Exec Compensation Slumps at P.A.M. Transportation

The three top executives of P.A.M. Transportation Services Inc. got raises in their base salaries but lower total compensation in 2011 because no stock options were awarded.

P.A.M. filed its annual proxy statement with the Securities & Exchange Commission on Monday. Its annual shareholders’ meeting is scheduled for 9 a.m. on May 24 at the corporate headquarters in Tontitown.

President and CEO Daniel Cushman had total compensation last year of $487,184, including salary of $425,000 and a $60,000 cash bonus. But that was down from $642,812 in 2010, when his $462,500 in salary and bonus was supplemented with stock options valued at $152,160.

Executive vice president Larry J. Goddard had base salary of $280,000 and a $15,000 cash bonus, but his total compensation of $300,390 in 2011 was reduced by the lack of some $70,000 worth of stock options.

Lance K. Stewart, who became CFO in 2010, was paid salary of $170,000 and a bonus of $25,000. But he did not get any stock options, which had added almost $53,000 to his compensation package in 2010.

Shareholders are being asked to reelect all eight of the company’s current directors, including Cushman, 57. The proxy reveals significant business relationships between P.A.M. and companies owned or controlled by the Moroun family of Warren Michigan, which owns more than 54 percent of P.A.M.’s stock.

The Moroun family is represented on the board by Manuel J. Moroun, 84, and his son, Matthew T. Moroun, 39.

The Morouns control both CenTra Inc., a transportation company, and Oakland Financial Corp., an insurance holding company. P.A.M. paid more than $11 million to CenTra, Oakland and related companies last year, mainly for commercial auto liability and general liability insurance, but also for real estate leases and other services. Meanwhile, CenTra paid P.A.M. more than $3.86 million in freight charges.

Stockholders are asked to reappoint Grant Thornton LLP as P.A.M.’s independent auditor.