Page 38 - ATR 3 2012 web 2

80 years and Still Trucking

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Coverage of the 80 Arkansas Trucking Association annual conference

By ATR staff of one percent to collect a dollar of fuel began the discussion with an overview
With a record number of reg- tax. On a toll, administrative costs are of current regulations before opening
istrants, the Arkansas Trucking about 18-25 percent.” up the floor for questions, the majority
Association (ATA) had a lot to celebrate With no end in sight to the politi- of which dealt with hours-of-service
at its Annual Business Conference cal bickering, Graves emphasized the and CSA. For more information, see
and Vendor Showcase in Hot Springs, importance of a united trucking front. related article on page 19.
Arkansas, May 16-18 where the asso- “We are becoming such a large, big The following day, former
ciation marked its 80th year of service diverse industry that the challenge of Truckload Carriers Association
to the industry. Likewise, Lane Kidd speaking with one voice gets harder Chairman and current Jet Express
celebrated his 20th anniversary as the and harder every day. We have a hard President Kevin Burch highlighted the
president of the association. time within our own ranks of coming importance of reforming trucking’s
The Hot Springs Convention Center to a consensus position we can all rally image, both for the sake of individual
played host to more than 260 confer- around,” he said. “We have to keep businesses and the industry overall.
ence attendees, vendors and speakers working hard to appreciate that there is Finally, the executive forums con-
representing 134 different companies. a lot of strength in our unity, but that cluded with the always-entertaining Dr.
Headlining the conference was Keynote unity can crumble very quickly when we Michael Economides, an oil and energy
Speaker Bill Graves, American Trucking have dissention in our ranks. We have expert and professor at the University of
Associations president. to stick with that model of disagreeing Houston. With a thick Greek accent
During the opening session, without being disagreeable.” and an affinity for political satire,
Graves addressed the political grid- Next, the topic changed from Economides mocked the fears of a total
lock in Washington saying that even political to financial as identical twins depletion of America’s oil reserve.
if Congress is able to pass the surface Terrance “Terry” and Leon “Lee” “The word ‘crisis’ is one of the most
transportation, in terms of length and Resnick discussed the importance of trite words of the English language,”
amount of money allocated, the bill is financial planning. “You want to utilize Economides said. “You guys remember
overall weak. the same focus in preserving and transi- the ‘credit crunch crisis’? Do you
“One of the outcomes of that grid- tioning your company’s and your wealth remember the ‘banking crisis’? How
lock is an inadequate response to infra- as you’ve done in creating it,” Terry about the energy crisis? We’ve been
structure and that is a big, big deal for Resnick said. talking about this energy crisis for
our industry,” Graves said. “But at the The Resnicks outlined a business almost three decades right now.”
moment, it’s the best they can try to do, succession planning checklist that However, the trend toward natural
and I’m skeptical they can get it done.” includes five items, starting with defin- gas is valid, Economides said.
Funding the country’s infrastruc- ing the goals and vision for the transfer “There are no alternatives to hydro-
ture is another major issue caught up of ownership and then deciding who carbon energy resources in the foresee-
in Washington partisanship, Graves the successor or successors will be. For able future. The future of energy is not
said: The industry supports a diesel tax, more information, see related article on solar and wind—the future of energy is
but no one is willing to propose a tax page 33. still oil and gas. I have this vision, in the
increase in an election year. Conversation returned to year 2100 a great, great grandson of
“Most often, the conversation Washington as three Federal Motor mine is going to stand in front of the
involves tolling and if you spend any Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) Arkansas Trucking Association telling
time looking at tolling you’ll find toll- representatives took the stage to have a you that 87 percent of the world’s energy
ing is not a very fiscally responsible way round-table discussion on a myriad of demand still comes from oil and gas.”
to build roads and bridges,” Graves said. regulations. Anne Collins, associate He went on to tout the growing
“The administrative cost is two-tenths administrator for field operations, natural gas industry. “You guys are

38 aRkansas TRucking RePoRT | issue 3 2012