ATA elects directors, honors professionals

The Arkansas Trucking Association recently elected two board members and handed out multiple awards to industry professionals during the trade group’s annual conference last month in Little Rock.

Ryan McDaniel, vice president of fleet operations for Walmart Transportation LLC in Bentonville, and John Pierron, senior vice president at McGriff in Little Rock, were elected to the ATA’s 2023-24 Board of Directors before a crowd of more than 300 trucking professionals and executives.

McDaniel will replace outgoing director Jeff Hammonds, Walmart Transportation’s vice president of logistics, who’s retiring. McDaniel has worked for the company for 23 years in domestic and international operations. In his existing role, he’s responsible for domestic transportation in the western division of the United States.

Pierron, who’s a returning board member, will replace Rob Kibbe of Aon. Pierron previously was on the board from 2007 to 2009, representing Regions Insurance. Board chairman Jeff Loggins, president of Jonesboro-based Loggins Logistics, will remain chair for 2023-24. The board has 21 members.

Also during the conference, Ken Geer of Bentonville was named the 2022 Driver of the Year. In his 34-year career, he’s driven more than 4 million accident-free miles. He’s worked as a Walmart Transportation driver since 2020. The former firefighter volunteers to run fireworks displays at the Walmart Arkansas Music Pavilion (AMP) in Rogers and area football games. He supports the Gravette Lion Band Boosters.

Brett Graves of Conway was named 2022 Safety Professional of the Year. He’s the safety director for Little Rock-based Maverick Transportation, has worked in leadership positions with the Commercial Motor Vehicle Safety Alliance and taught North American Transportation Management Institute courses.

Samuel Satterfield of Hindsville was named the 2022 Maintenance Professional of the Year. Satterfield is the maintenance director at Huntsville-based Lew Thompson & Son Trucking, which was recently acquired by Chattanooga, Tenn.-based Covenant Logistics Group for $100 million. According to a news release, Satterfield runs a maintenance program that ranks the company in the top 9% of industry peers in the nation. He joined the company in 2016 as a technician and was promoted to shop supervisor before being named to his existing role.