Up Front-The Right Time
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- Created: 08.30.2021
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.
This summer, I celebrated 18 years with the association. My titles and scope of responsibility have changed, but ATA is just my second job after college. My first was in the accounting department of a member trucking company. Approaching college graduation, I attended a job fair on campus and clicked with a recruiter from Maverick Transportation. Almost 20 years later, I have a fulfilling career in this industry because of an opportunity that was available to me at a time in my life when it mattered.
Who you meet, what you study, where you work and experiences you have entering adulthood undoubtedly shape your future.
The Last Word
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- Created: 08.30.2021
My Final Mile
By Gwen Moritz
A few years ago, I sat in an audience of business publishers as our keynote presenter offered a tip on extemporaneous speechifying. If you ever find yourself called upon to speak to a trade group, he said, you can't go wrong with this opening: "No industry has experienced more change in recent years than yours!"
Those of us in the audience instantly suspected that we were not the first trade group audience to hear his speech about speaking to trade group audiences. "Totally meta," as the kids would say. But he was right: Virtually every industry has navigated so much change that anyone with even a few years of experience feels that surely no one outside their industry could possibly appreciate how much they have had to rethink and relearn.
I was invited to write this "Last Word" because I stepped down at the end of July as editor of Arkansas Business. I'm doing other projects for Arkansas Business Publishing Group — my new title is "contributing editor" — but it's now Lance Turner's job to keep an eye on the people and businesses that make up our state's business community. I had the same job title for 22 years, and my responsibility for delivering a quality product hand-crafted from scratch on time every week remained constant. But the way the staff and I did our jobs changed so much during that time that it never felt static.
I'm pretty sure the same is true for readers of Arkansas Trucking Report. You might have the same title at the same company and the same ultimate goal, but the way you are doing it is different than it was last year or five years ago. And if you have been at it for decades, you may think back on the beginning of your career in the transportation industry the way I think back on the IBM Selectric typewriter on which I wrote my first news stories for the Pine Bluff Commercial.
ATA Announces 2020 Driver and Safety Professional of the Year
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- Created: 09.02.2021
On Wednesday, Aug. 25, the Arkansas Trucking Association announced the 2020 Driver of the Year, Dean Roberts, and 2020 Safety Professional of the Year, Roger Carson. Roberts is a professional driver for Dedicated Logistics, a carrier headquartered in Crossett. Carson is the vice president of safety at Oakley Trucking, Inc. in North Little Rock. Both honors were bestowed at the Safety Awards Luncheon during the ATA Annual Business Conference & Vendor Showcase in Hot Springs, Ark.
Arkansas Road Team Welcomes Five New Captains
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- Created: 07.22.2021
The Arkansas Trucking Association is pleased to announce it has selected five new members to join the Arkansas Road Team, a group of professional drivers chosen for their commitment to highway safety, communication skills and interest in improving the image of the trucking industry. This complimentary outreach program of the ATA serves as a public education service to address highway safety and to educate the motoring public on safe driving, especially near large commercial vehicles.
The following professional drivers were selected for the Arkansas Road Team:
Wesley Cox of Fayetteville, Ark. – J.B. Hunt Transport
Ronnie Mahan of Sherwood, Ark. – FedEx Freight
Donnie Pace of Little Rock, Ark. – ABF Freight
Lazaro Ruiz of Bono, Ark. – Old Dominion Freight Line
Austin Simmons of Siloam Springs, Ark. – FedEx Freight
