Arkansas Trucking Association

ATA Recognized for Industry Image Efforts

Arkansas Trucking Association received the Mike Russell Trucking Image Award from American Trucking Associations Monday at the annual Management Conference & Exhibition. Arkansas’s organization was recognized for its efforts to engage industry stakeholders, media and all levels of government to promote the dynamics of trucking and improve the image of the industry across the state and nation.

ATA was also lauded for setting an example of how to build a network of advocates who positively represent the trucking industry.

“Every person working in the trucking industry has the responsibility to advocate on its behalf and demonstrate the safety-first mentality of the trucking industry to the public,” said American Trucking Associations Chairman Kevin Burch, president of Jet Express Inc. “The winners we present today embody this award. These companies, organizations and individuals have gone above and beyond over the past several years to establish positive awareness of the trucking industry.”

“The men and women who work in our industry are safety-driven, forward-thinking and invested in their communities. It is an honor to help tell the stories of how they are moving our state and nation forward every day,” said Shannon Newton, ATA president, who accepted the award on behalf of ATA. “This recognition is a testament to how powerful those stories are and how we are all connected by just a stretch of road.”

Some of the efforts for which ATA was recognized for this award include annual visits to Capitol Hill to educate lawmakers on the pressing issues in the industry; prominent roles on stakeholder committees and a seat at the table of safety and infrastructure discussions; television and social media campaigns to communicate trucking’s commitment to safety; investments in the future workforce of the state; and the Arkansas Road Team, a cohort of professional drivers who regularly meet students, community organizations and other groups to talk about their job and how everyone can safely share the road with big trucks.

Other Russell Image Award winners include

• Load One for their substantial involvement in Trucking Moves America Forward and company-wide efforts to elevate pro-trucking national statements through their image programs, trailer wraps, and work in their local community;
• Truckers Against Trafficking for their outreach in the community, on social media, and on the highways to put an end to human trafficking;
• Herschel Evans, Holland Inc., for representing the industry through his role as an America’s Road Team Captain, lifetime commitment to safe driving, and his establishment of the Safety Drive for a Cure truck driving competition to support the Pediatric Brain Tumor Foundation, which has grown to attract national attention and tens of thousands of dollars in donations. 

“The Mike Russell Trucking Image Award helps us recognize the ways in which individuals, organizations, and companies are committed to promoting the trucking industry to the public in new ways,” said Steven Spencer, managing director of transportation at HireRight, which sponsored the awards.

“These award winners continue to contribute to the advancement of our industry’s positive message and magnify the work of the many great people working in the trucking industry,” he added.

The Mike Russell Trucking Image Awards are named in honor of the late Mike Russell, a former ATA vice president of public affairs.

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