Award-Winning Regional Journal of the Arkansas Trucking Association
Arkansas Trucking Report is owned by the Arkansas Trucking Association, Inc. and is published bimonthly by Matthews Publishing Group. For additional copies, to order reprints of individual articles or to become a subscriber to ATR, contact Julia Hamra at 501.372.3462.
publisher JENNIFER MATTHEWS KIDD Matthews Publishing Group,
jennifer@matthewspublishing.com
executive editor LANE KIDD
contributing writers
brawnersteve@mac.com SAM EIFLING
sameifling@gmail.com ERIC FRANCIS
calliehoyt@truckingalliance.org art director JON D. KENNEDY
The Freelance Co. LLC,
freelanceco@comcast.net production editor
SHANNON NEWTON ad production
DEAH CHISENHALL, MARIA TEETER-WALKER, DUSTY TOWNSEND illustrator
BRENT BENNETT
brentdraw@att.net photographers
JON D. KENNEDY, BOB OCKEN, JOHN DAVID PITTMAN
eric.francis@
yahoo.com CALLIE HOYT
STEVE BRAWNER
JENNIFER BARNETT REED
jbreed13@gmail.com
JOHN SCHULZ
jdschulz@aol.com TODD TRAUB
toddtraub@centurytel.net
GOOD THINGS COME TO THOSE WHO CHANGE Business owners—trucking and otherwise—have a hard time seeing the forest for the trees. In the big picture, things are going great. Business is booming; there was a surge of Class 8 truck orders this fall.
But company owners don’t like to brag about how we’ll they’re doing. And in trucking, we tend to focus on those barriers that might keep the industry from doing better – like driver shortages, or restrictive hours-of-service rules. That’s curious to folks not in trucking. For example, a friend of mine, successful in his own industry, listened as I described those two issues as being restrictive on productivity.
www.arkansastrucking.com president
LANE KIDD
lanekidd@arkansastrucking.com vice president
SHANNON SAMPLES NEWTON
shannonnewton@arkansastrucking.com director of operations
SARAH NEWMAN SHEETS
sarahsheets@arkansastrucking.com
public relations coordinator JULIA HAMRA
juliahamra@arkansastrucking.com
executive assistant KATIE THOMASON
katiethomason@arkansastrucking.com
special projects assistant TAMARA ROBINSON
tamararobinson@arkansastrucking.com
CHAIRMAN OF THE BOARD GARY SALISBURY Fikes Truck Line President & CEO
BOARD OF DIRECTORS
MARR LYNN BEARDEN Marrlin Transit, Inc. President
Central States Manufacturing, Inc. Transportation Director
ALLEN BERRY
GREG CARMAN Carman, Inc. President
P.A.M. Transportation Services, Inc. President & CEO
DAN CUSHMAN
Executive Vice President & COO AL HERINGER IV
Star Transportation, Inc. Vice President
Distribution Solutions, Inc. CEO, Owner
Vice President, Truck Sales MIKE MCNUTT
Vice President & General Counsel
RODNEY MILLS USA Truck, Inc.
Truck Centers of Arkansas
Transportation Director SCOTT MANCHESTER
Tyson Foods, Inc. BLUE KEENE J.B. Hunt Transport, Inc. CRAIG HARPER
Morris Transportation, Inc. President
MARK MORRIS
U of A/Walton College of Business Chair of Transportation
Executive Vice President & COO G.E. “BUTCH” RICE III
FedEx Freight PAT REED
Stallion Transportation Group President & CEO
Walmart Transportation Senior Vice President
ABF Freight System, Inc. President & CEO
ROY SLAGLE
Utility Tri-State, Inc. President
Wayne Smith Trucking, Inc. President
VICKI JONES STEPHENS C.C. Jones, Inc. President
STEVE WILLIAMS Maverick USA
Chairman & CEO
An affiliate of the American Trucking Associations
Arkansas Trucking Association (ATA) is an Arkansas corporation of trucking companies, private carrier fleets and businesses which serve or supply the trucking industry. ATA serves these companies as a governmental affairs representative before legislative, regulatory and executive branches of government on issues that affect the trucking industry. The organization also provides public relations services, workers’ compensation insurance, operational services and serves as a forum for industry meetings and membership relations. For information, contact ATA at: 1401 West Capitol, Suite 185 Post Office Box 3476 (72203) Little Rock, Arkansas 72201 Phone 501.372.3462 Fax 501.376.1810
www.arkansastrucking.com
ARKANSAS TRUCKING REPORT | Issue 5 2013
That’s okay. It will further change supply and demand, but a healthier, more productive and more profitable trucking industry awaits those who embrace these changes. They will reap the benefits.
WAYNE SMITH
So, not all regulations are bad. Will some of these rules restrict capacity even further? Yep. Because some folks just don’t want to follow the rules. They’ll either leave or be forced to leave.
JEFF SMITH TRACY ROSSER
Our organization supports some of those rules because they’ll be good for the industry. Two examples are electronic logging devices that will be fully implemented in all trucks in two years; a rule that will help all carriers obey the law, and the drug and alcohol clearinghouse coming on line next year that will keep drug abusers out of trucks and off our highways.
DR. JOHN OZMENT
There’s plenty of freight. Carriers are finally making money. That’s a good thing. Transportation costs, as a percentage of the cost of goods, is finally getting back to the balance it should be. Most shippers understand that.
Are there still issues to be addressed in state legislatures, Congress and federal and state agencies? Absolutely. As Noël Perry, a senior consultant with FTR Associates and a principal in Transport Fundamentals was quoted this month, there are 26 federal rules in various stages of development covering everything from drivers to greenhouse gases. All of which must be approached with due diligence by trucking fleets.
As trucking capacity restricts, so does the ability of the industry to provide the number of trucks available. And prices go up. That’s why private fleets are expanding their capacity; to keep a handle on expenses and avoid higher rates.
He paused for a second. And asked, “So trucking is different than other industries, supply and demand ratios don’t work in trucking? I mean in most industries, if factors like driver shortages and hours-of-service restrict supply, and demand is steady, prices go up. Not true in trucking?”
Of course, trucking is no different than any other industry when it comes to supply and demand. Driver shortages mean to trucking company owners that there is plenty of business out there, and if more drivers could be found, business volume would soar.
UP FRONT
Drivers Legal Plan Drivers Legal Plan
Lane Kidd
President, Arkansas Trucking Association
lanekidd@arkansastrucking.com
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