Register for the third quarter meeting of the Arkansas Trucking Association Accounting & Finance Council at Centennial Bank, 1301 Rebsamen Park Rd., Little Rock on August 24 at 10:00 a.m.

Topics will include the results of American Transportation Research Institute's Operational Costs of Trucking 2023 Update, an economic update and discussion on preparing for year-end.

AFC Meeting Participants will

• review the results of ATRI's Operational Costs of Trucking 2023 Update
• discuss the trends in trucking costs, operational efficiencies, and revenue
• discuss current trends in the U.S. freight market
• review preliminary forecast of the 2024 market
• discuss how institutional investors are valuing and thinking about freight stocks
• discuss Employee Retention Credit (ERC) and Pass-through Entity Tax (PET)
• review bonus depreciation and impacts of Section 179
• review per diems and financial statements/leases

Session 1: ATRI's Operational Costs of Trucking 2023 Update
Presented by Alex Leslie, PhD, Research Associate
American Transportation Research Institute
(CPE Finance - 1 Credit)

Dr. Alex Leslie is a Research Associate with the American Transportation Research Institute (ATRI). He serves as the primary author of ATRI?s Operational Costs of Trucking report in addition to new research on young employee recruitment, driver-facing cameras, and more. Alex holds a B.A. from the University of Notre Dame and a Ph.D. from Rutgers University.
 
Now in its 16th year, ATRI?s Operational Costs of Trucking is one of the best benchmarking tools in the industry. With a soft freight market and costs climbing to a record high of $2.251 in 2022, it is vital that fleets understand their own cost performance as well as their peers?. This session will delve into data from the latest report to analyze key trends in trucking costs, operational efficiencies, and revenue.
 

Session 2: Economic Update
Presented by Jack Atkins, Managing Director, Research Analyst - Transportation
Stephens
(CPE Economics - 1 Credit)
Jack is a research analyst covering the airfreight and logistics/maritime sectors. He joined Stephens in August 2007 as a research associate in the Industrials group, with a primary focus on industrial distribution and service companies. He was promoted to analyst on the transportation research team in August 2011. Jack holds a B.A. in history from Auburn University and an M.A. with a concentration in history from Virginia Tech.

Jack will discuss current trends in the U.S. freight market, preliminary thoughts on 2024 as well as how institutional investors are valuing and thinking about freight stocks at this time.

Session 3: Year-end Preparedness

Prepare for the year-end with the experts from Bell & Company. They will review Employee Retention Credit, updates on Pass-through Entity Tax, review on bonus depreciation, positive impacts of Section 179, reminders on per diems and overview of financial statements/leases.

Richard Bell, President and CEO

Richard?s areas of concentration are tax and business and estate consulting. Richard has niche, extensive experience in serving the transportation industry as the Bell Firm represents sixty-plus private carriers. Richard has written articles for transportation trade publications and provided continuing education seminars. Richard has also served as a forensic or expert witness in state and federal courts, involving transportation financial "damage" matters. Richard?s passion is being a ?work out CPA? for troubled companies.  Part of his life?s work has been helping financially distressed transportation companies to restructure, regain viability, and once again, become profitable companies that provide jobs for employees and their families.
 
He has been recognized by Arkansas Business for its 2020 Lifetime Achievement Award in Accounting. Richard serves on the Bowen Law School, Dean?s Advisory Board and was recognized in the 2017 Bowen?s Public Service Award for Bowen Law School. Richard was appointed by the former Governor, Asa Hutchison, to serve as a Board Member on the Arkansas Board of Public Accountancy.

Jeff Lovelady, CPA-Shareholder and CFO

Jeff started with Bell & Company in 1992.  He provides clients with financial attest and consulting services and also manages the IT Department. One of Jeff?s goals is to provide clients with a sense of comfort that they have all the information that they need to make an informed decision. He also strives to make sure his team members have all the tools that are necessary in order to perform for their clients.  Jeff takes time to understand his clients? needs and helps minimize their tax burdens and improves their cash flows.
 
With many years of experience working with transportation companies, Jeff has authored articles for some transportation magazines, including the Arkansas Trucking Magazine and the Arkansas Business?s Transportation edition. Jeff also likes puzzles and Legos, so deciphering a financial analysis is what he enjoys doing the most.