Arkansas Trucking Association

Up Front- Rays of Light

Shannon Newton
President, ATA

Last week, around 1:18 pm, people gathered on the sidewalk outside the office, passing around pairs of funny cardboard glasses, to crane their necks back and look skyward for the solar eclipse.

Because Arkansas didn’t lie in the path of totality, only 90% of the sun was covered. Ninety percent sounds like a lot, but unless you had the right lenses, the day wasn’t that much different than any other day. Crescent shadows fell on the pavement, and the light was a little dimmer than any other sunny afternoon, like a storm was rolling in but without a cloud in the sky.

Even just ten percent of the sun’s light still made for a mostly bright, hot, summer day.

For our cover story this issue, I got to spend an inspiring morning with Laura Lane, the president of global public affairs at UPS.  She talked about her life and her stance on policies important to the industry, but what I walked away from that meeting with was a sense of hopefulness, that every challenge has a silver lining if you are wearing the right lenses.

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The Last Word

Slow Down Speed Limit Increases

By Matt Hart

On Aug. 8, a new law went into effect in Arkansas, allowing the Department of Transportation to raise the speed limit on some major highways to 75 mph. So far, no speed limits have actually changed, but engineers are studying the traffic patterns and road designs to determine where and if the speed limits should be raised.

We’ve been asking ‘how fast can we go?’ on highways all around the country. Questions asked less often: Is it safe? Is it worth it? How do you know?

While Arkansas may choose not to go any faster on any of its 16,432 highway miles, DOT is slowing down to ask the right questions.

In my state, Illinois, I’ve seen this speed limit debate go on for nearly two decades.  The Illinois Trucking Association (ITA) fought for years for uniform speed limits after enduring many years where the speed limit was 55 for trucks and 65 for cars.  Legislation initiated by our Association in 2011 finally closed that speed limit differential to 65 mph for all vehicles, with a couple of exceptions near Chicago.

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2017 Arkansas Trucking Championship

ATA would like to thank all the volunteers, sponsors, vendors, drivers, technicians, and fans that helped to make the 2017 Arkansas Trucking Championship the biggest to date!

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Up Front- Sisyphean Task

Shannon Newton
President, ATA

When I sit down to write this column, I usually pick up my pom-poms and megaphone, taking on the role of industry cheerleader. I let you know where we are in the game, if we are chanting “D-E-F-E-N-S-E!” or “S-C-O-R-E!”

Usually, I’ve got good news. Our bill was passed. We got through to our legislators or the public. We did a good deed. We’ve set new goals. We celebrated a new milestone. We launched a new program.

This time, instead of good news, I’ve got perspective. For all the times fighting for the industry feels like political football, it isn’t the kind of game where the buzzer sounds, the ice chest is upended and we all go home.

The work is never really over, and I am reminded of that each time highway funding gets pushed further down on the agenda or when I open my inbox to misinformation about the industry and what we contribute.

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