8-K

UNITED STATES

SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION

WASHINGTON, D.C. 20549

FORM 8-K

CURRENT REPORT

Pursuant to Section 13 or 15(d) of the

Securities Exchange Act of 1934

Date of Report (Date of earliest event reported):          November 18, 2009

USA TRUCK, INC.

(Exact name of registrant as specified in its charter)

Delaware

(State or Other Jurisdiction of Incorporation)

0-19858	71-0556971
(Commission File Number)	(I.R.S. Employer Identification No.)

3200 Industrial Park Road
Van Buren, Arkansas	72956
(Address of Principal Executive Offices)	(Zip Code)

(479) 471-2500

(Registrant’s telephone number, including area code)

Check the appropriate box below if the Form 8-K filing is intended to simultaneously satisfy the filing obligation of the registrant under any of the following provisions:

o  Written communications pursuant to Rule 425 under the Securities Act (17 CFR 230.425)

o  Soliciting material pursuant to Rule 14a-12 under the Exchange Act (17 CFR 240.14a-12)

o  Pre-commencement communications pursuant to Rule 14d-2(b) under the Exchange Act (17 CFR 240.14d-2(b))

o  Pre-commencement communications pursuant to Rule 13e-4(c) under the Exchange Act (17 CFR 240.13e-4(c))

Item 7.01 Regulation FD Disclosure

The Company hereby furnishes the slide presentation for the Stephens Inc. Fall Investment Conference to be held on Wednesday, November 18, 2009, in New York City.  The presentation will begin at 11:30 A.M. (EST) and will be approximately 25 minutes in length, including questions and answers after the presentation.  A copy of the slide presentation is attached to this report as Exhibit 99.1.

Item 9.01 Financial Statements and Exhibits

(d) Exhibits

99.1 USA Truck, Inc. slide presentation from the Stephens Inc. Fall Investment Conference held in New York City on November 18, 2009.

The information contained in this report (including items 7.01 and 9.01) and the exhibit shall not be deemed “filed” for purposes of Section 18 of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended, (the “Exchange Act”), or otherwise subject to the liabilities of Section 18 of the Exchange Act, or incorporated by reference in any filing under the Securities Act of 1933, as amended, or the Exchange Act, except as shall be expressly set forth by specific reference in such a filing.  The information set forth herein, or in the exhibit, shall not be deemed an admission as to the materiality of any information herein or in the exhibit that is required to be disclosed to satisfy the requirements of Regulation FD.

The information in this report, the exhibit hereto, and statements made at the Stephens Inc. Fall Investment Conference may contain forward-looking statements within the meaning of Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended. These statements generally may be identified by their use of terms or phrases such as “expects,” “estimates,” “anticipates,” “projects,” “believes,” “plans,” “intends,” “may,” “will,” “should,” “could,” “potential,” “continue,” “future,” and terms or phrases of similar substance.  Forward-looking statements are based upon the current beliefs and expectations of our management and are inherently subject to risks and uncertainties, some of which cannot be predicted or quantified, which could cause future events and actual results to differ materially from those set forth in, contemplated by, or underlying the forward-looking statements.  Accordingly, actual results may differ from those set forth in the forward-looking statements.  Readers should review and consider the factors that may affect future results and other disclosures by the Company in its press releases, Annual Report on Form 10-K, and other filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission. We disclaim any obligation to update or revise any forward-looking statements to reflect actual results or changes in the factors affecting the forward-looking information.  In light of these risks and uncertainties, the forward-looking events and circumstances discussed in this report and the exhibit hereto, as well as those made at the Stephens Inc. Fall Investment Conference might not occur.

All forward-looking statements attributable to us, or persons acting on our behalf, are expressly qualified in their entirety by this cautionary statement.

The slide presentation also will be available to interested parties at our web site, http://www.usa-truck.com under the “Presentations” tab of the “Investors” menu.

SIGNATURES

Pursuant to the requirements of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, the registrant has duly caused this report to be signed on its behalf by the undersigned hereunto duly authorized.

		USA Truck, Inc.
		(Registrant)
Date:	November 18, 2009	/s/ Clifton R. Beckham
		Clifton R. Beckham
		President and Chief Executive Officer
Date:	November 18, 2009	/s/ Darron R. Ming
		Darron R. Ming
		Vice President,  Finance and Chief Financial Officer

INDEX TO EXHIBITS

Exhibit Number	Exhibit
99.1	USA Truck, Inc. slide presentation from the Stephens Inc. Fall Investment Conference held in New York City on November 18, 2009

EX-99.1

USA TRUCK

USA TRUCK

Forward-Looking Statement

This information and the statements made at this conference presentation may contain
forward-looking statements within the meaning of Section 27A of the Securities Act of
1933, as amended and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended.
These statements generally may be identified by their use of terms or phrases such as
“expects,” “estimates,” “anticipates,” “projects,” “believes,” “plans,” “intends,”
“may,” “will,” “should,” “could,” “potential,” “continue,” “future,” and terms or
phrases of similar substance.  Forward-looking statements are based upon the current
beliefs and expectations of our management and are inherently subject to risks and
uncertainties, some of which cannot be predicted or quantified, which could cause
future events and actual results to differ materially from those set forth in,
contemplated by, or underlying the forward-looking statements.  Accordingly, actual
results may differ from those set forth in the forward-looking statements.  Readers
should review and consider the factors that may affect future results and other
disclosures by the Company in its reports, Annual Report on Form 10-K, and other
filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission. We disclaim any obligation to
update or revise any forward-looking statements to reflect actual results or changes in
the factors affecting the forward-looking information.In light of these risks and
uncertainties, the forward-looking events and circumstances discussed in this
conference presentation might not occur.

The VEVA* Plan(Unveiled August 2008)

* We call our strategic plan Vision for Economic Value-Added, or VEVA

1.0 x Book Value

2 % ROC

98% OR

3.0 x Book Value

10% ROC

89% OR

4.0 x Book Value

< 89% OR

PHASE I - Earn Cost of Capital

PHASE II - Earnings Growth

RESULTS WE WILL NEED

Improved Earnings Consistency

Earn Our Cost of Capital

Position for L-T Growth

RESULTS WE WILL NEED

Sustained Earnings Growth > 10%

Positive Economic Value Added

HOW WE’LL DO IT

HOW WE’LL DO IT

Intermodal Growth

Brokerage Growth

Niche Dedicated Launch

General Freight Acquisitions

Share Repurchases/Dividends

Project People

2007 Peer Average (Our Original Goal)

3.9:1

2007 USA Truck

3.2:1

4.0:1

2009 USA Truck

Driver to Non-Driver Ratio

Non-Drivers

-176 or -22%

2007

2007

3Q09

3Q09

Improvement

Improvement

Project Velocity

Length of Haul

784

577

- 26%

Velocity (Fleet Turns Per Week)

2.5

3.0

+ 20%

2007

2007

3Q09

3Q09

Improvement

Improvement

War on Accidents

DOT Accidents Per Million Miles

1.1

0.8

- 27%

Total Accidents Per Million Miles

9.6

8.1

- 16%

Insurance & Claims (% Revenue)

8.0%

6.6%

- 140 bps

Yield Management

% of Outbound Loads

TruckingRevenue Per Loaded Mile

Backhaul Management Example

42%

$1.24

Trucking Revenue Per Loaded Mile

2007

2007

3Q09

3Q09

Improvement

Improvement

Improve Brokerage Model

Brokerage Employees

10

30

+ 200%

Gross Profit Per Week (thousands)

$34.6

$58.1

+ 68%

Launch Intermodal Model

Load Count

+86%

Project Tech

Business Intelligence

Corporate Website

Customer Relationship Management

Lane Analysis

Operational Decision Support

Modernizing Our Technology Infrastructure

Accounts Payable

Accounts Receivable

Brokerage Operations

Intermodal Operations

Pricing

Other Strategic Initiatives

2007

2007

3Q09

3Q09

Improvement

Improvement

Fixed Costs Per Month (millions)

$10.4

$9.5

- 9%

Owner-Operator Tractors

143

+ 276%

Company-Owned Tractors

2,461

2,149

- 13%

The VEVA* Plan(Unveiled August 2008)

* We call our strategic plan Vision for Economic Value-Added, or VEVA

1.0 x Book Value

2 % ROC

98% OR

3.0 x Book Value

10% ROC

89% OR

4.0 x Book Value

< 89% OR

RESULTS WE WILL NEED

Improved Earnings Consistency

Earn Our Cost of Capital

Position for L-T Growth

RESULTS WE WILL NEED

Sustained Earnings Growth > 10%

Positive Economic Value Added

HOW WE’LL DO IT

HOW WE’LL DO IT

Intermodal Growth

Brokerage Growth

Niche Dedicated Launch

General Freight Acquisitions

Share Repurchases/Dividends

PHASE I - Earn Cost of Capital

PHASE II - Earnings Growth

Why Aren’t We Profitable?

•Pricing Processes, Technology and
Strategy

•Evolution of an Existing Network

•Shortening Length-of-Haul

•Network Imbalances

•Lack of Network Density

•VEVA Learning Curve

Visible Causes

Root Cause

Ineffective Pricing

Base Revenue per Total Mile*

* Asset-based operations only
Source:SEC Documents and USA Truck, Inc.

Year Ended December 31, 2008

Quarter Ended September 30, 2009

What Are We Doing About It?

Implementing the Spider Web

ü20% expansion

üDoubled field representation

üUpgraded 1/3 of personnel

Sales Department Reorganization

Current

Current

Network

Network

Spider Web
Network

Spider Web
Network

Potential

Potential

Improvement

Improvement

Implementing the Spider Web

+ 1¢ Net RPM ≈ 75 bps ≈

$0.14 EPS annually

Quarterly Base Revenue > $85 mm ≈65% O.R.

Operating Model Leverage

Length of Haul

577

450 - - 500

- 18%

Trucking Revenue per Loaded Mile

$1.49

$1.65 - $1.70

+ 12%

Average Weekly Load Volume

6,383

10,000-11,000

+ 65%

Lanes

5,800

1,400

- 76%

Compliance with Spider Web

37%

≈100%

+ 63%

Why Invest In USA Truck?

USA TRUCK

USA TRUCK