Up Front- G.O.A.T.
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- Created: 07.22.2021
Shannon Newton
President, ATA
We tend to categorize, label and rank everything around us. Being human is to analyze and keep records of the best, the worst, the most, and the least, to assign order to all the things.
Superlatives sell. That’s why you see billboards for the biggest steak, the highest rollercoaster and the fastest car. Later this summer, millions will tune in as the Olympic Games deliver some of the most impressive superlatives in the world. Athletes will earn titles like fastest runner, strongest weightlifter, highest jumper, best gymnast.
In trucking, I’ve seen another superlative making the headlines, declaring the driver shortage is the worst it’s ever been. In July 2019, months before the global pandemic, American Trucking Associations released its latest numbers on the shortage, urging the industry to hire 1.1 million new drivers over the next decade, or an average of 110,000 drivers each year.
The Last Word
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- Created: 07.22.2021
From Essential to Tax Target
By Johnathan Kennemer
For months, truckers were applauded for our nonstop efforts to keep the country moving despite the coronavirus pandemic. We were essential workers who kept critical supplies on the shelves and allowed other Americans to stay home and stay safe. It wasn’t easy to send drivers into the unknown, but at least the necessity of our industry was in the spotlight, understood and appreciated.
While the country continues to recover from the loss of lives and livelihoods, we’re trying to get our own house in order as we suffer the greatest driver shortage I’ve ever seen. Truckers were heroes carrying the first doses of life-saving vaccines not six months ago. Now, we are targets.
U.S. DOT Secretary Buttigieg Says I-40 Bridge “Critical” to National and Global Supply Chain
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- Created: 06.08.2021
Secretary visits Memphis to view damage, meet with industry leaders
On June 3, U.S. Secretary of Transportation Pete Buttigieg visited Memphis to survey the damage of the I-40 bridge and meet with local and industry leaders, shining a light on the importance of this major commerce corridor.
“The protracted closure has been frustrating, it has been difficult, it has been challenging and it has been costly,” Sec. Buttigieg said. “We often have a single piece of infrastructure in a single place that really influences the life of the entire country when it’s not available or when its availability is diminished. I want to emphasize our awareness as a department and an administration that the greater Memphis metro area is critical to the national supply chain and the global supply chain.”
Arkansas Trucking Association President Shannon Newton was invited to participate in a roundtable discussion with the Secretary where she highlighted the significant impact the bridge closure is having on trucking.
Up Front- Where's Waldo?
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- Created: 05.17.2021
Shannon Newton
President, ATA
In the colorful pages of the Where’s Waldo picture books, the fun is supposed to be spotting the title character’s striped shirt, coke bottle glasses and red stocking cap. The challenge is the distracting scenes around him. Waldo always gets lost among the other loud people and patterns on the page. He’s never social distancing. He’s always in a bustling crowd. That’s why you feel a little proud when you finally find him.
If you’ve seen any of the news coverage of recent legislative session in Arkansas, there were a lot of distracting and controversial headlines. You might have been discouraged from finding what you were looking for by some of the loud people and patterns there too!
