Pushing for better policies and a better image for Arkansas truckers, Shannon Newton manages the large and small of the Arkansas Trucking Association.
Her’s might not be the face you picture when you first hear the title, “president of the Arkansas Trucking Association,” yet Newton has held this position for a couple of decades. And although she’s not a literal truck driver, she has steered the organization through multiple economical ups and downs while driving Arkansas’ trucking business forward.
The native Arkansan came to work at ATA in 2003 shortly after having obtained her bachelor’s in accounting. So how does a young woman with an accounting degree end up as the leader of the Arkansas Trucking Association? The answer is, with a good head for business, a thirst for industry change and a little bit of coincidence.
After attending high school in central Arkansas, Newton attended the University of Central Arkansas in Conway and completed her accounting degree. She had clicked with a recruiter at a job fair and gone directly to work as an accountant at Maverick Transportation in North Little Rock. Maverick happened to be a very engaged member of the ATA, and Newton was consequently exposed to the organization. Maverick’s chairman at the time was also on the board of directors of the association.
By association, she came to know the current issues board members were working on and details about what was involved. After working at Maverick for one year, she was offered an opportunity to work at ATA.
Newton was the perfect candidate for the job. The association needed someone with an accounting background to manage its insurance group. To this day, ATA still offers an insurance package for its smaller members. It allows small business members to pool their risk together and cover their own insurance. The association manages bookkeeping and accounting for this program.
In June of 2023, Newton will celebrate her 20th year with the association. In her current position as president, she leads a small staff while taking on the greatest responsibilities of the nonprofit. ATA is owned and governed by more than 300 trucking companies and suppliers — some with less than five trucks and others representing the nation’s largest fleets. The agency works to advance the trucking industry’s image, efficiency, competitiveness and profitability. It works with leaders in Washington, D.C., to push the industry’s interest forward while organizing tradeshows, member-led industry groups and corporate services.
It’s a big job, and one about which Newton feels very passionate.
Newton will celebrate her 20th anniversary at ATA in June. (Photos by Jason Burt)
“One of my favorite things about this job, and the reason that I’ve been here 20 years, is that every day still feels like a new adventure because there are no two days that are the same,” she said. “I would say that I could best describe it as seasonal.”
Newton found herself smack dab in the middle of the recently concluded legislative season, and is heavily involved in governmental affairs outside of the office. “While the organization does have contract lobbyists,” she explained, “I’m still the face of the trucking industry at the capitol for every policy that is proposed that impacts our industry — whether it be insurance issues, tax issues, transportation issues or the rules of the road. From January until April, I’m at the beck and call of policymakers.”
For Newton, collaborating with policymakers includes engaging on issues that could benefit the trucking industry, in which case she wants to be there in person to weigh in, support and advance those regulations. In other cases, policies proposed by others outside of the trucking business might have unintended consequences. In those situations, ATA goes to the capitol to educate and advocate on behalf of the industry.
For this married, working mother of two teenaged kids, those months of high-level legislation can feel “all-consuming.” But when the season ends, the immediacy and demand for multiple hours a day dedicated to that part of the job ends. There may be some scheduled follow-up conversations over the next few months, but for the most part, the days are cleared up for her other responsibilities.
One of her other main responsibilities includes covering public relations. If there’s ever any sort of breaking news story or accident — such as the crack in the Interstate 40 bridge over the Mississippi River a couple of summers ago — whatever she had planned for the workday goes out the window.
When she’s not running to Washington or putting out PR fires, she’s managing the association the same way a business leader would manage a company. She oversees seven employees and all the “regular” work — planning, budgeting, managing personnel, signing checks, reviewing contracts.
“It’s similar to running a small business in that aspect,” she noted. “One day, I might be approving a social media campaign or hiring someone to do a video … and then, I still have the self-insurance.” Newton still oversees the books for the insurance trust, although now, she has help from her team in handling the day-to-day aspects of it.
Newton worked as an accountant at Maverick Transportation before taking the helm at ATA. (Photo by Jamison Mosley)
After being a part of the trucking world for 20 years, Newton has had plenty of chances to ride the highs and lows of the industry. One of the challenges she currently deals with is the significant workforce shortage that has plagued the trucking industry even before the pandemic.
“The problem is complicated,” she said. “There’s a perception problem. There are industry image issues to overcome. I know people of my generation, and at least one generation behind me, we’ve had a sort of doctrinal belief. We define success as going to a four-year school and getting a job. There are so many opportunities in our industry. We have to reprogram that way of thinking. You can actually get a really great job in transportation without a four-year degree. Making parents, educators, counselors, teachers and young people all aware of the opportunities that exist and what the actual path from education to employment looks like in our industry has been a challenge. It’s something we’ve taken on pretty aggressively over the last four to five years.”
On the positive side, Newton is happy to see the increased interest in truck driving post-pandemic. As bad as it was, she’s grateful for one silver lining. It gave truck drivers the opportunity to display what they do while the world watched.
“We received some positive attention on different levels, and it has been nice for people to think of the industry more positively.” Even with the gained interest in trucking, finding drivers remains a challenge. “We still have unseated trucks, but definitely the trend has been more positive for us coming out of the pandemic.”
One of Newton’s desires for the trucking industry is to normalize seeing women in the business. She noted that “it’s not really that different” from changing other perspectives about the industry. “A lot of people who think about trucking, think about white males.”
Although the industry is overwhelmingly made up of that demographic, she sees an opportunity for improvement. “Organizations are attuned to the fact that that’s not necessarily the best way to run an industry or business. There is actual value in diversity and value in difference of opinions. Having different perspectives at the table actually contributes to a more innovative, evolving and profitable business. The data backs that up.”
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