Award-Winning Magazine 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 Abby Crossland at 501.372.3462.


publisher JENNIFER MATTHEWS Matthews Publishing Group


jennifer@matthewspublishing.com executive editor


SHANNON NEWTON


managing editor BETHANY MAY


contributing writers brawnersteve@mac.com


JENNIFER BARNETT REED jbreed13@gmail.com JIM HARRIS


jimharris@arktimes.com STEVE BRAWNER


jdschulz50@aol.com TODD TRAUB


toddtraub@centurytel.net KELLY CARGILL CROW


kellyccrow@gmail.com art director JON D. KENNEDY


The Freelance Co. LLC, freelanceco@comcast.net production editors


SARAH SHEETS, KATIE THOMASON illustrator


BRENT BENNETT


brentdraw@att.net photographers


JON D. KENNEDY, BOB OCKEN, JOHN DAVID PITTMAN JOHN SCHULZ


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.


A long-term solution to not just replenish but sufficiently and continually fund the federal Highway Trust Fund, which provides states funding to maintain transportation infrastructure, is one of the direst issues our industry and nation faces.


www.arkansastrucking.com president


SHANNON SAMPLES NEWTON


shannonnewton@arkansastrucking.com director of operations


SARAH NEWMAN SHEETS sarahsheets@arkansastrucking.com


communications coordinator BETHANY MAY


bethanymay@arkansastrucking.com


corporate services coordinator KATIE THOMASON


katiethomason@arkansastrucking.com


executive assistant ABBY CROSSLAND


abbycrossland@arkansastrucking.com


Stallion Transportation Group 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


Risk Management and Safety PHILIP MAHONEY


Great West Casualty Co. Executive Vice President


Vice President Transportation Distribution


Distribution Solutions, Inc. CEO, Owner


MIKE MCNUTT


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


BRYAN MCDUFFIE Tyson Foods, Inc.


Executive Vice President,


JEFF LESTER USA Truck


J.B. Hunt Transport, Inc. CRAIG HARPER


Morris Transportation, Inc. President


MARK MORRIS


Executive Vice President & COO TRACY ROSSER


Walmart Transportation Senior Vice President


FTL Custom Commodities President & CEO


GARY SALISBURY


Wayne Smith Trucking, Inc. President


WAYNE SMITH


VICKI JONES STEPHENS C.C. Jones, Inc. President


MHC Kenworth of Little Rock Branch Manager


President & CEO TODD VENABLE


University of Central Arkansas Associate Professor of Logistics


STEVE WILLIAMS Maverick USA


Chairman & CEO DOUG VOSS


TIM THORNE ABF Freight


More frighteningly, according to 2013 data, the Federal Highway Administration determined that 22.7 percent of bridges in Arkansas are structurally deficient or functionally obsolete. And according to the American Society of Civil Engineers 2013 Report Card statistics, driving on roads in need of repair costs Arkansas motorists $634 million a year in extra vehicle repairs and operating costs – $308 per motorist. Thirty-nine percent of all Arkansas’s roads are in poor or mediocre condition.


This national problem has real implications close to home. Long-term funding enables states and local governments to support projects that provide millions of good paying jobs, protect public safety and improve our economy.


Real leadership keeps the roads paved, the bridges standing and everybody upright. One look at the Memorial Bridge and it’s clear: we’re still waiting on real leaders to show up.


ARKANSAS TRUCKING REPORT | Issue 3 2015


Drivers Legal Plan Drivers Legal Plan


Shannon Newton


President, Arkansas Trucking Association 9


FedEx Freight


Here at home, the Arkansas Highway and Transportation Department has suspended 70 projects worth $282 million this year because of the uncertainty over the Federal Highway Trust Fund.


PAT REED But we should all be doing all we can to ensure they act in the nation’s best interests.


CHAIRMAN OF THE BOARD G.E. “BUTCH” RICE III


The Memorial Bridge may be Congress’s wake up call. Perhaps sitting in traffic for a few months will help make the point.


Congress has passed temporary fixes (33 quick fixes in six years) because they cannot agree on a means of permanent funding. The federal gas tax, the primary source for the Highway Trust Fund, hasn’t increased in more than two decades. The funds currently generated are insufficient. The miles Americans drove once paid for the roads and bridges, but with improved fuel efficiency and no adjustment for inflation, those days are over.


There is no easy fix. Still, leadership on this issue is about solving the problem in a way that protects public safety and moves our nation forward.


BRIDGE TO BROKE 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.


UP FRONT


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