In This Edition:
TWNA Update - Dues Renewal & Data Update,
Member Directory, Tech Award
Member News - Marvin Gordon
It's Baaaaccckkk! - Kolman's Korner
On The Lighter Side
Next Issue Due Out 12/27/02 - Deadline
For Materials 12/18/02!
TWNA Update
Dues Renewal & Data Update - It's that time
of year again. One of the best bargains in the trucking industry
is your 2003 TWNA dues of US$35.00, due by December 31, 2002.
A late fee of US$10.00 will be added after January 1, 2003.
Along with the dues
payment, we're asking each member renewing or joining TWNA to
fill out an update form with their latest contact information,
so that we can rebuild our database. Full details regarding the
update and address for dues renewal are on the form, which can
be downloaded and printed from this
link. Please enclose the form with your renewal payment.
Member Directory
- Yet another reason to get your dues payment turned in on time
is the December 31, 2002 deadline for being included in the all-new
2003 TWNA Membership Directory. As part of your membership benefits,
your contact information will be listed in the 2003 TWNA Membership
Directory. The directory will be distributed to members, advertisers
and key industry personnel during early 2003.
To support the cost
of producing and distributing the directory, display advertising
space will be offered to truck industry manufacturers, distributors,
and associations, among others. The advertising space rates are
$400 per page or $250 per half-page. Complete details and specs
can be found at this
link. The closing date for
all ad materials will be 12/27/02, so please don't delay.
Tech Award
- As the year comes quickly to a close, it's time again to look
back on the developments that have helped to advance our industry
over the past year. The annual TWNA Technical Achievement Awardaward
is presented to a new product or service that achieves a combination
of engineering excellence and broad practicality in the trucking
industry during a given year. Vehicles are not eligible, but their
systems and components are.
In recognition of
this achievement the winner receives an inscribed crystal trophy.
The trophy has been donated by Grote Industries every year since
it won the inaugural TWNA award in 1991 for its LED marker lamp.
In selecting the winner,
the TWNA Technical Achievement Award Committee accepts nominations
submitted by the association's members. The committee then creates
a series of progressively smaller shortlists and votes on the
final three to choose the winner. The award committee is composed
of noted technical editors from a variety oftrucking industry
publications.
Heading up the award
committee for the 2002 award is Steve Sturgess of Newport's RoadStar
Magazine. Please forward your award nominations and/or inquiries
regarding participating on the jury to Steve via e-mail at: ssturgess@truckinginfo.com
Member
News - Marvin Gordon Passes Away
Used truck industry veteran Marvin Gordon died August 8 at age
77. A long-time force in the used truck industry, Gordon made
numerous and significant contributions to that marketplace.
In
recognition of his industry service, the Used Truck Association
(UTA) created an award in his honor: the Marvin F. Gordon Lifetime
Achievement Award. He was the first recipient of the award, presented
in 1999.
The award, commemorating
Gordon’s extraordinary accomplishments and recognizing recognize
his lifetime achievement in the used truck industry, is presented
annually by the UTA.
“There are two
things you can say about someone who receives an award named after
himself,” said UTA Director David A. Kolman at the time he
presented Gordon with the specially-designed cut-glass award.
“First, that person has lived a long life. And second, it’s
been a life that has distinguished itself. Marvin Gordon has done
both in enviable fashion.”
Among his many accomplishments
during his 30-plus years in the used truck industry, Gordon was
a founding father of the UTA’s original predecessor, the
Used Truck Sales Network (UTSN), and created the annual Used Truck
Seminar. “Our industry has lost a true and good friend,”
said UTA President Eddie Walker. “Marvin was a visionary
in the industry. He was committed to making a difference, not
just in the used truck industry, but in his life.”
Along with his passion
for the used truck industry, Gordon was committed to serving his
community. For more than 55 years, he was an active member of
B’Nai Brith, the Shrine, Kiwanis, Scottish Rite and Masons.
A native of Topeka,
KS, Gordon first became involved with trucks in 1969 when he sold
his commercial real estate and insurance business in his hometown
and went to work for the state’s Department of Revenue. He
directed motor carrier appraising for the agency out of Topeka.
Among his responsibilities, he oversaw taxation of motor carriers
that came through the state (approximately 2,500 carriers) and
wrote appraisal manuals for heavy equipment, trucks and cars.
Gordon joined National
Market Reports in Chicago, IL, on Sept. 17, 1973, as editor of
its valuation guidebooks. Five years later he was promoted to
associate publisher. He became publisher in 1981, vice president/general
manager in 1984 and then in 1988 was named vice president/publisher
of the company’s Blue Book (valuation guides) Division.
Gordon was instrumental
in creating the Used Truck Sales Network (UTSN), an organization
specifically for used truck professionals. Founded in 1988, the
UTSN changed its name to the National Used Truck Network (NUTA)
in 1992, and evolved into the current Used Truck Association in
November 1995.
Gordon retired from
National Market Reports on Dec. 31, 1991, and moved to Tucson,
AZ, where he founded Marvin Gordon & Associates, a consulting
firm specializing in the truck industry. For a time, he wrote
and published the Used Truck News newsletter and served as a consultant
to the National Automobile Dealers Assn. (NADA).
Gordon is survived
by his sons Charles (Barbara), James and Evan (Lori); grandchildren,
Cara, Stephanie, and Spencer. Donations may be made in Marvin
Gordon’s name to Anshei Israel Congregation, Shaol Pozez
U.S.Y. Endowment Fund, 5550 E. Fifth Street, Tucson, AZ 85711.
Kolman's Korner
By
former TWNA President David A. Kolman
How well do you know
trucking history and trivia? Test your knowledge by answering
questions devised by the reclusive truck industry chronicler,
Professor Farbish Thumbetting.
The correct answers
will appear in the next issue of the TWNA Dispatch.
1. International
Harvester was renamed Navistar International Transportation
Corporation in what year?
2. What truck manufacturer
produced America's first motorized hook-and-ladder fire truck?
3. In what year did
Cummins introduce its Signature 600 engine?
4. Name something
that both swimmers and drivers are required to stay in?
5. What national
trucking company was the first to outfit its tractors with satellite
communications?
The
Lighter Side - Investing
Let's puts things in perspective!
If you had bought
$1,000.00 worth of Nortel stock two years ago, it would now be
worth about $13.90.
With Enron, you would
have $16.50 of the original $1,000.00.
With Worldcom, you
would have less than $5.00 left.
However if you had
bought $1,000.00 worth of Budweiser (the beer, not the stock),
drank all the beer, then turned in the cans for the 10 cent deposit,
you would have $214.00.
Based on the above,
my current investment advice is to drink heavily and recycle!
