Arkansas Trucking Association

The Last Word

Catching the Spirit

By Butch Rice Guest Writer

When I woke up Saturday morning, June 13 in Rogers, Ark., I didn’t know what to expect. For the first time, I was at the John Q. Hammons Center for the Arkansas Truck Driving Championship. Some six hundred in attendance, including drivers, volunteers and supporters from all over the state showed up for an exciting weekend of competition.

As I walked around that morning, I felt like I was at a Razorback football game. Decorated tents lined the perimeter of the course where fans from each company’s driving team had set up banners, signs, pom-poms and all the evidence of team spirit. The drivers were dressed in their company colors, while anticipation ran through them as they walked the course for the first and last time before they competed.

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Up Front- Bridge to Broke

 Shannon Newton
 President, ATA

If you are one of the Northern Virginia to Washington D.C. commuters (members of Congress excepted) affected by the recent and widely publicized Memorial Bridge lane closures, know that I feel your pain.

It is fitting that the most recent example of failed transportation funding efforts is a highly-travelled bridge in our nation’s capital’s backyard. The emergency repairs for the Memorial Bridge serve as a symbolic and timely rallying cry for Congressional action.

With the bridge as their backdrop, Virginia Sens. Mark Warner and Tim Kaine, along with D.C. Del. Eleanor Holmes Norton and Virginia Rep. Don Beyer, called for long-term congressional investment in transportation infrastructure. "There is nothing more emblematic of Congress’ failure to invest in our nation’s infrastructure than the bridge that brings people into our nation’s capital, a national memorial, falling apart,” Beyer stated.

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The Last Word

Technology Gains and Losses

By Paul Enos, CEO of Nevada Trucking Association

I couldn't make it to Las Vegas on May 6, when Daimler Trucks tested their autonomous driving software on the Las Vegas Motor Speedway. I sent our Member Relations Director Kim Yaeger to the press conference and demonstration. 

While she was in Las Vegas, I was at a board meeting of the Hays Truck Museum, currently in a warehouse while money is raised for a new museum wing. We were looking at trucks ranging from a 1903 Knox to a 1979 cab over Ford. 

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Up Front- Won - Not Done

 Shannon Newton
 President, ATA

Grown men huddled around water-coolers talking Cinderella, bracket busting, buzzer beaters, jubilant celebrations and teary-eyed defeats are all part of the hoopla and frenzy that is March Madness. This single-elimination tournament between 68 teams determines the national champion in college basketball. The phrase March Madness references the excitement, passion, unpredictability and craziness surrounding the tournament.

While the country celebrates this annual rite, a debate has emerged over the “one and done” rule by which the NBA requires players be one year removed from high school, before entering the draft or signing to play professionally. One and done describes a player who attends college for one, obligatory year before bolting for the prosperity of the NBA.

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