Arkansas Trucking Association

On Jan. 20, FedEx Freight launched a surcharge on all shipments moving to, from and within California.

The $7 per-shipment fee, named the "California Compliance Surcharge," comes a few weeks after Gov. Gavin Newsom signed a bill into law, AB 5, that requires companies to prove workers are independent contractors instead of employees. The law has since been stayed by LA Superior Court Judge William Highberger, who determined the law is preempted by the federal rules of the 1994 Federal Aviation Administration Authorization Act.

In a letter to Senate Finance Committee leaders, the American Trucking Associations encouraged Congress to include “common-sense funding mechanisms” in future surface transportation legislation this year and to forget about trucking-only taxes and fees as a resolution to infrastructure funding problems.

 “Any discriminatory funding schemes, like a truck-only vehicle miles traveled (VMT) tax, will be met with resolute opposition by the industry, and must be dismissed as a misguided and prejudiced funding gimmick.”

With Google Maps as his canvas and a little red wagon filled with 99 phones as his medium, artist Simon Wreckert created a virtual traffic jam on the streets of Berlin.

While Wreckert walked up and down the street for a couple of hours, Google Maps reflected 99 cars moving alongside him because he had rented the phones and opened the maps application on all of them. The stunt was to make a point about how much space cars take up and the data we trust to reflect experience.

Before the Kansas City Chiefs claimed victory over the San Francisco 49ers during the Super Bowl LIV in Miami on Feb. 2, FedEx celebrated the 20th anniversary of delivering the grand prize for football’s biggest event.

A recent analysis of household expense data by HNTB Corporation shows that, on average, American families pay far less in federal and state motor fuel taxes in comparison to electricity and water service, among others.

On average, HNTB’s analysis found that American drivers pay $274.69 annually, or less than $25 a month, in combined federal and state motor fuel taxes at the pump.

Arkansas Trucking Association is pleased to announce it is accepting applications for a college scholarship opportunity for students interested in pursuing a career as a medium and heavy duty truck technician. ATA has established the Carl Tapp Memorial Scholarship Fund to encourage growth in the state’s technician workforce and to help assure that the safest, most knowledgeable and skilled technicians are working on the trucks and trailers on our nation’s roads.

Applicants must be graduating seniors from accredited high schools. Two scholarships for up to $7,500 will be awarded for students attending a two-semester (30-hour minimum) medium and heavy duty truck technician program at an Arkansas institution.

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.