Trucking issues at state level complement federal efforts

Arkansas Trucking Association (ATA) President Shannon Newton said her industry had a fruitful state legislative session and several of those issues also need to be addressed at the federal level.

One of the big ATA successes was in passing a tort reform bill that restricts damages to actual costs, not medical estimates.

“It is a big issue, one that we’ve been working on for multiple sessions, and so we’re very grateful and proud of the outcome that we had in this legislative session,” said Newton. “I think the biggest thing for this particular win is just to move the needle. I think we had tried to make our case about how this was impacting insurance costs and how it was impacting the cost of doing business for trucking companies and for businesses in Arkansas, and so to specifically limit those awards to the actual damages is a meaningful reform and one that we’re really proud of.”

Newton said she expected a coalition of businesses to lobby for further incremental changes in tort reforms in the future.

State lawmakers also passed a new law to crack down on cargo theft, a problem that has grown more sophisticated from a criminal standpoint. There was also a new measure to disrupt fradulent Mexican CDLs (Commercial Drivers Licenses), which have also grown in sophistication.

These state issues need to also be addressed federally, contends Newton. Another federal issue involves truck driver parking spots.

“In the United States, there is only one parking spot for every 11 commercial trucks, and they’re federally regulated. Everyone wants rested truck drivers,” she said. “Rest areas and truck plazas are primarily where we expect drivers to be able to rest, but there was a very long period of time in which our infrastructure was underfunded, and so we did not maintain the truck rest areas and parking areas that were along the interstates as the industry grew, and so now we’re trying to play catch up… Congressman Womack has been a very good champion on this issue and has introduced legislation to help us fund truck parking.”

Newton explained that with Arkansas’ Congressional delegation wielding such influence as committee chairmen, it is helping her industry with knowledge and access in a somewhat surprising way.

She said some federal trucking issues involve natural resources and intelligence concerns. U.S. Rep. Bruce Westerman, R-Hot Springs, chairs the House Natural Resource Committee, while U.S. Rep. Rick Crawford, R-Jonesboro, and U.S. Sen. Tom Cotton, R-Ark., chair their chambers’ respective Intelligence panels.

Federal regulations are another area where Newton is hoping the trucking industry sees a balanced measure of relief.

“We are perhaps the most regulated, unregulated industry in the United States, and so we have seen this [Trump] administration take a very aggressive approach in repealing redundant or inapplicable regulations from the industry’s perspective. That’s welcome. In almost every case, you just want to make sure that there’s still those safeguards to allow law enforcement and those individuals, we want there to be enforcement over the regulations of the rules. We just want those to be relevant to safety and economic benefit,” she said.

You can watch Newton’s full interview in the video below.