TWNA NEWS

TWNA Continuing Education Programs
As part of a series of educational events planned to take place at upcoming truck shows, TWNA has organized a seminar covering “Social Media for Journalists, Communicators & Marketers” scheduled for the afternoon of  Thursday, August 26th, at the Great American Trucking Show in Dallas, TX (3:00-5:00 PM, Room D225, Dallas Convention Center). The program will include a series of presentations (see below) covering social media, as well as plenty of Q&A time with our expert presenters.

Many of our members on both the press and associate side of the organization have expressed great interest in learning more about this topic area that is changing the face of journalism and communications.

Social Media For Journalists, Communicators & Marketers

Approaching The Cliff – Why Social Media Matters . . . NOW!
Tom Kelley – Executive Director, TWNA
With the trucking industry rapidly approaching a demographic cliff, many journalists, publishers and marketers are still firmly entrenched in a “Web 1.0″ mind set. Meanwhile, the drivers, mechanics, managers, readers and customers in the coming generation are thinking in 4G. Will you be ready?

Social Media: An Editor’s Perspective
James Menzies – Executive Editor, Truck News
A case study on how Truck News has used social media to better interact with its readers as well as a look at some of the challenges social media has presented.

Integrating Social Media into Your Marketing Plan
Kim Pupillo & Maureen Nagg -  Marcus Thomas LLC
The Marcus Thomas team will provide an overview of social media tools being successfully utilized by business-to-business companies and how these tools can fit into your current marketing communications strategy.

Facebook Strategy
Blair Hefty & Jeremy Gulish – Coyne Public Relations
How companies can evaluate social media options. Provide a practical “how to” for setting up and managing and successful Facebook page and bring this to life via a current client case study.

2010 Communication Awards Program – Entry Forms Available Online
Entry forms for the 2010 Comm Awards are now available for download from http://www.twna.org/entryforms2010.pdf on the web. Work created for use/distribution between June 1, 2009 and May 31, 2010 is eligible for entry. Press entries for print, radio, web, online, design entries, public relations and marketing entries are all eligible for entry. Full details are available on the entry forms.

Please note that there were a few minor changes made to the entry process last year. Entries are to be shipped to TWNA HQ, rather than ISVP in Tucson, although checks for entry fee should still be made payable to ISVP. Duplicate physical hard-copies of the entry are no longer required, but a single tear copy and a digital file copy of the entry are required. Again, full details are included on the entry form.

The Bright Side
From Marco Beghetto’s Right Turn Blog

Over the years, the media has been particularly hostile to the trucking industry (although, not always without reason). We here at Today’s Trucking (and in fairness, our competitors as well) have traditionally done a pretty good job of spotting and exposing anti-truck bias in the media.

Along with efforts by the associations, rail lobby-driven, anti-truck rhetoric isn’t as common in newspapers and news broadcasts as it once was. We’d like to think that CRASH has been removed from most reporters’ rolodexes (metaphorically, I mean, who still uses rolodexes??)

And every once in while, you’ll see stories that treat trucking and truckers pretty respectfully. I highlighted one last month by a former MPP.  This week, I noticed several in succession.

This one, by a police constable writing in the Vancouver Sun, encourages safe driving practices by four wheelers when driving around trucks. On the other side of the country, here’s another reporter along for a ride ‘n drive who conveys a pretty positive ‘trucking 101′ account of the industry.

Jim Kenzie, the esteemed automotive writer for the Wheels section in The Toronto Star, recently had a personal account of the Ontario Truck Driving Championships. The headline — The Fine Art of Heavy Haulin’ — sets the tone. It’s clear, as a passionate fan of driving and automotive, Kenzie developed a deep respect for the skillful pilots he witnessed at the competition last weekend.

While this is inside baseball for us in the industry, it’s nice to see facts like these in a newspaper article. Nonetheless, the trucking industry – and particularly its drivers – often take a lot of heat, because whenever a big truck hits a car, the car loses. Never mind that in the majority of cases, the truck driver is not at fault.

You don’t read stuff like that too often in the mainstream media. When you do, I suggest sending the reporter or the editor a short message thanking him or her for not taking the easier, cliched, sensationalist view of trucking we see so often.

Kolman’s Korner
Ruminations by David A. Kolman, TWNA Associate Director

I Didn’t Know That. Did You?

Some fun facts from mental floss magazine’s July-Aug 2010 issue:

- At the Wife Carrying World Championships in Sonkajärvi, Finland, first prize is the wife’s weight in beer.

- Alaska is the only state that can be typed on one row of keys.

- In 1943, Philip Morris ran an ad acknowledging “smokers’ cough.” They claimed it was caused by smoking brands other than Philip Morris.

- Only female mosquitoes will bite you.

- There was a long-lost fourth member of the Snap/Crackle/Pop gang. “Pow” represented Rice Krispies’ explosive nutritional value.

- The only number whose letters are in alphabetical order is 40 (f-o-r-t-y).

- In the 1970s, Mattel sold a doll called “Growing Up Skipper.” Her breasts grew when her arm was turned.

- Kool-Aid was originally marketed as “Fruit Smack.”

- The 3 Musketeers candy bar was originally split into three pieces with three different flavors: vanilla, chocolate and strawberry. When the other flavors became harder to come by during WWII, manufacturer Mars decided to go all chocolate.

- Bear Bryant was once asked to contribute $10 to help pay for a sportswriter’s funeral. According to legend, he said: “Here’s a twenty, bury two.”

- Green bean casserole dates back to 1955, when a chef named Dorcas Reilly created it for a cookbook designed to promote Campbell’s products.

- M&M’s actually stands for “Mars & Murrie’s,” the last names of the candy’s founders.

- Why did the FBI call Ted Kaczynski “The Unabomber?” Because his early mail bombs were sent to universities (UN) and airlines (A).

- Utah’s State Bird is the California Seagull.

- The sum of all the numbers on a roulette wheel is 666.

# # #

A Thank You from Cabover Kolman
I wanted to express my heartfelt thanks for being honored with TWNA’s 2009 Lifetime Achievement Award. I was totally shocked and surprised. Surprised at how well the secret was kept, and shocked that my peers would think so highly of me.

It is hard for me to believe that I’ve been involved with the trucking industry – as both a journalist and a trucker – for more than 30 years now. It certainly doesn’t seem that long.

I have been very fortunate to be able to earn a living doing two things I enjoy greatly: writing about trucking and trucking. And these passions have allowed me to become actively involved, and contribute to, both industries.

I have had many great and memorable experiences, and I have made many wonderful friends, and I plan to continue doing both.

I am honored to join the ranks of the TWNA Lifetime Achievement Award that have come before me: Bob Deierlein, Paul Abelson, Tom Berg, RJ Taylor, Jim Winsor and Mike Pennington.

This recognition is very special to me, and it is one I shall always cherish.

Again, thank you,
David A. Kolman, TWNA Associate Director

Media Tech Blog
During TWNA’s annual member meeting at the Mid America Trucking Show, Barbara Gould of Bendix arranged to have Kim Pupillo and Maureen Nagg of Marcus Thomas PR deliver a “social media” overview presentation. Several of those attending the meeting expressed a desire to obtain a copy of the presentation, so the Marcus Thomas agency has graciously permitted TWNA to post the presentation slides on our website. The presentation can be viewed by visiting  http://www.twna.org/TWNASocialMediaPresentation.pdf on the web. Kudos to Barbara, Kim and Maureen for a great presentation on a topic that is becoming increasingly important to all of us in the communications business.

At the end of the meeting, we asked for a show of hands to indicate how many attendees were interested in learning more about social media through online resources and/or future meetings. The response was nearly unanimous.

With that in mind, we’re currently working with the GATS management team to arrange a half-day of media seminars on the front end of that show’s press schedule. Additionally, we’ve committed to adding another blog page to the TWNA website to serve as a repository for links to some of the great social media, new media, and media technology content available out there on the web.

Subsequent to the MATS meeting, your humble Dispatch e-publisher has been sending resource links out to the meeting attendees via old-fashioned e-mail, but is sincerely hoping to find that some combination of the available social media tools will streamline the process of getting the information posted to the web, and distributed to interested parties. As there may be a brief delay in getting the page configured and deployed, anybody interested in joining the interim mailing list should drop an e-mail note to TWNA HQ requesting to be added.

New Media Guidelines & Video Standards
A short while back, the TWNA Board determined that the “Recommended Practices For Digital File Formats” in the resource section of the TWNA.org website were due, if not overdue, for an update. Considering that film was still widely used as the original source for most images back when the recommended practices were originally posted, “overdue” for an update seems to be quite the understatement.

To address the need for updating the original resource, and to add guidelines for the newer media technologies, TWNA is seeking volunteers to participate in gathering the information, discussing the various distribution options/alternatives, and developing the new recommended practices.

Given the variety of topics involved, we’ll need to break the project into multiple concurrent working groups. An “Imaging” group would deal with still image technology, a “Video” group would deal with motion image and audio technology, a “Web” group would deal with social media, blogs and general web/e-mail practices, and a “General Practices” group would cover issues not addressed by the other three groups, including an update of TWNA’s press event guide.

As with the original digital file project, it’s necessary to include participants from both the press and PR side in each working group, and it’s equally important to include interested, but inexperienced participants to ensure that the eventual recommendations don’t end up going way over the head of our average member.

If you are interested in participating in one or more of these working groups, please let us know by contacting TWNA HQ. Members should also encourage their production staff to participate in this process, as they are usually on the receiving end of the various digital files.

Calling All Award-Winning Communicators!
In our quest to attract a younger audience (in particular, getting college students interested in our internship program) we need to portray the hip, youthful side of trucking. We may know that trucking is no longer Smokey and the Bandit, but the kids of today don’t know that. Trucking is an industry that serves as an economic barometer, a testing ground for technology, and a great source for unique and interesting character stories. We need your help to portray that.

If you have any images, audio/video clips, or other resources that communicate such an image, please send them to Tim Brady at t.d.brady@writeuptheroad.com via e-mail. We will be using these as part of our college/university internship presentation to appeal to young writers and public relations hopefuls!

Journalists’ Most Hated Words
Longtime TWNA member Mike Pennington, keeper of the Journalists’ Most Hated Words list passes along this recent addition. Regarding a new product or component, the company says “it has convenient serviceability thanks to thoughtful design.” Now that’s a jewel….

Extra (3,000) Mile Award
The TWNA Board of Directors voted to award Jasmine Jordan, the 17-year-old daughter of Lee and Paulette Jordan, the “Extra Mile Award.”

Jasmine, who goes by “Jazzy” has been running across the U.S. to raise awareness for truckers and others without medical coverage, and to raise money for the St. Christopher Fund charity, which provides medical care for truckers who wouldn’t otherwise receive treatment.

Her decision to run across the country followed the death of a family friend.

Driver Sheila Grothe died in April after being forced from her job by cancer and a battle that brought astronomical health care bills. Grothe’s struggle with medical expenses touched Jazzy.

That’s when she decided to run from Los Angeles to New York, beginning her trek on Sept. 1, 2009, and finishing within the next couple of months “On that day I made a decision that I will do something to change the system, so people who don’t have medical coverage to pay for treatments like Sheila needed will have options,” Jazzy wrote on her Web site.

She is currently in North Carolina heading north toward New York, having covered nearly 2,500 miles. You can follow Jazzy’s progress at www.runwithjazzy.com.

Write It Right
Let’s Not Forget the Little Comma, Folks
By Tom Berg

Do you get irked when you see things written and spoken incorrectly? Do you therefore edit what people write and say, silently or otherwise? Then you know how I feel. So does Tom Kelley, TWNA’s executive director, who’s asked me to write a Dispatch column dealing with such things. Writing is what we do, so let’s write it right.

The point of this diatribe is the little comma as it’s supposed to be used in direct address. Know what I mean, folks?

Last week, my wife and I walked into the county Meals On Wheels headquarters, and I spied a note on a white board. It read, “Welcome Stephanie, our newest volunteer intern.” I grimaced because it was missing the comma behind “welcome,” required for direct address, so I picked up the marker and added it. It then read, “Welcome, Stephanie… .” Now, one could argue that the message was not directed at Stephanie at all, but was urging us MOW drivers to welcome Stephanie to the organization. If so, I was wrong, and should’ve butted out. (I didn’t point out my little editing to my wife, who’s tired of me editing her, but that’s another story.)

One of the more serious violations I’ve ever seen in print was in an enthusiasts’ magazine that announced the death of its former copy editor. The story reverently recounted how careful Andy (whose last name I can’t remember) was on all matters of spelling, grammar and punctuation, yet its head read, “So Long Andy.” I imagined Andy’s grave, with his arm thrusting out of the ground, Carrie style, its hand grasping a copy pencil and making a little curving motion, attempting to add that comma.

Here’s the rule, according to studyzone.org: “Whenever you speak directly to a person and use his/her name, the name must be set apart from the rest of the sentence with commas. This is called direct address.”

There are many other uses of the comma, and maybe I got some of them wrong in this column. Did I? Please let me know. And by all means, share your thoughts on these and other matters of right writing.

Ed. Note – I get worried when I see things spoken incorrectly. 

TWNA Event Calendar & Clearinghouse
As promised, the TWNA event calendar has recently gone through a major overhaul. At the suggestion of ArvinMeritor’s Mike Pennington, we are now distributing the calendar to every member via e-mail at the beginning of each month. In addition to keeping everybody up to date on the latest events, we believe that the calendar mailing will also serve as a regular reminder for event hosts to keep the calendar editor and event clearinghouse coordinator, James Menzies, updated regarding proposed event dates.

By providing the clearinghouse with proposed event dates, an event host can ensure that their event does not conflict with other industry events and programs, maximizing attendance by the desired audience. Event hosts can choose to keep their identity and topic details confidential if desired, such that only the date and location appear on the published calendar.

The format of both the online and e-mailed calendar is still a work in progress, so if you have any comments or suggestions, please pass them along to TWNA HQ.

TWNA Internship Program
Just before the holiday season, the TWNA Internship Program information package was distributed to several schools in the vicinity of the two potential host locations. Some inquiries have already come in and we will be following up with all of the schools to ensure the material is posted for viewing by the prospective internship applicants. Stay tuned to these pages for updates. For detailed information on the internship program, visit the internship page.

Mid America Trucking Show
The TWNA staff and board of directors are currently working on plans for both the Industry Awards Banquet and the annual business meeting to be held during the Mid America Trucking Show in Louisville, Kentucky. As usual, the banquet is scheduled to take place on Thursday evening, March 25th, at the Kentucky Fair and Expo Center(KFEC). The business meeting will be scheduled as the last press event on Friday, March 26, also at the KFEC. Room numbers and times will be posted as soon as the details are finalized. We still have numerous openings for banquet sponsors, so please contact TWNA HQ if your company/organization is able to help with this important event.

Kolman’s Korner
How Are Your Spelling Skills?

By David A. Kolman, TWNA Associate Director

I find the start of each New Year an opportune time to brush-up on my spelling. It seems that more and more, I, like so many others, come to rely on a spell check program.

While such programs are helpful, I find they tend to make me lazy and diminish my spelling skills. Why bother to spell something correctly when the computer will alert me to an error?

You don’t agree? See how you do with the following test.

Which is the correct spelling for the following words? Do not use spell check or a dictionary.

1. Acommodate or Accommodate

2. Innoculate or Inoculate

3. Sacrilegious or Sacreligious

4. Revelant, Relevant or Revelent

5. Farhenheit or Fahrenheit

6. Changeable or Changable

7. Perseverance or Perseverence

8. Incredable or Incredible

9. Preferrable or Preferable

10. Separate or Seperate

Answers: 1. Accommodate; 2 Inoculate; 3. Sacrilegious; 4. Relevant; 5. Fahrenheit; 6. Changeable; 6. Perseverance; 8. Incredible; 9. Preferable; 10. Separate.

# # #

Membership Deadline Looms
TWNA memberships for 2010 are due now. In order to be included in the TWNA directory for next year, your information and membership fees are due now.

If you know of someone in your organization who still has not joined or renew, please encourage them to do so. It’s certainly been a trying year in journalism and the networking possibilities through TWNA alone could be incentive enough to join.

Meet The Press
As long as we’re talking about networking, the TWNA Board of Directors has voted to add “meet the press” events at some of the larger trade shows coming up. It will be a chance for public relations professionals to meet press members of TWNA at low-key, meet-and-greet styled events.

The hope is to provide the opportunity for public relations professionals who may not be as familiar with publications in the industry to ask questions in a more casual environment. It’s a win-win for all involved, expanding the news offerings by member publications and exposure for OEM, after-market and industry service providers. Watch for upcoming events in future issues of the Dispatch.

Hold The Date
Logistically covering the trucking industry can be tough. Events are held all over the country throughout the year. Scheduling a big event at just the right time to ensure the biggest bang for your PR-buck can also be very tough.

TWNA will begin distributing an industry calendar that includes the dates and locations of public events and dates and regional indications of invitation only events scheduled in the industry. The calendar will help press members schedule their time accordingly to attend events and assist associate members in planning events free from conflict with another event.

The calendars will be distributed to TWNA members via e-mail and posted on the TWNA Web site. To have an event included on the calendar, contact James Menzies.

2009 Technical Achievement Award: Call For Nominations
The members of TWNA’s Technical Achievement Award Committee are putting out a call for nominations for the 2009 Technical Achievement Award.

The Technical Achievement Award will be presented to the recipient at the Spring TMC Meeting, and during the Industry Awards Banquet at the Mid-America Trucking Show. Last year, the big winner was Detroit Diesel for its use of turbo compounding in its DD15 engine.

While complete vehicles are not eligible, components are. To be eligible, a product or service has to clearly exhibit technical innovation, have a wide applicability in the trucking industry, offer significant benefits and be widely available for the first time during the award year.

If you would like to nominate a product for consideration, please contact TWNA HQ before Dec. 1, 2009.

TWNA Internship Program
The scholarship committee of the Truck Writers of North America (TWNA) is pleased to announce an editorial internship program for undergraduate communications students whose course of study has placed emphasis on journalism and/or public relations. One selected intern will be placed with a TWNA member company for 9-12 weeks during the summer session of each year.

2010 Summer Session Hosts
For the 2010 summer session, the TWNA internship will be hosted by the one of the following member companies, located closest to the selected intern’s summer residence location:

Land Line Now – Grain Valley, Missouri
Land Line Now is the first daily news and information radio program designed specifically for America’s truck drivers. The program follows a basic NPR-style format – a daily newscast opening the show; several longer stories that can cover anything from serious regulatory issues to stories about truckers’ lives; and each show ends with an update on legislation affecting the industry. Land Line Now is not a live show – the entire daily presentation is pre-recorded, and in some ways, operates more like a recording studio than a live radio operation.

The ideal intern for Land Line Now should be a journalism major with an emphasis in broadcast, with strong news writing and interviewing skills, voice experience, an interest in the technical end of radio production – and perhaps most of all, a willingness and ability to learn quickly. The intern will work with sound engineers, and reporters, as well as learning about the more mundane activities that have to be accomplished in order to keep a daily program on the air.

Successful Dealer/Truck Parts & Service – Des Plaines, Illinois
Successful Dealer magazine is written exclusively for truck and trailer dealers, leasing companies and truck body and equipment dealers. Covering all aspects of dealership operations, Successful Dealer is aimed at the dealership’s management team and focuses on helping them run their businesses more efficiently. Successful Dealer also publishes a weekly e-newsletter.

Truck Parts & Service magazine is written for independent truck service and repair operations, independent truck parts distributors, truck stops and the parts and service departments at new truck and trailer dealerships. Truck Parts & Service covers big picture industry issue subjects as well as how to repair and maintenance procedures. Truck Parts & Service also publishes a weekly e-newsletter.

The ideal intern for Successful Dealer/Truck Parts & Service should be a journalism major with a strong emphasis on writing. He or she should have strong interviewing and editing skills. A mechanical/technical background is helpful, but not required. The intern will work with the editors of Successful Dealer and Truck Parts & Service to edit press release and research and write feature-length articles for the publications. The intern will also help with the weekly e-newsletters and with monthly Webinars.

Internship Requirements
The internship program requirements include:

* – Completion of at least two years of post-secondary education, entering junior or senior year at college, pursuing studies in journalism and/or public relations.

* – Availability to work four, eight-hour days per week (32 hours) for no less than 9 nor more than 12 weeks.

* – Submission of a completed application packet by no later than March 1, 2010, containing the following:

* – Completed internship application form and agreement, W-9 form, resumé, and college transcript.

* – Two letters of recommendation (on letterhead) from business owners/managers.

* – Letter of recommendation (on college letterhead) from the student’s academic advisor, and a statement from the college verifying that the internship is appropriate to the student’s course of study, and that the student will be receiving course credit for the internship.

* – An essay of approximately 600 words about improving trucking’s public image, edited into three versions, one for print, one for the internet, and one for broadcast.

* – At least three (non-returnable) samples of bylined work.

Internship Stipend
The intern’s duties at the host company are provided on a volunteer basis with no compensation provided. To offset the intern’s cost of living during the summer session, and to encourage further study in the field of trucking industry related journalism, TWNA will provide the intern with a stipend, half of which will be paid upon successful completion of the first six weeks of the internship, and the remainder to be paid upon successful completion of the full internship.

Internship Application Form & Agreement – PDF File

# # #

Associate Director Elections Coming Soon
The elections for the 2010-2011 Associate Director term will be coming up later this month. Director candidates for the Agency PR, OEM-PR, Supplier PR, and Organization/Other PR segments are being sought. So far, only the Agency PR seat is being challenged, so if you have an interest in serving on the board, now is the time to speak up.

The primary duties for the Associate Directors include participating in a monthly tele-meeting, and maintaining contact with constituent members. Those interested in serving may self-nominate. If you wish to nominate somebody else, please confirm the candidate’s willingness to serve before making the nomination. Candidates must submit a short biography and campaign statement by no later than September 22nd, 2009.

TWNA Emeritus Member Classification
One of the side-effects of TWNA reaching its 20-year milestone anniversary is that some of the group’s earliest members are now fully retired. With budgets tight all around, and even more so for retirees, keeping up membership dues just to be able to keep in touch with colleagues can be a bit of a hardship.

A side-effect of current economic conditions has some of our longstanding, but not yet retired, members working in fields outside the trucking industry on what they hope will be a temporary basis. Similar to the retirees, some of these temporarily sidelined members find it tough to justify keeping up their dues while working outside the industry.

To address these situations, a proposal was made to the board to institute an “emeritus” member classification for those members no longer working inside the trucking industry. There would be no dues or voting status for this class of member, and their member data listing would be limited to basic contact information. The membership directory would be available to emeritus members at cost. An emeritus member would need to have been a full member in good standing for at least three years prior to qualifying for emeritus status.

Semi-retired members still “dabbling” in the industry would not qualify as emeritus, they would still qualify as Press or Associate Individual members.

The main goal of this change would be to keep track of former members to pass along member news, and to fulfill the frequent “What ever happened to . . .” requests from current members. At any given time, the group of emeritus members isn’t likely to exceed a few dozen, so the cost of keeping track of these members should be offset by the time saved hunting for contact information on request.

The board is tentatively scheduled to vote on this proposal at their next tele-meeting in early October, so if you have any thoughts or suggestions on this matter, please contact your board representative ASAP.

TWNA’s Truck Writer Internship Program
The scholarship committee of the Truck Writers of North America (TWNA) is pleased to announce an editorial internship program for undergraduate communications students whose course of study has placed emphasis on journalism and/or public relations. One selected intern will be placed with a TWNA member company for 9-12 weeks during the summer session of each year.

For the 2010 summer session, the TWNA internship will be hosted by the one of the following member companies, located closest to the selected intern’s summer residence location:

Land Line Now – Grain Valley, Missouri
Land Line Now is the first daily news and information radio program designed specifically for America’s truck drivers. The program follows a basic NPR-style format – a daily newscast opening the show; several longer stories that can cover anything from serious regulatory issues to stories about truckers’ lives; and each show ends with an update on legislation affecting the industry. Land Line Now is not a live show – the entire daily presentation is pre-recorded, and in some ways, operates more like a recording studio than a live radio operation.

The ideal intern for Land Line Now should be a journalism major with an emphasis in broadcast, with strong news writing and interviewing skills, voice experience, an interest in the technical end of radio production – and perhaps most of all, a willingness and ability to learn quickly. The intern will work with sound engineers, and reporters, as well as learning about the more mundane activities that have to be accomplished in order to keep a daily program on the air.

Successful Dealer/Truck Parts & Service – Des Plaines, Illinois
Information Coming Soon

TWNA member companies wishing to participate in the internship program need to submit an application including a description of their company, the intern’s duties, and contact information for the internship offices at the colleges/universities nearest the prospective host company, by no later than October 1, 2009.

Help For A Hero
By Jami Jones
Jorge Orozco-Sanchez from Firestone, CO. You may recognize that name from the 2009 TWNA Industry Awards Banquet. Jorge was named the 2008 Goodyear Highway Hero.

Last fall, he was involved in a wreck in which an SUV veered into the path of his truck. The horrific head-on crash took the life of a 27-year-old mother, but Jorge was able to rescue the two children strapped in the car seats in back. Fire engulfed the SUV, and the flames destroyed Jorge’s truck and trailer, too. His heroic effort earned Jorge esteem from not only Goodyear, but the entire trucking industry.

Jorge Orozco-Sanchez (L) recieves the 2008 Highway Hero award from Goodyear’s Donn Kramer.

The wreck happened in October 2008. Battling a series of unfortunate circumstances kept him off the road for five long months. After meeting Jorge in Louisville, Land Line Now’s Reed Black said, “We have leads on good used trucks and a financing department; can we lend a hand to this guy?”

Such things are not always easy, but OOIDA was able to help Jorge find a good deal on a 2005 Freightliner Columbia (with APU) and a trailer. OOIDA’s Margo Fries and Joe Greer helped put together a plan that financed the equipment. Margo helped him get a grant for the APU from SmartWay.

On Friday, May 29, Jorge picked up the truck here at OOIDA HQ. Reed and I greeted him at the door. It was great to see Jorge again. He drove down from Colorado with his friend Manuel Sierra, another trucker (and new OOIDA member) from Scoular, the company that Jorge worked for prior to the accident and that is glad to have him back.

But, Jorge hadn’t cleared all of the hurdles to get back on the road. His down payment for truck and trailer insurance, taxes, title and licensing fees quickly mounted.

TWNA member businesses played a vital role in giving Jorge the hand-up that he needed in clearing those final hurdles. The TWNA Board voted to pay half of the insurance down payment, $700.00 and would solicit donations from its member businesses for the remaining $700.00.

In short time, TWNA’s member companies donated $2,300.00 to supplement the $700.00 grant from the treasury, for a total of $3,000.00, which more than covered the initial insurance payments – giving Jorge perhaps his first bit of sunlight and putting him back on the road.

The humble Goodyear Highway Hero has repeatedly expressed his gratitude to TWNA and its members for helping him get back on the road.

The TWNA member companies who contributed to Jorge’s return to work were: Shell Lubricants, ArvinMeritor, Bendix, Truck-Lite, Nancy Bingham & Caterpillar, SKF Group, SAF-Holland, and Eaton/RoadRanger. Thanks to these great TWNA member companies for supporting this worthy effort.

Member News – Paul Hartley
Those who have visited Paul Hartley’s hometown of Northfield, Minnesota are likely surprised to learn that Northfield not only has an “art community,” but also a site dedicated to the community’s visual arts at NorthfieldArtTown.com on the web. Paul was equally surprised to find out that his growing repertoire of truck photos were considered as “art” by the local community.

The NorthfieldArtTown.com website recently featured several of Paul’s striking images, along with a Q&A about how he came to be a photographer specializing in trucks.

One needn’t look far to see examples of Paul’s truck photography. The header on all of this site’s pages is one of Paul’s shots, and more of his photos can be found on key pages throughout the site. Additionally, Paul has served as the portrait and candid photographer at TWNA’s annual Industry Awards Banquet each year at Mid-America. Paul’s images also appear in many of the industry’s top magazines, as well as collateral materials from the top OEM’s and suppliers.

2009 Technical Achievement Award: Call For Nominations & Judges
The members of TWNA’s Technical Achievement Award Committee are putting out a call for nominations for the 2009 Technical Achievement Award.

The Technical Achievement Award will be presented to the recipient at the Spring TMC Meeting, and during the Industry Awards Banquet at the Mid-America Trucking Show. Last year, the big winner was Detroit Diesel for its use of turbo compounding in its DD15 engine.

While complete vehicles are not eligible, components are. To be eligible, a product or service has to clearly exhibit technical innovation, have a wide applicability in the trucking industry, offer significant benefits and be widely available for the first time during the award year.

If you would like to nominate a product for consideration, please contact TWNA HQ before December 1st, 2009. Also, if you are interested in joining the selection committee, please notify TWNA HQ as soon as possible.

Berg’s Blitherings – Real Estaters Get No Prestige, But Journalists Ain’t Far Above
By Tom Berg
The job with the least amount of prestige is a real estate sales person or broker, but journalists don’t score much higher on a recent Harris poll. Only 5% of those surveyed thought real estaters had a prestigious job, while journalists tie with entertainers and labor union leaders, all of whom are mentioned as prestige professions by 17% of the public. We’ve been rated that way since the poll was first taken in 1977.

Who gets the most respect? Fire fighters, teachers and farmers, among others. Check out the rankings below, courtesy of AOL-CompuServe.

Top 10 Professions – Highest Perceived Prestige
1. Firefighters: 62 percent
2. Scientists: 57 percent
3. Doctors: 56 percent
4. Nurses: 54 percent
5. Teachers and military officers (tie): 51 percent
7. Police officers: 44 percent
8. Priests/ministers/clergy: 41 percent
9. Engineers: 39 percent
10. Farmers: 36 percent

Bottom 10 Professions – Lowest Perceived Prestige
1. Real estate agents/brokers: 5 percent
2. Accountants: 11 percent
3. Stock brokers: 13 percent
4. Actors: 15 percent
5. Bankers: 16 percent
6. Entertainers, union leaders and journalists (tie): 17 percent
9. Athletes: 21 percent
10. Business executives: 23 percent

# # #

Associate Director Elections Coming Soon
The elections for the 2010-2011 Associate Director term will be coming up in just a few months. Director candidates for the Agency PR, OEM-PR, Supplier PR, and Organization/Other PR segments are being sought.

The primary duties for the Associate Directors include participating in a monthly tele-meeting, and maintaining contact with constituent members. Those interested in serving may self-nominate. If you wish to nominate somebody else, please confirm the candidate’s willingness to serve before making the nomination. Candidates must submit a short biography and campaign statement by no later than September 1st, 2009.

TWNA Members Help A Hero Return To The Road
Last year, Jorge Orozco-Sanchez’s truck was destroyed by fire when an SUV crossed over the median and caused a head-on collision. Risking his own personal safety, Jorge rescued two small children from the back seat of the SUV, before it and his truck were consumed by the fire. For his selfless act of heroism, Jorge was recognized as Goodyear’s 2008 Highway Hero Award recipient.

Unfortunately, the insurer of the SUV has been slow in settling Jorge’s claim, so he had been off the road and out of work since last October.

Recently, OOIDA went to work finding a used 2005 Freightliner Columbia tractor and Timpte trailer to help get Jorge back on the road. Goodyear provided 18 new tires and some reconditioned wheels to get the truck ready for the road. All that remained was finding $1,400.00 for Jorge’s insurance down-payment before he could get back to work.

TWNA’s board was approached to assist with a grant to help with the insurance down-payment. The board agreed to fund half of the amount, and to put its directors to work contacting member companies to raise the remaining half.

TWNA member companies ArvinMeritor, Bendix, Caterpillar, Eaton, SAF-Holland, SKF, and Truck-Lite quickly stepped up to match the donation from the TWNA treasury, followed shortly by the team at Shell Commercial Lubricants making a donation matching the entire grant. Thanks to the generous response of our members, the down-payment was sent to the insurance carrier within hours of the original request.

Any members wishing to make a donation of $100.00 or more toward increasing the grant can do so through TWNA. If there’s a desire to do more than helping with the grant, we’re suggesting product donations, fuel/gift cards, logowear, or similar in-kind donations.

The cash donations are to be made through TWNA, and can be paid by check or by Visa/Mastercard at http://store.twna.org/ in the “General Sponsorships” section. Product donations should be shipped to the attention of Jami Jones at Land Line Magazine. The product donations and additional funds will be presented to Jorge after the 4th of July holiday, so if you’d like to participate, please join this important effort as soon as possible.

TWNA Internship Program Reset For 2010
Despite efforts by the TWNA board to get the long-awaited internship program launched in time for the 2009 summer session, the program’s deployment proved to be too late to garner any applicants for this session. Although this represents a setback from reaching our goal, it does provide us with the opportunity to get more member companies involved as potential intern hosts.

Member companies wishing to participate in the internship program need to submit an application including a description of their company, the intern’s duties, and contact information for the internship offices at the colleges/universities nearest the prospective host company, by no later than October 1, 2009. Prospective interns will need to complete their applications by no later than March 1, 2010. After reviewing the applications at the 2010 Mid America Trucking Show, the board will select the winner of a paid internship for the summer 2010 term. Forms and program details will be posted to http://twna.org/scholar.htm shortly.

2009 Communication Awards Program – Entry Forms Available Online
Entry forms for the 2009 Comm Awards are now available for download from http://www.twna.org/entryforms2009.pdf on the web. Work created for use/distribution between June 1, 2008 and May 31, 2009 is eligible for entry. Press entries for print, radio, web, online, design entries, public relations and marketing entries are all eligible for entry. Full details are available on the entry forms.

Please note that there are a few minor changes in the entry process this year. Entries are to be shipped to TWNA HQ, rather than ISVP in Tucson, although checks for entry fee should still be made payable to ISVP. Duplicate physical hard-copies of the entry are no longer required, but a single tear copy and a digital file copy of the entry are required. Again, full details are included on the entry form.

TWNA Board Sets Goals For Growth In Membership & Resources
As part of the annual executive/finance committee meeting in late May and the subsequent June meeting of the full board, a list of goals to guide TWNA’s efforts for the coming year was developed and reviewed by the board.

Key among the goals was the desire to address our mission of improving relations between the truck trade press and the industry’s suppliers by continuing efforts to grow our associate membership. The discussion resulted in a plan to conduct a series of informal “meet the press” mixer events at upcoming industry shows. Agency PR Director Susan Fall agreed to lead a committee to develop and organize these events.

Another goal discussed was the need to strengthen TWNA’s connection with existing B2B press members, and make efforts to attract additional B2B press members. The board’s press directors will be conducting outreach efforts with existing and prospective members.

To keep TWNA’s resources up to date, the board agreed that it was time once again to update our Press Event Guide. After the summer holidays, we will conduct an online survey to identify current preferences and best practices for press events. In addition to posting the completed guide on the website, we will consider producing printed copies to use in our associate member outreach efforts.

To expand TWNA’s information resources, the board decided to create a new guide specific to preferences and best practices for writing and using press releases. In addition to posting this guide on the website, we may also consider offering the information through a webinar series.

Social Networking and the Trucking Press
By Tim Brady, Northeast Press Director
Do you Tweet? How about blogging? Do you post in forums? Or do you just read to see what’s being posted by Tweeters, Bloggers, or social networkers?  We are becoming a social networking society, and the trucking industry, er… I should say, community, is not immune from this newest online activity.  In fact, a MinOnline.com article by Courtney Barnes posted on May 19, 2009 says, “If you are still looking for a reason to join Twitter, then you’ve already missed the boat.”

But why would a journalist want to be a part of Twitter or a forum discussion? The answer lies in information, and that’s what we’re all about, digging in and getting the information on a specific topic of concern to our readers or listeners. Our job is to get the whole story, whether it’s about a new product or service, the latest regulation coming down from the FMCSA, or why fuel has suddenly skyrocketed to unthought-of heights. It’s getting the facts and the reactions from those implementing or impacted by the facts. The more sources for the information, the better the story, right? Well, not exactly. As we check out the forums and the tweets on a particular topic, the information is all over the map.

Just like the old CB, with the online forums and tweets it’s easy for a situation like this to develop: “I read on the truckerbob forum that sammydispatcher said he read a post by CountryGirl that Pete the VP left XYZ company because he knew the CEO’s cousin was driving without a valid CDL.”  Then it turns into “The CEO of XYZ Company was driving company trucks without a CDL.” This necessarily takes lot of fact checking to track down the truth, but without any names of the posting individuals, it’s not a very reliable source. But if the information is about the difficulty truckers are having with a new HOS rule, higher fuel prices, or what they think of the newest truck to hit the market, these opinions can be useful in assembling a story.

Tweeting, posting, and reading these social networks can be an excellent source of valuable information. Only reading is termed ‘lurking’ online, and someone who lurks is a member of a forum, but doesn’t post or participate in any online discussions. Lurking is not a bad thing, and it is a great way to see the pulse of the industry. It lets us know what certain groups in the industry are thinking on specific topics. It’s not the individual post, but the entire thread of comments that seems to provide the greatest information.

However, a word of caution is needed with regard to posting or commenting. Social networks can be filled with career-ending landmines. It all depends on how you approach your participation in these communities. Since most of us are public figures with recognizable names or writing styles, we should practice vigilance as we enter any forum.

Even though you post with a “Screen Name” which is not remotely close to your legal name, the forum’s owner still knows your IP address (that series of numbers unique to the computer from which you login to the site). This means you’re just one step away from being revealed to others on the forum. (Personally, I use my real name in any forum I’m involved with, because it will make me think twice before posting any comments on the site.)

There are a lot of what we call ‘CB Rambos’ (individuals who anonymously stir up trouble over the CB radio) on these forums who would like nothing better than to get you so riled you post something really stupid, or worse, damaging your reputation. You may be able to delete your comment, but the person who hit ‘Reply’ just put your comment in his post, which can’t be deleted. This means your comment can come back and haunt you over and over again. And since the internet is viral, your comments can show up in places on the net or in print where they can cause far more damage than in the original forum on which they were posted.

I think this is best summed up by the online rules recently posted by the Wall Street Journal for their journalists, columnists and editors. Excerpted from an Editor & Publisher article by Joe Strupp, those rules are posted below.

The use of social and business networking sites by reporters and editors of the Journal, Newswires and MarketWatch is becoming more commonplace. These ground rules should guide all news employees’ actions online, whether on Dow Jones sites or in social-networking, e-mail, personal blogs, or other sites outside Dow Jones.

* Never misrepresent yourself using a false name when you’re acting on behalf of your Dow Jones publication or service. When soliciting information from readers and interview subjects you must identify yourself as a reporter for the Journal, Newswires or MarketWatch and be tonally neutral in your questions.

* Base all comments posted in your role as a Dow Jones employee in the facts, drawing from and citing your reporting when appropriate. Sharing your personal opinions, as well as expressing partisan political views, whether on Dow Jones sites or on the larger Web, could open us to criticism that we have biases and could make a reporter ineligible to cover topics in the future for Dow Jones.

* Don’t recruit friends or family to promote or defend your work.

* Consult your editor before “connecting” to or “friending” any reporting contacts who may need to be treated as confidential sources. Openly “friending” sources is akin to publicly publishing your Rolodex.

* Let our coverage speak for itself, and don’t detail how an article was reported, written or edited.

* Don’t discuss articles that haven’t been published, meetings you’ve attended or plan to attend with staff or sources, or interviews that you’ve conducted.

* Don’t disparage the work of colleagues or competitors or aggressively promote your coverage.

* Don’t engage in any impolite dialogue with those who may challenge your work — no matter how rude or provocative they may seem.

* Avoid giving highly-tailored, specific advice to any individual on Dow Jones sites. Phrases such as “Travel agents are saying the best deals are X and Y…” are acceptable while counseling a reader “You should choose X…” is not. Giving generalized advice is the best approach.

* All postings on Dow Jones sites that may be controversial or that deal with sensitive subjects need to be cleared with your editor before posting.

* Business and pleasure should not be mixed on services like Twitter. Common sense should prevail, but if you are in doubt about the appropriateness of a Tweet or posting, discuss it with your editor before sending.

I’m sure there will be some interesting discussions within our trucking journalism community about these rules, but I think it behooves us to consider them as we enter into this new media age. Editors, publishers, and journalists are faced with instant publishing by just a click of a mouse without the concurrent ability of instant delete. Once posted, it’s forever. It reminds me of a rule I was once taught in carpentry, “Measure twice, cut once.” In this new media of Twitter, forums and social networking where one click, and it’s out there for the world to see, make that, “Read twice, click once.”

TWNA.ORG Member Area Grand Opening
At long last, and just in time for annual membership renewals, the member area on the TWNA website is now up and running. To use the member area, you must first fill in and submit the online registration form. After your member area account has been approved, a password will be e-mailed to you. Once you are logged in, you may change your password to one of your own choice, and update your member data as needed. Going forward, we will use the database provided by this system to update the printed directory each year, so please make sure to update your profile any time your contact information changes.

In addition to basic contact information, each member may upload as many as three photos (500 KB, 300 x 300 pixels max – each photo) to include on their profile page. If your photo is too large and you don’t have access to somebody with photo editing software, e-mail your photo to TWNA HQ and we will reformat one mugshot per member at no cost.

Between the online member area for your contact/listing information, and the TWNA Store pages to pay your dues, the entire renewal (and joining) process can now be completed online. As a reminder, the billing address used in the TWNA Store must, repeat MUST, match the statement address of the credit card being used. Of the few difficulties members have encountered thus far in the TWNA Store, virtually all are attributable to this simple error. To ensure security, the TWNA Store checkout process is a 128-bit encrypted secure system, entirely separate from the member area, so any information entered in the store’s forms will not be accessible through the member area.

In the next week, each member will receive a renewal reminder e-mail, which will contain all the links listed here. The new membership year begins June 1st, 2009, so please complete the renewal process as soon as possible. If you must pay by check, or if you need an invoice, please notify us of that via e-mail.

Again, kudos are due to our website sponsors: ArvinMeritor, Bendix, Roadranger, Peterbilt, and The Deadline Factory, for making these services possible.

Awards Banquet
In spite of the tremendous impact of the currently faltering economy, a tremendous group of sponsors came though for us once again, to make the 2009 TWNA Industry Awards Banquet a great success. In addition to the presentation of the 2008 Communication Awards, the banquet served as the official commemoration of TWNA’s 20th Anniversary.

One of TWNA’s founding members, Tom Berg, was honored with the TWNA Lifetime Achievement Award (see item below). The banquet also hosted the presentation of Goodyear’s annual Highway Hero Award.

Thanks to our Gold Sponsors, ArvinMeritor, Goodyear, Shell Rotella, and Truck-Lite, and our Silver Sponsors, Daimler Trucks North America, Bendix, Great Dane, and HDMA, for making the banquet possible.

Internship Update
Land Line Now will host the first Truck Writers of North America intern this summer. The TWNA Board, along with the Legal and HR departments at OOIDA, are in the process of finalizing the paperwork to submit to colleges and universities in the Kansas City metro area.

The board voted some time ago to fund an internship for journalism students interested in the specialty niche of trucking journalism. The program will fund a 10-12 week internship – depending on the college’s or university’s requirements and summer schedule.

Applicants must submit an essay on a trucking related subject. The applications and essays will be reviewed by the host company and the TWNA Board.

Once the applicant is selected, he or she will be announced in a future issue of The Dispatch. The Board would like to encourage TWNA members to reach out to the intern to welcome them and offer any assistance the intern may need through the course of the summer.

Watch upcoming issues for the announcement of the internship recipient.

Calling All Contributions
In planning TWNA’s 20th Anniversary celebration, it became increasingly apparent that having some sort of formal archive system is necessary.

Many of you have photos and memorabilia from previous meetings and events that would be useful in planning future anniversary celebrations, recruiting new members and for the occasional roasts of long-time members. However, rounding them up “on-demand” proved to be a daunting task.

Now, thanks to the generous contribution of time and expertise by Shirley Sponholtz with Old Time Trucks, TWNA will maintain a central archive of various photos and other memorabilia. One of the key benefits of maintaining an ongoing repository is that members will be able to submit materials as they are “found” in the course of cleaning out or relocating files, rather than keeping track and waiting till the next event.

If you have anything you would like to contribute to the archive, please contact Shirley Sponholtz. If you have photos that are not in digital format and do not have access to scanning capability, Shirley has offered to scan in the prints/slides (and return them if requested). As soon as we have a chance to formalize the submission process, we’ll post an update in the Dispatch, and post details on the website. If you have any questions or suggestions, please contact TWNA HQ.

Berg’s Blitherings: More Thanks Are Due
There are many things I failed to say in my bumbling remarks as I accepted TWNA’s Lifetime Achievement Award during our annual meeting at the Louisville truck show. Like a stereotypical Oscar winner, I should’ve started by thanking my parents, because I inherited my writing abilities from them (my dad was a journalist and my mom often said that lack of educational opportunities for women in the early 1920s kept her from being a journalist, so she married one). They also taught me basic values and love of family, and they managed to feed and clothe me and my six brothers and sisters.

My parents sent us all to Catholic schools, and I must thank the nuns because most of them were dedicated to teaching and to God. I could’ve thanked many of my professors at Marquette University, where I got some good journalistic instruction (but could’ve done without all the philosophy and theology). And I should’ve thanked most of my bosses over the years, in the U.S. Army and civilian life, because they put up with my big mouth, endured my habit of pushing a deadline and taught me to attend to details and write concisely.

Like some of you, I have survived as a freelancer, and being able to report and write is what kept my wife and me fed and housed for a dozen years. I still appreciate the clients who sent business my way in those years, just as I am now grateful to have a good job with Newport Communications. When I was young I didn’t always feel that way. For brevity’s sake I’m leaving out names, but most of them they know who they are because as I got older and wiser I thanked them.

TWNA’s directors might or might not have been correct in choosing me for the award, but I thank them for their kindness. As is the custom with this award, they tried to keep it a secret. I got a few unintended hints that made me suspect it was coming, but never assumed anything because that would’ve been vain.

By the time Mike Pennington began the award presentation, and Steve Sturgess joined him on the podium, I knew something was up. Yet I am embarrassed when praised publicly, so in my head I began actively denying it. I thought maybe Steve was getting the award (“Oh, that’s good – he deserves it”), and then when Mike turned things over to Steve and he said, “My good friend Tom Berg…” I got frantic. (“No, no, not me. Pick somebody else!” )

In spite of my red face and verbal stumbling during the presentation, I was deeply pleased to be named. The crystal tractor-trailer that comes with the award is now on the mantel in our house, and I enjoy looking at it and reflecting on what led to it. Like many of you, I’ve gotten other writing awards over the years, but the commemorative plaques are packed away somewhere. However, that trophy will be in plain view for many years. Thanks, also, to you, for it’s TWNA members who support this award, and many of you have been generous with your congratulations.

Now, if you’ll excuse me, I’m behind with some articles and I gotta get crankin’. – Tom Berg

A Reason To Celebrate
TWNA’s annual Industry Awards Banquet is a bit more special this year – it will celebrate the 20th Anniversary of the group’s founding. In addition to presenting the 2008 Communication Awards and honoring the newest Lifetime Achievement Award recipient, it will also be a time to reflect on the success TWNA has enjoyed.

Be sure to join us for the celebration by reserving your seat at the banquet now. The banquet will take place on Thursday evening, March 19th, 2009 – Note Corrected Date, at the Kentucky Fair & Expo Center in Louisville (exact time TBD). Tickets are US$40.00 each, or US$300.00 for a table of eight. Unfortunately, due to the tight budgets everywhere this year, we’re not able to “throw in” the complimentary Press Dues renewal with each ticket. Tickets can be purchased through TWNA’s online store, or by contacting TWNA HQ.

Inaugural PineTruck Charity Challenge Postponed
Due to the current economic conditions and the resulting budget cuts at many of our member companies, the TWNA Board has decided to postpone the inaugural running of the PineTruck Charity Challenge, originally scheduled for Friday afternoon at MATS.

However, to recognize the efforts of those who have already invested time, effort and funds developing a truck for this event, we will have display space available for the existing trucks at the Industry Awards Banquet on Thursday evening, and at the TWNA Meeting on Friday afternoon. Come check out the trucks and the Challenge details so you can start building your own truck for a future race.

We Need Your Archives For TWNA’s 20th Anniversary!
TWNA is gearing up for the celebration of its 20th anniversary next year at the Mid-America Trucking Show. If you have any pictures, film or other documents that highlight the last 20 years of trucking in general and/or TWNA’s activities in particular, please get in touch with 20th anniversary committee chairperson Jami Jones via e-mail.

Detroit Diesel Honored With Technical Achievement Award
TWNA recently recognized the turbo compounding feature incorporated into the new Detroit Diesel DD15 engine as the top Technical Achievement for 2008. The presentation took place at the annual Technology & Maintenance Council (TMC) meeting in Orlando, Florida.

The Technical Achievement Award trophy itself was presented to Chuck Blake, Manager of Senior Technical Sales Support for Detroit Diesel, by Paul Abelson (Road King & Land Line) and Tom Berg (Heavy Duty Trucking), both members of the Award Committee along with John Baxter (Randall-Reilly Publishing), Peter Carter (Today’s Trucking), and James Menzies (Truck News).

According to committee chairman James Menzies, “The committee was impressed by the DD15’s use of turbo compounding, which captures previously-wasted energy and converts it into productive power, improving fuel efficiency and performance. With diesel prices reaching unprecedented heights in 2008, we felt it was a technological advancement worthy of the award.”

To read more about the award, click here.

Save The Date
Scheduling trips around the country and keeping the right staff at the right events is challenging for any editor. When conflicting events crop up, for some publications it can be a challenge that has no real solution.

TWNA hosts the Industry Events Clearinghouse calendar to assist companies and agencies in planning events throughout the year in an effort to avoid conflicts. In competitive markets it may be intimidating to release information about planned events, but by simply blocking off dates with the TWNA Clearinghouse and avoiding conflict with another event, it’s just a smart move to get more bang out of your PR buck.

Information about your event is neither published nor disclosed, the Clearinghouse merely advises those making inquiries whether a date has already been scheduled for another event.

Let us help. If you are planning an event, please contact TWNA’s Shirley Sponholtz or James Menzies who currently manage the Clearinghouse.

Chariman’s Corner
This year at lot of us will miss some very familiar faces at the Mid-America Trucking Show. Mostly because it’s been one heck of a year. The economy has a lot of folks feeling like they’ve been nine rounds with Mike Tyson.

That is why I am looking forward to the chance to be around the people who understand – our readers and my colleagues. In day-to-day life, the struggles and challenges faced by the trucking industry are routinely dismissed by those looking in from the outside.

We know this industry and the people who make it great. And, it’s going to be very refreshing to be around the folks who – despite missing a few proverbial teeth from the smack down they may be taking – know that the final bell on this economic beating will ring and better days are coming.

I see Mid-America as a time to celebrate the fact that no matter what, better days are coming and trucking will lead the way. And, it will be extra special to do it with the fighters who will make that happen.

See you at MATS,

Jami

Happy Birthday!
Be it a little belated, but the Truck Writers of North America turned 20 in November 2008.

A group of trucking journalists realized the need for a group to promote quality trucking journalism. Through the efforts of the organization, it was their hope to continually improve relationships between the truck trade press and manufacturers and suppliers.

Today, we have more than 140 members representing a wide variety of trucking journalists and public relations professionals. Together we celebrate the uniqueness of an industry that few outside of it even begin to comprehend, much less serve it with the professionalism fostered by TWNA.

The TWNA annual banquet at the 2009 Mid-America Trucking Show will celebrate the association’s first 20 years and look forward to many more.

This is a great time to think about your co-workers and colleagues who have asked what TWNA is all about. As we look back over 20 years and celebrate the accomplishments of the group, encourage them to read the Dispatch, call their representative on the TWNA Board of Directors – invite them to join and come to the banquet.

Let’s kick off the next 20 years right, by building on what a small group of journalists thought would be a great idea. Because it was.

Brush up on your PineTruck “trash talk”
It’s a no-holds barred competition. The best and brightest of equipment engineers (with wind tunnel testing allowed) will compete in the inaugural TWNA PineTruck Challenge at the Mid-America Trucking Show.

This is not a competition limited by pesky rules prohibiting parental involvement or over-the-top use of technology. Equipment manufacturers, journalists and anyone else with PineTruck game are invited to compete.

The original format for the PineTruck Challenge had called for a $500.00 per truck entry fee, with all entry fees going to the winning truck’s selected charity. However, given the current economic situation in the industry, we’re considering the possibility of eliminating the entry fee and just running the race for fun and bragging rights this time around. Please let us know what you think about this change, and pass along any suggestions you wish to offer.

Visit www.twna.org/pinetruck.htm for more information on entering and the rules, such as they are.

Technical Achievement Award
The members of TWNA’s Technical Achievement Award Committee have selected the new products to be named “Best of 2008.”  The Technical Achievement Award will be handed out to the recipient at the TMC, followed by another presentation at the Mid-America Trucking Show. Last year, the big winner was Michelin’s Durable Technologies.

While complete vehicles are not eligible, components are. To be eligible, a product or service has to clearly exhibit technical innovation, have a wide applicability in the trucking industry, offer significant benefits and be widely available (for the first time during the award year).

We Need Your Archives For TWNA’s 20th Anniversary!
TWNA is gearing up for the celebration of its 20th anniversary next year at the Mid-America Trucking Show. If you have any pictures, film or other documents that highlight the last 20 years of trucking in general and/or TWNA’s activities in particular, please get in touch with 20th anniversary committee chairperson Jami Jones via e-mail.

In Memory
TWNA extends its condolences to the families of TWNA members Bette Garber and Dave Wilkins, who both recently passed away. We also express our deepest sympathies to TWNA member David Sweetman on the death of his wife Laurie and to Doug Condra, on the death of his wife Hilda.

Chairman’s Corner
Here it is, finally. 2009. But, I almost feel obligated to reflect on the past year.

Then again, I’d rather not.

There’s not a lot to look back on and smile. The economy went down the proverbial toilet and took a lot of truckers with it. While the brain trusts had to wait until almost year’s end to call it a full-blown recession, we knew it months before.

Scandal on Wall Street. Mortgage meltdown. Bailout blunders. Consumer confidence hits record low. Unemployment the highest it’s been in years – the list goes on and on.

But, enough. I can’t take any more of even trying to hit the “low” high points.

No matter what all happened, here we are at year’s end a little battered, beaten and bloody.

A new year brings hope and new opportunities to “do things right.”

So, here’s wishing you a 2009 filled with opportunity and success – and let’s put 2008 in the rearview and never look back.

Jami Jones
Board Chairman, West Regional Director

Welcome To The TWNA Board

The newest press members to the TWNA Board attended their first teleconference board meeting in late October. Joining the TWNA Board are Lyndon Finney of The Trucker and James Menzies of Truck News.

Both new board members ran unopposed, filling seats vacated by the retirement of two sitting board members. Finney represents a newly expanded Southeast Region and is replacing Avery Vise of Randall-Reilly Publishing. Menzies represents the Canada/Europe region and is replacing Eric Berard of Berard Communications.

Below is the region map of the redrawn regions for the U.S. press directors approved at a previous meeting.

The red region represents the West region and is represented by Jami Jones. The blue region is the Midwest region and is represented by Paul Abelson. The Yellow region is the Southeast region now represented by Finney and the green region is the Northeast region represented by Tim Brady. Menzies represents all of Canada and Europe.

Elections for Associate Director positions were not held in 2008. All Associate Directors and the groups they represent remain the same.

Scholarship Program Nearing Launch

Applications will soon be sought from college students to work internships with TWNA member businesses.

Rather than award a scholarship per se, the board voted to fund the internships. Internship applications will be solicited from students attending colleges and universities near the host business’ location. As part of the application process, the student will have to submit a report on a trucking related subject area.

Applications will be accepted through the winter with the intern selected in the spring by the TWNA board. Host companies will provide meaningful work experience for the intern during the summer.

A call for applications and announcement of the host companies will be coming soon.

Technical Achievement Award: Judging Begins

The members of TWNA’s Technical Achievement Award Committee will soon be studying the new products nominated by members to be named “Best of 2008.” A short list is in preparation and it’s time to nominate any deserving product.

The Technical Achievement Award will be handed out to the recipient at the TMC, followed by another presentation at the Mid-America Trucking Show. Last year, the big winner was Michelin’s Durable Technologies.

While complete vehicles are not eligible, components are. To be eligible, a product or service has to clearly exhibit technical innovation, have a wide applicability in the trucking industry, offer significant benefits and be widely available (for the first time during the award year).

If you would like to nominate a product for consideration, please contact TWNA HQ before December 1st, 2008.

We Need Your Archives For TWNA’s 20th Anniversary!

TWNA is gearing up for the celebration of its 20th anniversary next year at the Mid-America Trucking Show. If you have any pictures, film or other documents that highlight the past 20 years of trucking in general and/or TWNA’s activities in particular, please get in touch with 20th anniversary committee chairperson Jami Jones via e-mail.

Chairman’s Corner

OK, so I’m not the chairman (my French is nonexistent for starters) but since I put together the Dispatch this time for Eric, I figured I’d hijack his column while I’m at it.

This has been one crazy year and not a one of us in the industry has been spared of feeling the pinch, pressure and pain of the truckers, companies and suppliers. In fact, looking back, it’s hard to find bright spots.

But, that’s what we do this time of year is find reasons to be thankful. So, rather than get all sappy, I thought I’d share the top five things I’m most thankful for:

1. Duct tape bandages. (Are those not the COOLEST things you’ve seen in a while?)
2. All of our TWNA entries being in already. (Man, that’s always a challenge.)
3. The election being over (Now, Paul Abelson can quit e-mailing me political propaganda.)
4. Louisville being right around the corner.
5. David Kolman buying a new joke book this year. (Stay tuned for his new picks for the TWNA banquet.)

In all seriousness, it’s been a rough year for the economy and the trucking industry alike. We have members who are battling serious health issues. Others have faced personal and professional hardships.

While we may feel a little battered and bruised here at the holidays, I want to encourage everyone to take a few minutes and give thanks that 2008 is almost behind us and find a reason to smile.

Happy Thanksgiving.

Jami Jones
Secretary, West Region Director

Kolman’s Korner
Transportation Trivia Challenge

Answers to last issue’s questions.

By David A. Kolman, Associate Director

1. How many 9-1-1 calls are received nationwide each day?

More than 550,000.

2. How many trucks participated in the 2006 World’s Largest Truck Convoy?

More than 1,800 trucks, raising more than $544,000 for Special Olympics Programs.

3. What percent of communities receive their goods exclusively by truck?

About 80 percent of communities receive their goods exclusively by truck.

4. In what year did Hendrickson invent its first tandem walking-beam suspension?

1926.

5. When did International begin to phase out its Emeryville cabover and introduce the CO-4000 Series cabover?

1965.

6. Name the top three tank truck carriers in 2007.

In order: Quality Distribution, Trimac, Kenan Advantage.

7. Last year, the Wisconsin DOT used how many tons of road deicers?

405,000 tons of road deicers.

8 Which carries more people: carpool lanes or regular lanes of traffic?

Carpool lanes carry far more people than regular traffic lanes because they require that more people be carried per car. It appears that the carpool lane is used less because there are fewer vehicles on them.

9. In what year did Eaton Corporation sell its worldwide Axle and Brake business to Dana Corporation? Bonus question: What was the selling price?

1998 for $287 million.

10. When did GEICO insurance create its Gecko?

1999.

# # #