Arkansas Trucking Association

Up Front- Stand Up and Be Counted

Shannon Newton
President, ATA

Every 10 years, we are completely different people in new bodies. Scientists have found that the human body replaces all its old cells with new ones. So roughly every decade, you don’t host any of the same cells that you used to. News flash, you literally aren’t who you were at 20 or 30 or 40. On your birthday or when you’re feeling particularly reflective, you might look back and notice all the ways your body has changed. You might make different decisions about fiber, wrinkle cream, nights out and exercise based on the body you have now.

Our country is regenerating, too. That’s why we take the census. The Constitution mandates that every 10 years we take a count of the population of all 50 states, the District of Columbia, and five U.S. territories. It’s prudent that the decisions we make today reflect who we are as a country and not who we used to be.

Continue...

The Last Word

Hair raising results

By Dr. Doug Voss

Skyrocketing insurance rates driven by nuclear verdicts have led trucking companies to place an even greater emphasis on shoring up their safety performance.  According to Broughton Capital, LLC, insurance rates are responsible in part for a three-fold increase in trucking company bankruptcies during the first half of 2019 as compared to the same period in 2018.  Safety is a matter of life and death on the road and also threatens your company’s survival.

Continue...

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.

Continue...

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.

Continue...