THE
TWNA DISPATCH December
2001
Published
by the Truck Writers of North America
[Any
opinions expressed herein are strictly those of individual writers.]
TWNA members:
Are your addresses (including your e-mail address), phone numbers
and other information as listed on the TWNA membership roster up
to date? Check 'em out by contacting Avery
Vise! Thanks to diligent efforts by Carol Birkland, Tom Kelley and Avery Vise, the e-mail distribution list for the Dispatch is completely updated. Please help us keep it that way!
________________________________________________________________
Next Issue Due Out 1/25/02 - Deadline
For Materials 1/15/02!
President's
Message Are You Ready for the TWNA Tech Award 2001?
It's time, folks. The
2001 TWNA Technical Achievement Award needs your involvement.
More specifically, we need your nominations. Please.
Any TWNA member, not
just the journalists, can nominate without restrictions of any
kind a product or service introduced in 2001. Only journalist
members, however, can
serve on the selection committee (which is still accepting members
-- see below).
The process will be
managed as in the past: nominations flow to the committee chairman
who will draw up a list of the five top nomination-getters. Selection
committee members will then choose their favorite top three from
amongst those five. A clear winner usually emerges from that second
shortlist.
To remind you, the
nomination rules are simple:
Nominated
products or services must show leadership and innovation and
be technologically special in some way;
They must
have a fairly broad application within the trucking industry;
They must
have become commercially available in reasonably large quantities
during calendar-year 2001 (being introduced in '01 is not enough);
Whole
trucks are not eligible, but sub-systems are (for example, the
multiplexed wiring system in the new International medium-duty
trucks).
David Kolman took over
chairmanship of the Tech Award committee last year, but now that
he has 'gone over to the dark side', he cannot play that role
any longer. TWNA president Rolf Lockwood has agreed to take the
job back for this year (having done it for the first 10 years
of the award's existence), pending the naming of a new chairman
at this year's annual meeting in Louisville.
Send your nominations
(or your offer to serve on the selection committee) to Rolf, preferably
by e-mail, at rolf@todaystrucking.com.
You can also call him at 416-614-5825; fax him at 416-614-8861;
or write him at:
As in the past, the
winner will be presented with the TWNA award at the annual TMC
meeting in March.
Is
Your Check "In The Mail?" - It's Dues Renewal Time
The treasury is now open...for 2002 dues. Annual dues are $35
for both full and associate members, rising to $40 after MATS.
Checks should be payable to TWNA and sent, along with vital statistics
(name, company, publication, title, address, phone, fax, e-mail,
etc.), to:
TWNA,
c/o Avery Vise, Treasurer,
134 Kentwood Way
Alabaster, AL 35007
Also, please note whether
or not you have a TWNA pin. Copies of the Application
Form or Renewal Invoice are available
on the website.
TWNA Member Publications Among Recipients
of 2001 International Automotive Media Awards
Several articles and design entries
from Road King and Landline magazines were among the recipients
of the 2001 International Automotive Media Awards presented recently
at the MINI-USA IAMC Awards in Las Vegas, Nevada. The International
Automotive Media Conference and Awards (IAMC), a function of the
International Society for Vehicle Preservation, is a program of
meetings and awards the purpose of which is to recognize and encourage
excellence in all forms of automotive media.
Judging is by peers,
to a standard; entries may earn up to 100 points. IAMA (International
Automotive Media Awards) Bronze (85-91), silver (92-96) and gold
(97-100) medallions are presented for those works so qualified;
from among the highest-point gold awards are chosen the Best of
Divisions and Best of Conference. IAMC thanks its sponsors, Meguiar's,
Inc., MINI-USA and SEMA; and its supporters, Advanstar MVG, AZTEX
Corp., and zMAX, for helping make the program possible. For more
information visit
on the web, or contact: Elaine Jordan at 520-622-2201.
TWNA Member Recipients of IAMA
Gold, Silver
and Bronze Medallions of Excellence for 2001
Magazine Writing
Features
, in Road King, Silver to Bill Hudgins
, in Road King, Gold to Cindy Hazen and Mike Freeman
, in Road King, Gold to Kathleen Hatt
Column: regularly published piece , in Road King, Silver to Tom Berg
Collector Vehicle(s) , by Bill Hudgins, in Road King, Bronze to Bill Hudgins
Travel , in Road King, Silver to Andy Turnbull
Technical , Part 1, in LandLine Magazine, Silver to Paul Abelson
, in Road King, Silver to Ken Scharnberg
Introduction of New Model(s) , in Road King, Gold to Tom Berg
Environmental/regulatory , in Road King, Bronze to Michael Perry
Road Test , in Road King, Silver to Paul Abelson
Magazine Graphics
Cover , Road King, Bronze to Michael Nott
Cover Art , Road King, Gold to Bob Schatz
Layout, Design Article , in Road King, Silver to Road King
, in Road King, Silver to Michael Nott
TWNA.ORG
Update
Our early attempt at getting the TWNA discussion board moving
was apparently foiled by the inadvertent setting of an extra level
of password security. That has now been fixed, so anybody wishing
to post a topic or reply should only need to register for the
website's discussion board. The board can be accessed through
a link in the "What's New" section of the home page.
At the risk of repeating
myself, we are STILL lacking website link information from the
majority of our members. If you'd like your site to be linked
from twna.org, visit the links page to see some examples of other
members' site descriptions and then compose a similar paragraph
for your site. Save the description as a text-only
file and send it in using the e-mail link provided on the top
of the links page.
Over the past few weeks,
I've begun to investigate the options for automating various website
functions such as membership (data) management, content management
and newsletter distribution. Thanks to the recently-deceased internet
boom, there are literally thousands of available products out
there. Unfortunately, with prices ranging from $50 to $500,000,
it's taking me a little while to sort the wheat from the chaff.
I do believe that, within our website budget, we can find the
product(s) we need to bring a little more interactivity and functionality
to the site, I just hope I don't go blind searching through all
of the software vendors' sites looking for good information. If
anybody has any suggestions for potential vendors, please feel
free to send
them along.
MATS
Agenda
With the next TWNA meeting looming on the horizon, time is running
short to get items on the meeting agenda. If you have an issue,
topic or concern you wish to have voiced, please forward it to
TWNA secretary, Carol Birkland cbirkland@truklink.com.
She will pass them along to the president and the other board
members for consideration.
Our next meeting is
scheduled to be held in conjunction with the Mid-America Truck
Show on Thursday, March 21 from 3:00 to 4:00, Room# TBA. Please
send your ideas ASAP so we will have ample time to process requests
and to publish an agenda prior to the meeting.
Deb
Lockridge Reports On Mass-Media Trucking Coverage
Here's a list of the stories I've responded to recently:
Ernest
Hooper for a nice column in the about husband-and-wife trucking team .
Steven
Overbeck with the Salt Lake
Tribune for a thoughtful article on today's changing truckstops.
Jim Bohman
with the Dayton Daily News for a good look at how trucking is
faring in the down economy, focusing on LTL regional carrier
Dayton Freight Lines.
Larry Budd
with the Dayton Daily News for an eye-opening ride along with
an M.S. Carriers driver from Laredo to Canada to illustrate
"NAFTA's Effects on the American Road."
Member
News - Mike Russell Promoted
William Canary, President of the ATA, recently named TWNA member
Michael Russell to the position of Vice President for Public Affairs
and Press Secretary. Russell, a 30-year veteran in transportation-related
press and public affairs, had been ATA's Director of Media Relations.
In his new position, he will be responsible for news policy, media
relations, and serve as spokesperson for ATA, the nation's largest
trucking industry trade and advocacy group.
"Mike Russell
has worked hard to promote fairness and perspective in news coverage
of the trucking industry and to advance the public image programs
supported by our ATA-member motor carriers and their professional
truck drivers", said Canary. "We expect he and his team
to continue to aggressively highlight the trucking industry's
safety record, our major role in the U.S. economy, our environmental
efforts, and to develop strategic communications plans for ATA
and trucking industry issues."
Russell came to ATA
in 1999 after a variety of political-public affairs slots with
the Clinton-Gore administration, most recently as Director of
Public and Consumer Affairs for the National Highway Traffic Safety
Administration (NHTSA). He also served with Vice President Al
Gore's National Performance Review (NPR) and in the Office of
the Surgeon General. Previously, he held public affairs positions
in both the U.S. House and Senate.
Russell and his wife,
Rita, reside in Sterling, VA. Their daughter, Michele, is a paralegal
for a Baltimore, MD law firm.
RJ
Taylor Reports Successful Funding Of 2002 Season For Ol' Blue,
USA
Even though charitable contributions to many non-profit organizations
have fallen greatly due to recent events, Ol' Blue, USA is pleased
to announce that all of its sponsors have recommitted their sponsorship
for the 2002 season without decreasing their funding for the Safety
Programs. Key sponsors include: Shell Rotella-T, Michelin North
America, Alcoa Wheel Products, Webb Wheel Products, Mid-America
Trucking Show, International Trucking Show, and The Great American
Trucking Show.
The 2002 Safety Tour
is preparing to be as active as it has been over the past years.
The first visit will be to the Mid-America Trucking Show in Louisville
Kentucky March 21-23, 2002 (booth 200 - East Wing). Ol' Blue,
USA looks forward to another successful year of safety and invites
interested parites to view their 2001 year end report at
located under "About Us."
A
Few Words About E-Mail Practices
Although it may not be as automated as we'd like it to be, the
TWNA membership roster is available to any current member at no
charge. However, this benefit is not without some restrictions
and responsibilities.
First, the list data
should not be provided to non-members. Our annual membership fee
of $35 is a bargain compared to the fees charged for other targeted
mailing lists.
Second, members should
only use the list for legitimate media communications such as
press releases, media alerts, address change announcements, or
similar purposes. Please use good judgement.
Third, members using
the list should endeavor to edit the list down to include only
those who are likely to have an interest in receiving the material.
One could safely assume that not many PR people have an interest
in receiving another company's press releases via e-mail.
Fourth, if you're going
to use the list for e-mailing anything to more than a few members
simultaneously, we ask that you use the "BCC:" mode
for addressing the e-mail. This prevents the entire list from
being displayed in each e-mail, similar to the method we use for
distributing the Dispatch.
Finally, if you've
found it absolutely necessary to import the member list into an
MS Outlook Address Book, it is mandatory, repeat - MANDATORY,
that you download and install all Outlook software patches to
your system on a regular basis. The few virus outbreaks that have
made it through our group as a result of Outlook security flaws
have cost many members considerable time, money and heartache.
By this time, anybody who is computer-savvy enough to be using
member databases and address books has absolutely no excuse for
passing along a virus. Patch your MS Outlook today, and for the
millionth time, don't open unknown attachments!
On
The Lighter Side
The Washington Post publishes a yearly contest in which readers
are asked to supply alternate meanings for various words. The
following were some of this year's winning entries:
1. Coffee
(n.), a person who is coughed upon.
2. Flabbergasted
(adj.), appalled over how much weight you have gained.
3. Abdicate
(v.), to give up all hope of ever having a flat stomach.
4. Esplanade
(v.), to attempt an explanation while drunk.
5. Willy-nilly
(adj.), impotent.
6. Negligent
(adj.), describes a condition in which you absentmindedly answer
the door in your nightie.
7. Lymph
(v.), to walk with a lisp.
8. Gargoyle
(n.), an olive-flavored mouthwash.
9. Flatulence
(n.), the emergency vehicle that picks you up after you are
run over by a steamroller.
10. Balderdash
(n.), a rapidly receding hairline.
11. Testicle
(n.), a humorous question on an exam.
12. Rectitude
(n.), the formal, dignified demeanor assumed by a proctologist
immediately before he examines you.
13. Oyster
(n.), a person who sprinkles his conversation with Yiddish expressions.
14. Circumvent
(n.), the opening in the front of boxer shorts.
15. Frisbeetarianism
(n.), The belief that, when you die, your soul goes up on the
roof and gets stuck there.
