Arkansas Trucking Association

2020 Annual Business Conference & Vendor Showcase

Up Front- Roaring into the '20s

Shannon Newton
President, ATA

If you’re the resolution-setting type, you already know the adage to celebrate the small wins. You ran that first mile. You wrote that first page. You took your first lesson. You saved that first dollar. Goals achieved and progress made is a result of a lot of small wins.

Celebrating the small stuff is great and all, but at the end of this long decade that we began in recovery from an economic crisis that closed the doors of many trucking companies, I’m ready to celebrate the big stuff. And as we roll into 2020, we have reason to celebrate some big wins for trucking.

First, the highway bill.  The Legislature passed Gov. Asa Hutchinson’s highway funding plan, the largest Arkansas history, in April. The first phase of that bill is in effect. In Oct., fuel taxes increased by 3 cents per gallon and 6 cents per gallon on diesel to fund roads and bridges. The casinos currently in construction across the state will guarantee $35 million annually for infrastructure. And when voters go to the poll in November 2020, they will be able to approve making a half cent sales tax permanent to give state highways, city streets and rural roads the money it takes to maintain and support commerce across this state.

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The Last Word

The Good, the bad and the ugly . . . today's commercial insurance market

By Jeff Threlkeld

The American Transportation Research Institute (ATRI) recently published its 2019 report on “Critical Issues in the Trucking Industry”.  Based on a survey of over 2100 trucking industry stakeholders in North America with 51% of the respondents being motor carriers, this report identifies the top 10 industry issues/concerns. Coming onto the national list in the #9 position—for the first time in the last 10 years of the ATRI report is “Insurance Cost/Availability.” For Arkansas-based trucking companies, insurance is an even greater concern as ATA President Shannon Newton confirmed this issue is #4 on the list of Arkansas respondents to the survey. If I had to make a prediction now regarding the rankings for the 2020 ATRI report, I would wager $100 that “Insurance Cost/Availability” will be moving up next year’s critical issues rankings list faster than NASCAR driver Jimmie Johnson passing race cars in the last three laps at the Daytona 500.

The good news on the insurance market front is that workers compensation rates per $100 of payroll exposure have been decreasing across the country for several years. Owners and executives of companies that have recognized that their workplace safety costs and exposures are controllable and committed to an active role in the oversight of their workers comp programs have received the most financial benefit regarding these cost savings. In this state, the Arkansas Trucking Association Self Insurers’ Fund has been a partner to motor carriers for many years, providing them a competitive workers comp market, while also returning underwriting profits through dividends to its members.

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Counting crossword complaints

Shannon Newton
President, ATA

People ask for your opinion all the time. Sometimes we like to give it unsolicited. Public opinion is used these day’s to critique everything from movies to presidents. As another campaign cycle begins, many of you will likely be asked your opinion on a number of issues or candidates. This kind of survey dates back to George Gallup, the “Babe Ruth of the polling profession,” whose passion for measuring the world and confidence in numerical data inspired him to develop the Gallup Poll.

Gallup was profiled in TIME’s May 1948 cover story. As an editor of his college newspaper, he wanted to know who was reading and what they liked. The old method for determining readership was omitting the crossword puzzle and counting the complaints. Instead, he began surveying readers about their thoughts.

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