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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
STEVE BRAWNER JENNIFER BARNETT REED Good thiNGs come to those Who chaNGe
brawnersteve@mac.com jbreed13@gmail.com
SAM EIFLINg JohN SChULz Business owners—trucking and otherwise—have a hard time seeing the
sameifling@gmail.com jdschulz@aol.com
ERIC FRANCIS ToDD TRAUB forest for the trees. In the big picture, things are going great. Business
eric.francis@yahoo.com toddtraub@centurytel.net
CALLIE hoyT is booming; there was a surge of Class 8 truck orders this fall.
calliehoyt@truckingalliance.org
art director
JoN D. KENNEDy But company owners don’t like to brag about how we’ll they’re doing. And in trucking, we
The Freelance Co. LLC, freelanceco@comcast.net
production editor tend to focus on those barriers that might keep the industry from doing better – like driver
ShANNoN NEWToN shortages, or restrictive hours-of-service rules. That’s curious to folks not in trucking. For
ad production
DEAh ChISENhALL, MARIA TEETER-WALKER, DUSTy ToWNSEND example, a friend of mine, successful in his own industry, listened as I described those two
illustrator
BRENT BENNETT issues as being restrictive on productivity.
brentdraw@att.net
photographers
JoN D. KENNEDy, BoB oCKEN, JohN DAVID PITTMAN
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?”
www.arkansastrucking.com
president
LANE KIDD Of course, trucking is no different than any other industry when it comes to supply
lanekidd@arkansastrucking.com
vice president and demand. Driver shortages mean to trucking company owners that there is plenty of
ShANNoN SAMPLES NEWToN
shannonnewton@arkansastrucking.com business out there, and if more drivers could be found, business volume would soar.
director of operations
SARAh NEWMAN ShEETS
sarahsheets@arkansastrucking.com As trucking capacity restricts, so does the ability of the industry to provide the number of
public relations coordinator
JULIA hAMRA trucks available. And prices go up. That’s why private fleets are expanding their capacity; to
juliahamra@arkansastrucking.com
executive assistant keep a handle on expenses and avoid higher rates.
KATIE ThoMASoN
katiethomason@arkansastrucking.com
special projects assistant There’s plenty of freight. Carriers are finally making money. That’s a good thing.
TAMARA RoBINSoN
tamararobinson@arkansastrucking.com Transportation costs, as a percentage of the cost of goods, is finally getting back to the
ChAIRMAN oF ThE BoARD
gARy SALISBURy balance it should be. Most shippers understand that.
Fikes Truck Line
President & CEo
BoARD oF DIRECToRS
MARR LyNN BEARDEN MARK MoRRIS Are there still issues to be addressed in state legislatures, Congress and federal and state
Marrlin Transit, Inc. Morris Transportation, Inc.
President President agencies? Absolutely. As Noël Perry, a senior consultant with FTR Associates and a principal
ALLEN BERRy DR. JohN ozMENT
Central States Manufacturing, Inc. U of A/Walton College of Business in Transport Fundamentals was quoted this month, there are 26 federal rules in various
Transportation Director Chair of Transportation
gREg CARMAN PAT REED stages of development covering everything from drivers to greenhouse gases. All of which
Carman, Inc. FedEx Freight
President Executive Vice President & Coo must be approached with due diligence by trucking fleets.
DAN CUShMAN g.E. “BUTCh” RICE III
P.A.M. Transportation Services, Inc. Stallion Transportation group
President & CEo President & CEo
CRAIg hARPER TRACy RoSSER Our organization supports some of those rules because they’ll be good for the industry. Two
J.B. hunt Transport, Inc. Walmart Transportation
Executive Vice President & Coo Senior Vice President examples are electronic logging devices that will be fully implemented in all trucks in two
AL hERINgER IV Roy SLAgLE
Star Transportation, Inc. ABF Freight System, Inc. years; a rule that will help all carriers obey the law, and the drug and alcohol clearinghouse
Vice President President & CEo
BLUE KEENE JEFF SMITh
Tyson Foods, Inc. Utility Tri-State, Inc. coming on line next year that will keep drug abusers out of trucks and off our highways.
Transportation Director President
SCoTT MANChESTER WAyNE SMITh
Truck Centers of Arkansas Wayne Smith Trucking, Inc.
Vice President, Truck Sales President So, not all regulations are bad. Will some of these rules restrict capacity even further? Yep.
MIKE MCNUTT VICKI JoNES STEPhENS
Distribution Solutions, Inc. C.C. Jones, Inc. Because some folks just don’t want to follow the rules. They’ll either leave or be forced to
CEo, owner President

RoDNEy MILLS STEVE WILLIAMS leave.
USA Truck, Inc. Maverick USA
Vice President & general Counsel Chairman & CEo
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
an affiliate of the american trucking reap the benefits.
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 Lane Kidd
Post office Box 3476 (72203) Drivers Legal Plan
Little Rock, Arkansas 72201 President, Arkansas Trucking Association
Phone 501.372.3462 Fax 501.376.1810
www.arkansastrucking.com lanekidd@arkansastrucking.com
Drivers Legal Plan
arKansas trucKing report | issue 5 2013 7