From The Top: The American way
This joint column appears in the Summer 2026 print edition of NAPA Quarterly. Subscribe here.
NAPA PRESIDENT & CEO
NAPA CHAIR
This year’s America 250 celebration honoring the nation’s sesquicentennial has energized the conversation about what it means to be an American and a new appreciation for our shared history across state lines.
As motorists plan their road trips this summer, it’s worth noting that driving across the country wasn’t always as American as baseball and apple pie.
In fact, one of the earliest and most well-documented cross-country road trips kicked off in 1919 from what was then known as Camp Meade Cantonment, not far from NAPA’s Greenbelt headquarters.
A young and anxious Dwight Eisenhower, then a lieutenant colonel, volunteered to accompany a convoy bound for San Franscisco. Averaging a little more than 50 miles a day, the group of vehicles traversed roads and dirt paths, wetlands, and deserts, finally arriving at the bay, having driven 3,242 miles through 11 states.
Eisenhower described the 62-day endeavor, known to historians as the Army’s Transcontinental Motor Convoy, as a “genuine adventure,” and he never forgot what he saw.
Most of us in the asphalt pavement industry know what followed. Inspired by the road systems he witnessed as Supreme Allied Commander in Europe, “Ike” authorized the Interstate Highway System in 1956, making the case that our nation’s independence is intrinsically linked to its transportation infrastructure. This is still true today.
AMERICA ON THE MOVE
Through the NAPA Research & Education Foundation (NAPAREF), NAPA members contributed $1 million to the “America on the Move” transportation exhibition at the Smithsonian Institution’s National Museum of American History. The exhibition showcases the role of roads and highways in America’s transportation network.
Whether it’s interstate commerce or getting to soccer practice on time, the American Way means freedom of movement. It’s a point of pride for NAPA, and our members, that more than 94% of the time that movement happens on asphalt.
But that does not mean that the future of our highway system is guaranteed. We need more federal investment, and we need visionaries like Ike who can see beyond their years.
Celebrating the nation’s founding 250 years ago means assessing how the leaders of yesterday have prepared us for today. It also means challenging ourselves to rise to this moment.
It’s now time to deliver for the next generation of roads. Are you up for the adventure?
NAPA members will engage with lawmakers throughout the summer to explain how a robust surface transportation reauthorization this year can make a difference for the nation’s asphalt mix producers, contractors, and commuters.
Join us on this “genuine adventure” by attending our advocacy events, getting to know your congressional representatives, and joining our Political Advocacy Member Council.
