Arkansas Trucking Association

Up Front- Re-route to remain

Shannon Newton
President, ATA

Unlike ever before, Americans are universally experiencing a common truth…  virtually nothing is going according to plan. In February, I sat down with my team for our regular editorial meeting to discuss the next issue of the magazine. Usually, Issue 2 is distributed at our annual conference, held each spring. It is delivered to attendees’ hotel rooms and blown up for display in the convention center. We brainstormed and assigned stories we thought readers would find interesting and insightful, including the story you’ll find on page 21 about a public health crisis in China that had affected the supply chain and had recently appeared in some patients on the U.S. West Coast.

A few weeks later, there were cases of that new virus, COVID-19, in Arkansas. In less than a fortnight, a protein invisible to the human eye brought everything to a screeching halt—except trucks. Those were still moving, and people were noticing that everything they needed to stay home and healthy was being delivered by men and women driving trucks. I called my managing editor and asked her how we could retool this issue of the magazine to address this global moment and focus on trucking’s role.

Continue...

The Last Word

The Truth of Full Shelves

By Alan Riels

When I was asked to contribute to the Arkansas Trucking Report, my first thought was “With everything I have going on and what this country and our industry is facing, I do not have time.”  However, I realized time is an important resource I can contribute to The Driver. 

I have been in the industry for 37 years and have been a business owner for 20 years.  As an “old school” person in a “new school” world, I have seen the perception of truck driving jobs change. At times, they have been considered a-dime-a-dozen, and other times, driving is rightly recognized as one of the most important jobs in the American supply chain. For far too long, I believe the driver has been taken for granted, and it is a shame that it takes something like COVID-19 disrupting the supply chain for our nation to realize how important our drivers are to us all.   

Continue...

Highway Dollars and Sense: Why the Choice is Yours

Why the choice is yours

Ed. note: In November 2020, Arkansas voters will have the power to decide if the state should keep collecting a half-cent sales tax in order to raise over $205 million annually for state highways and bridges, plus an additional $43 million each for counties and cities. Leading up to the election, we’ll be covering the history and potential impact of that decision. We encourage you to educate yourself before you vote and to help educate your friends, family, neighbors and coworkers who will help Arkansas make critical choices about our state’s infrastructure. Read part 2 of this special series "Highway Dollars and Sense" on why the roads in Arkansas have been essential to our way of life on an average Monday and in the middle of a crises.

Last spring was a big win for roads in Arkansas.  You probably heard Gov. Hutchinson claiming to have signed the biggest highway bill in the state’s history. It’s true. In a bipartisan effort, the executive and legislative branches came together with major stakeholders (like Arkansas Farm Bureau, The Poultry Foundation, Arkansas Municipal League, Arkansas Association of Counties and Arkansas State Chamber of Commerce) to find a way to start closing the gap between the amount we have and how much it really costs to maintain and develop the transportation infrastructure that connects our 75 counties to each other and the rest of the world. The Arkansas Department of Transportation estimated the gap to be $478 million.

Continue...

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...