Page 26 - ATR 6 2013 digital

“The cusTomer asks, ‘wheN are you guys goiNg
To grow agaiN?’ aNd i say, ‘well, wheN The
Trucks we haVe are deployed iN a way ThaT
They geT a fair reTurN To our shareholders.
our shareholders caN’T be a shock absorber
iN The ecoNomy To The exTeNT you waNT us To
esseNTially creaTe capaciTy.’”
—craig harper,
eVp & coo, J.b. huNT TraNsporT

harper
down in a host of advisory groups and man. Craig Harper, executive vice
studies. president and chief operating officer Rather than push the bureaucrats to
In both cases, the technologies were of J.B. Hunt Transport in Lowell, Ark., actually do something, they decided
there, the ability of the industry to com- was elected president. The directors to go to Congress and convince it to
ply was there. All that was needed was a were Chris Lofgren, president and CEO mandate the two ideas and force the
push – a big push to make bureaucrats of Schneider National, Green Bay, agency to act. That was a tall proposi-
do what they are paid to do, and make Wis.; Kevin Knight, CEO and execu- tion considering 98 percent of all bills
the ideas actually happen. tive committee chairman of Knight introduced in Congress never see the
Transportation, Phoenix, and the late light of day.
aN alliaNcE is forMEd Patrick Quinn, president and co-chair- But the Alliance board is not a
These five executives, each of whom man of U.S. Xpress of Chattanooga, lazy group. Rather than hire full time
were well-known within the industry, Tenn., another former ATA chairman. employees, the Alliance contracted with
comprised the first board of directors of They had two major objectives – the Arkansas Trucking Association to
The Trucking Alliance. to see the national drug and alcohol manage its advocacy efforts, an affilia-
Steve Williams, chairman and clearinghouse become a reality and to tion that continues today.
CEO of Maverick Transportation of require electronic on-board recorders “Our strategy was simple,” said
North Little Rock, Ark., and former (EOBRs) or electronic logging devices Lane Kidd, president of the Arkansas
chairman of the American Trucking (ELDs) in all commercial trucks. Trucking Association who also serves
Associations (ATA), was named chair- But their strategy was different. as senior manager for the Alliance.

lofgren, knight and Williams

26 arkaNsas TruckiNg reporT | issue 6 2013