Arkansas Trucking Association

ABF Logistics has purchased Smart Lines Transportation Group, a truckload brokerage firm based in Oklahoma City, for $5.17 million on Jan. 2.

Smart Lines, founded in 2003, has 24 employees and approximately $18 million in annual revenue, primarily serving the food, energy and industrial segments. The acquisition will expand ABF Logistics into the Oklahoma City market.

ABF Logistics is the third-party logistics arm of ArcBest Corp. and a sister company to less-than-truckload carrier ABF Freight.

“The purchase of Smart Lines Transportation Group is an important step in our strategy to grow the emerging businesses at ArcBest and provide a variety of supply chain services to our customers in the way they expect,” said ABF Logistics President Jim Ingram.

Greg Roush, who founded Smart Lines and served as president, has been named branch director of the Oklahoma City location, now officially known as ABF Logistics.

America's Road Team represents the country's 3.2 million professional driver and serves as an example of the dedication and teamwork needed to deliver America's freight safely and on time. Last month, American Trucking Associations named 19 professional truck drivers as Captains of the 2015-2016 America's Road Team.

The 19 new captains have 453 combined years of experience and have logged more than 30.3 million accident-free miles. Among the new captains is Hot Springs, Ark. driver David Green of Werner Enterprises.

“America’s Road Team represents the best of what trucking can be: dedication to safety, professionalism and pride in an industry that delivers life’s essentials every day,” said ATA President and CEO Bill Graves. “These 19 outstanding professionals join a select fraternity. Since 1986, America’s Road Team has delivered the message of safety to millions, and I’m proud that these individuals will now be representing our industry.”

While maintaining their jobs as full-time professional drivers, the new Captains will now travel the country speaking on behalf of the trucking industry to communities, news media and public officials. The Captains will address transportation and safety issues, speaking at community events and anywhere they can reach the motoring public to share safe driving tips and offer advice on how to safely share the road with tractor-trailers.

After admitting that he exchanged drugs for tractor-trailer tires, a West Virginia trucking company owner faces up to 20 years in prison.

U.S. Attorney Booth Goodwin says 50-year-old Kenneth Ray Cisco of Lesage pleaded guilty to aiding and abetting the distribution of oxycodone.

Cisco owned the defunct Cisco Trucking in Huntington, W. Va. Goodwin says an undercover federal agent and another individual met with Cisco at the company on March 14, 2013, to exchange six tires for oxycodone. The agent received 33 oxycodone pills.

The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) reported that the annual minimum random controlled substances testing rates for employees in safety sensitive positions, including tractor-trailer and bus drivers, will remain at 50 percent through 2015. 

The company that produces SkyMall, the in-flight shopping catalog that entices airline travelers with offers for iFetch ball launchers for dogs and mini clap-on alarm clocks, is bracing for a hard financial landing.

SkyMall parent firm Xhibit Corp filed for federal bankruptcy court protection in Phoenix on Jan. 23, citing a funding crisis and seeking a court-supervised sale of their assets.

When WalMart trucker George Hart drives into the sunset March 6, he could be the second employee in Walmart’s history to log more than 4 million accident-free miles.

The Anderson County, Mo., resident has spent the past 34 years driving big rigs for the retail giant. He logs about 3,000 miles per week hauling freight from Bentonville to St. James, Mo. 

After the release of data from the Federal Highway Administration of estimated miles traveled by large trucks in 2013, the American Trucking Associations calculated a 1.6 percent decline in the large truck-involved crash fatality rate in 2012. With 2013's decline, the fatality rate has plummeted 39.2 percent over the past decade. The injury rate saw a 34.2 percent decline over the past decade as well.

The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) will study hours-of-service flexibility and drivers’ ability to split sleeper berth time to determine whether splitting sleeper berth times affects highway safety.

FMCSA Chief of Research Martin Walker said the agency plans to award a contract for the study and start data collection by January 2016.

The American Trucking Associations’ Safety Management Council honored a number of fleets, safety professionals and a state association with awards at the group’s annual Safety and Human Resources National Conference & Exhibition in Orlando, Fla.

Judy R. McReynolds, President and CEO of ArcBest Corporation, has been named Chairman of the Board of the American Transportation Research Institute (ATRI).  Judy succeeds Steve Williams, Chairman and CEO of Maverick Transportation, who recently completed his term as ATRI Chairman.  Judy McReynolds was first appointed to the ATRI Board of Directors in June 2010 and will now chair the Board comprised of 15 trucking industry presidents and CEOs.

TrueVoice, in alliance with GE Capital, Transportation Finance, recently performed a year-long study that looked over fleet services trends. According to the report, there were 250 million online areas that were searched and the researchers found the most topical and debated conversations in the industry.

Responses to a recent survey, conducted by Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA), found that few truck drivers feel they are harassed by their employers or shippers, and drivers who use electronic logs experience no more harassment than those who use paper logs.