Arkansas Trucking Association

Trade negotiators from the U.S., Mexico and Canada have reached a new trade agreement that is expected to have been ratified by the House and Senate just in the new year.

The new USMCA (United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement) replaces NAFTA and has been a pressing issue for the trucking industry. Thank you to everyone who helped make this happen. Trade between the countries in North America moves primarily by truck, and your engagement with representatives and senators about how this issue affects your business and the American economy was invaluable.

Fourteen year-old student Alaina Gassler, from West Grove, Pa., won a national engineering and science fair by designing technology to see around blind spots.

The Broadcom MASTERS, or Math, Applied Science, Technology, and Engineering for Rising Stars, is an annual competition from the nonprofit Broadcom Foundation and the Society for Science & the Public.

Predictive text, or autocorrect, is the typing technology on mobile devices that suggests words the typer may use based on the characters entered and used in the past. While predictive text speeds up the typing process, the tire company, Continental, is hoping to apply predictive driving to autonomous vehicle technologies to improve the driving experience.

Data collected from seven southeastern state by CaseMetrix, a company that complies data from attorneys on verdicts and settlements, shows that the average verdict in a trucking case has increased by $1.4 million dollars in the last year.

CaseMetrix’ conclusions reflects jury verdicts and not settlement data for Georgia, Florida, Texa, Tennessee, Alabama, North Carolina and South Carolina. This year, the average verdict was about $17.5 million compared to $16.9 million last year.

Searcy-based carrier, Bowerman Trucking was recognized for the eye-catching branding by Commercial Carrier Journal. The trucking publication has been ranking carriers for “excellence in fleet graphics design and execution” since 1978.

Because trucks and trailers can be rolling billboards, CCJ’s panel of judges distinguishes the companies who take advantage of the opportunity to tell their story in that space.

A new operations building for Razorback baseball at the University of Arkansas will bear the name of truckers J.B. and Johnelle Hunt. The Hunt family has donated $10 million to the $27 project that is scheduled to open in 2021.

Supermarkets and restaurants are changing the physical spaces of their businesses as analysts expect more U.S. shoppers to buy food online in the coming years.

This fall, CNN reported that America’s top grocers are building stores that work more like warehouses to accommodate the growing population who buy groceries online for pickup or delivery, rather than shopping the aisles themselves. NPR reported a similar trend of restaurants operating as delivery-only kitchens (ghost kitchens, virtual kitchens or dark kitchens) that partner with delivery apps like DoorDash, Grubhub, Postmates and Uber Eats instead of hosting patrons in restaurant dining rooms.

The Tennessee Department of Transportation (TDOT) advisory group concluded a study on the construction options for the Interstate 55 (I-55) interchange on the Arkansas border, determining a long-term full closure of the I-55 Bridge during of the project will not be pursued.

A 93-year-old toymaker, Ed Higinbotham, donated 300 trucks he made in his home workshop to be given to local Pennsylvania kids for Christmas.

Higinbotham has been donating his handcrafted cars, trucks, and horse-drawn tractors for about 30 years and recently began enlisting Pennsylvania State Police troopers to deliver to homeless shelters and Head Start programs.

On Aug. 14, the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration released advanced notice of proposed rulemaking to revamp hours-of-service rules for commercial truck drivers. Arkansas Trucking Association along with the American Trucking Associations praises FMCSA for recognizing the opportunity to improve safety and provide additional flexibility for drivers on our nation's highways.

"This proposed rule seeks to enhance safety by giving America's commercial drivers more flexibility while maintaining the safety limits on driving time," said U.S. Transportation Secretary Elaine L. Chao.

The Arkansas Trucking Association Self Insurers’ Fund has declared a $700,000 dividend to 57 trucking companies that are enrolled in its workers’ compensation insurance trust.

The Arkansas Trucking Association created the insurance trust in 1993 to help members control the cost of workers’ compensation insurance. The trust, which provides coverage to over 4,200 employees, stabilizes costs and rewards employers for safe operations. Any surplus premiums collected are returned to members in the form of dividends after injury claims and other expenses are paid.

The Arkansas Trucking Association held elections for its newest members and new chairman for the Board of the Directors at its annual conference in Little Rock, Ark. May 15 - 17.

Outgoing Board Chairman Al Heringer IV, vice president of Star Transportation, announced Dan Cushman, president and CEO of P.A.M. Transportation Services, as the new chairman to an audience of ATA members in attendance. As chairman, Cushman will serve a one-year, renewable term.

Cushman has a well-rounded transportation career that began as a dock supervisor at Roadway Express. In his 30+ years of trucking, he has gained experience with less-than-truckload, bimodal and railroad, and truckload service. In 2009, he moved to Northwest Arkansas to lead P.A.M., one of the top 100 trucking companies in the U.S. He has served on the Arkansas Trucking Association’s Board of Directors for 10 years.