Trucker fatality rate rises 8.6% in 2016
More truck drivers and their passengers died in 2016 than the year before, according to a recent government report on roadway deaths.
Fifty-seven more people were killed while driving large trucks in 2016 than in 2015, an increase of 8.6 percent, compared with a 5.6 percent spike in overall traffic fatalities, according to a report by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.
About 4,317 people died in crashes involving a big rig. Of those, 722 were truck drivers and their passengers, up from 665 in 2015. The federal agency said about 10 percent of the 4,317 deaths were of pedestrians or cyclists. Occupants of passenger vehicles still account for most traffic fatalities, with about 23,714 deaths out of 37,461 total fatalities in 2016.
Eighty-three truck drivers were killed in alcohol-related accidents, compared to 55 truck drivers in 2015. Big rigs account for the smallest volume of alcohol-impaired fatalities. Drivers of passenger cars have the highest number of alcohol-related deaths -- 4,250 in 2016 compared with 4,124 in 2015.
-- Dalton LaFerney
Wal-Mart will host investors' meeting
Wal-Mart Stores Inc. will hold its annual meeting for the investment community today.
The meeting is scheduled to begin at 8 a.m. and end at approximately 12:15 p.m. The company said a live video webcast of the investor day presentations will be available on Wal-Mart's corporate website at corporate.walmart.com.
Wal-Mart also said it would be issuing a pre-meeting news release at about 6:30 a.m., which would include some of the key topics that will be discussed and select guidance.
During last year's meeting, Chief Executive Officer Doug McMillon told investors that Wal-Mart would start to look "more like an e-commerce company" as it prepared for the future. Wal-Mart has since acquired several e-commerce retailers, reshaped its leadership teams and invested heavily in services meant to integrate its online and in-store businesses.
-- Robbie Neiswanger
Index begins week with decline of 0.89
The Arkansas Index, a price-weighted index that tracks the largest public companies based in the state, dropped 0.89 to 367.77 Monday.
"The major averages declined modestly on light volume as investors await a busy week of economic updates and earnings releases," said Bob Williams, senior vice president and managing director of Simmons First Investment Group Inc. in Little Rock.
Total volume for the index was 26.7 million shares.
The index was developed by Bloomberg News and the Democrat-Gazette with a base value of 100 as of Dec. 30, 1997.
Business on 10/10/2017