Arkansas Trucking Association

The Last Word

Mr. Morris Goes to Washington

By Mark Morris

In April, I joined Arkansas Trucking Association President Shannon Newton and other trucking executives for my first Call on Washington. Over two days, we walked miles back and forth over Capitol Hill for meetings with our delegation to talk trucking. After more than two years of virtual this and webinar that, I welcomed the opportunity to come face-to-face with my elected officials in the nation’s capital.

I was elected to be chairman of the Arkansas Trucking Association Board of Directors August 2020 at the annual conference that had been delayed three months because of the pandemic. At that time, board members were taking conference calls with state and federal leadership to get updates on the virus situation and share what challenges we were facing to keep the supply chain moving. Since then, my whole tenure as chair has been in the middle of the pandemic; the vaccine rollout; the inflating economy; and the shortage of workers, toilet paper and microchips. The COVID chair, that’s who I’ve had to be.

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Up Front- In the Queue

Shannon Newton
President, ATA

Whether you’re eager for your first set of keys and real freedom or seeking a professional license to earn a living, getting a driving license is a process.  Some take drivers’ education courses to prepare, and others flip through the little study guides provided by the state police. I was lucky enough to get my hands on a highlighted version to expedite my studies. After filling in the bubbles and answering dozens of questions to prove we could decode traffic signs and understood right-of-way at various stops, we were only halfway to our license.

The last step is getting behind the wheel with a test examiner. It’s the same for commercial drivers; before someone can earn their CDL, they have to pass a skills test. Unlike the multiple-choice knowledge test which can be conducted with one proctor and several testers at a time, a skills test is one-on-one and therefore takes more human resources and time. While there are more exam locations than counties for individuals looking to get their Arkansas driver’s license, for a CDL skills test, there are only six places in the state to go: Little Rock, Newport, Russellville, Hope, Harrison or Lowell.

In December, I serendipitously learned that some individuals were in a weeks-long queue to take the CDL skills test.

As an industry, we are constantly feeling the pressure of demand exceeding the number of available drivers. In my position as industry advocate, it is my job to enhance and expedite the workforce pipeline that we rely on to provide the flow of qualified workers. The dearth of CDL examiners presented a blocked pipe.

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The Last Word

The more things change, the more they stay the same

By Roby Brock

As we enter 2022, I’ll celebrate (and commiserate) working at the state capitol or covering Arkansas politics for 30 years. My first foray in state politics was working in the transition office when then-Gov. Bill Clinton was elected president and he transferred power to then Lt. Gov. Jim Guy Tucker. I got to witness that historic transfer of leadership up close in a private chamber session, which was pretty exciting for a 20-something political newbie.

Right after he was sworn in, Gov. Tucker called a special session of the legislature to deal with a Medicaid funding shortfall, which led to the soda pop tax that stayed on the books for decades. During that dramatic special session, bottlers circled the capitol with their delivery trucks in an intimidating blockade and their employees entered the marble halls of the capitol shaking empty aluminum soft drink cans filled with pennies. It was near-deafening. 

Meanwhile, supporters of Medicaid—nursing home employees and residents, developmentally disabled families and teams of pro-soda pop tax supporters—wandered the halls in confrontation with the uniformed soft drink workers.

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Up Front- Fast Friends

Shannon Newton
President, ATA

As I think of all the friendships that I have nurtured over the years and how precious those are to my life, career and place in our community, it is evident that the pandemic took its toll on personal connection. Some may have mastered connecting through a screen, but I was not one of them. Behind a mask, from six feet away, it has been hard to navigate first impressions and introductions. Whether you are starved for connection or most comfortable by yourself, meeting new people or strengthening previous connections feels more challenging these days. 

Making friends in school was easy. You are served the same lunch, walk the same halls, endure the same homework assignments and midterms for 8 hours every day with the same group of peers. The proximity and shared circumstances amount to an understanding that develops into a relationship. It’s almost out of your control how close you grow to the people around you.

Shared experiences are an incubator for fast friendships.

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