line and are designed to save you money. That is our primary goal. Your local association lobbies to protect your legal rights, and to combat the passage of restrictive laws. Some local assocaitions supplement their revenues by endorsements and such, but their availablities are generally regional. Always remember, your benefits should exceed the cost of membership, or you should discontinue your membership with that association or group.
Simple. Which one(s) save you more than
they cost you? If your benefits and savings do not exceed your investment or membership
fees, then you are spending money needlessly. Those are the one(s) you should drop, while
retaining membership in the productive ones.
There will be times that the prices we negotiate may not be lower than the price you pay. If that is the case, then you are fortunate, and you should buy through the least expensive means. Please, let us know when this happens, with details, and we will try to secure the same benefits for ALL of our members. AITA does not expect you to pay more to support us. But be assured, the prices we negotiate are normally
far better than the regular prices members pay. Another thing to consider, compare apples and apples. Is there a difference in quality? You normally get what you pay for.