Arkansas Trucking Association

The Last Word

Nostalgic Investment

By Steve Williams, Chairman & CEO of Maverick USA

Nostalgic? Perhaps. I remember my Dad and grandfather's 160 horsepower KB 6 Internationals roaring across Missouri on US 40. I remember when the Interstate System didn't exist, watched it get built and used up during my lifetime. I remember the time when we dreamed big dreams and then made them a reality. We built things. In 1955, in President Eisenhower's State of the Union address he said, "A modern, efficient highway system is essential to meet the needs of our growing population, our expanding economy and our national security." He was also told that if he went through with this idea that he would not be re-elected. He was, by the way.

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Up Front- Seizing Opportunities

Craig Harper
J. B. Hunt Transport
Chairman of the Board, ATA

Depending on your outlook, the trucking industry has many daunting challenges to address or critical opportunities to seize in 2015 and beyond. Of course perspective matters, but this is not just a clever case of semantics. It’s about mindset.

Research suggests a powerful link between how we impact issues and the frame of reference we bring to bear upon them. Management consultants tell us the same is true of organizations: the difference between achieving a wildly successful outcome and experiencing a dismal failure is sometimes only a slight shift in perception. How important is our perspective, and how much difference can you create with a subtle shift in mindset? Just as important, how influential is our environment upon our current outlook?

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The Last Word

Change Marketing, Driver Roles to Recruit Young Drivers

By Steve Brawner, Contributing Writer

The ideal truck driver is a 20-year veteran who is physically fit, has worked only for one carrier, has never had an accident and has already been named Driver of the Year.

Unfortunately, there aren’t many drivers like that available. In fact, the reality is just the opposite. According to the American Trucking Associations, the industry already faces a driver shortage of 35,000, and that number could grow to 240,000 by 2020. Given that reality, carriers can look for drivers among the usual sources – other carriers, second careerists, etc. Or they can widen the pool by looking at one other often-ignored source.

Young people.

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Up Front- Paving a New Way

Shannon Newton
President, ATA

In Sept 2011 the Highway Commission named Scott Bennett as director of the Arkansas State Highway and Transportation Department (AHTD). We have profiled Scott Bennett in this issue of ATR because the relationship between industry and the department has never been better or more vital. It is well worth highlighting.

To say a lot is riding on how we respond as a state and as a nation to our infrastructure and highway-funding needs is an understatement. Our transportation infrastructure is key to our economic development. Our future prosperity is riding on our will to find solutions.

It is widely acknowledged that our transportation infrastructure in the United States is in serious disrepair. As roads and bridges across our state and country age and deteriorate, governments at all levels are struggling to pay for maintenance and upkeep, not to mention investments in necessary upgrades and new projects to support much greater capacity demands.

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