Arkansas Trucking Association

The Last Word

Doing hard things

By Rep. David Ray

On Feb. 4th, I presented my first bill on the House floor. As a freshman legislator, and especially as one of the youngest members of the House, I was nervous. I was also nervous for another reason: I wasn’t sure my bill would actually pass.

My bill, HB 1368, would require special elections to be held on one of two standardized dates that are consistent and predictable from year to year. The reason I ran this bill is simple: it's not fair to voters to hold elections on random and unpredictable dates, especially elections that raise their taxes. It’s one of the reasons we have high taxes compared to neighboring states. But this happens all the time.

This may not sound controversial, but I assure you it is in certain quarters—there are many groups with a vested interest in preserving the status quo. The Arkansas Municipal League and many school superintendents didn’t like the bill. They argued it would restrict local control and make it difficult to pass local projects such as school improvements or funding for libraries.

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From the President

2021 Arkansas Trucking Championship Cancelled

We are disappointed to announce that the 2021 Arkansas Trucking Championship, previously scheduled for June 11-13, is cancelled. This announcement follows the cancellation of the American Trucking Associations' National Truck Driving Championship & National Step Van Driving Championships (NTDC/NSVDC).

After consulting with numerous member companies about their willingness to send competitors, volunteers and equipment, it became clear we would not have the numbers necessary to host a successful championship.

For half a century, we have recognized safety and excellence in the professional technicians and drivers from across our state by bringing them together to compete. Together with peers and families, we have celebrated their successes.

Drivers and technicians, thank you for all of the hard work you continue to deliver day in and day out. Your dedication to doing this job safely in the most complicated of situations has never been more evident than what we have witnessed over the past year. 

To the volunteers, employers, families and fans, please join us in thanking and celebrating these heroes from afar. We must continue to show our appreciation and to recognize all they put on the line so we can move our nation forward. 

We hope to see you all safe and healthy in 2022.

Up Front- Before, during, after: hope

Shannon Newton
President, ATA

2020. A number. A year. An era. A verb. A tragedy. A triumph. A numbing out. A waking up. A distancing. A coming together.

It’s been almost 20 years since Sept. 11, 2001, when hijacked planes flew into the towers and buried our sense of security beneath rubble in New York City. Still, every year, people, unprompted, tell us what they were doing when they heard the news, where they were when they watched it happen on TV. It was a moment in our nation’s history that had a before and an after.

As I’m writing this, 2020 is about to end, and I’m searching for a single moment that I might remember in 20 years. There have been many I won’t forget, but we didn’t get that demarcation between the before and the after that we all experienced together. The whole year has been “during” the pandemic. Even when we didn’t know it was here in the United States, perhaps as early as December 2019 or early January 2020, spreading slowly at first, unnoticed.  The pandemic was happening to us.

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The Last Word

One state's scheme threatens the whole industry

By Chris Spear

It is more than 1,400 miles from Little Rock to Providence, R.I. – more than 20 hours of driving to get from statehouse to statehouse, but what is happening there could have a profound effect on truckers in Arkansas and across the country.

In 2016, leaders in Rhode Island came up with RhodeWorks, a financing scheme to outsource funding for their failing infrastructure by tolling only large trucks. And not all large trucks – but just combination trucks mostly from outside Rhode Island. Politicians in Rhode Island made it clear, the brunt of the tolls was going to be borne not by citizens of Rhode Island, or even businesses in Rhode Island, but by out-of-staters who need to travel to or through the state.

It was robbing Peter to pay for Paul’s roads – if Peter lived three states away and was asked to deliver Paul’s groceries.

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