New
Member Welcome
Tim Barton Joins Fleet Equipment
TWNA Strengthens Canadian Presence
Fleet Owner's Terry Nguyen Passes Away
Driver Advocacy Award Being Developed
Kolman's Korner
New Member Welcome
The Truck Writers
of North America (TWNA) continues to enhance its power of attraction
by its ability of getting together communications professionals
of all fields related to trucking, whether it’s journalists,
PR people or equipment manufacturers. In the recent weeks, more
new members have signed in, the total membership now being 158
members, the highest level since the boom years of the late
nineties.
Here are those who
make up to the latest addition to the TWNA group:
· Jennifer
Bawden - KRTS (publication)
· Mitchell Kim Richardson - KRTS (publication)
· Chris Baker - Careers in Gear (agency)
· Dan Kincaid - The Rear View Mirror (agency)
· David Warford - The Rear View Mirror (agency)
· Lenac, Warford, & Stone for Isuzu Commercial
Truck of America
· Tim Barton - Fleet Equipment
Tim Barton Joins Fleet Equipment Staff as
Senior Editor
As mentioned above,
our good friend Tim Barton, renowned for his writing as well
as his photographer’s skills, joins the staff of Fleet
Equipment magazine. Tim has over 20 years experience in the
trucking industry, working as a journalist and a driver. Recently,
he went around the world as part of a journalistic undertaking,
gathering background and material for a book sponsored by industry
suppliers. Barton brings to the job a wealth of knowledge about
truck equipment and a well-developed set of journalistic skills.
In addition to having an interest in on-road trucking and equipment,
Tim has a special interest in truck technology, human interface
with technology, and government regulations.
TWNA Strengthens Canadian Presence, Cummins
Filtration’s President Thanks Organization
While TWNA has been
present for quite a long time in Canada with its press members,
there are still a lot of room for expansion North of the border,
especially within the pool of potential associate members.
This is why TWNA
Chairman and Editor of L’Echo du transport, Eric Berard,
took the opportunity of the CAM-Logique (trucking and logistics)
trade show held recently at the Montreal Olympic Stadium to
do a presentation of TWNA, as well as doing a re-run of the
Technical Achievement Award.
During the awards
ceremony where the “Cleanest Fleet of Quebec” and
“Quebec Logistician of the Year” awards were presented,
Eric went on stage to introduce the association and tell the
1,000 + people in the audience all the advantages of becoming
a TWNA member. After that, the Technical Achievement Award was
presented to Cummins Filtration.
Although the President
of Cummins Filtration, Mrs. Pamela Carter, could not be present
in person, the show organization projected on a giant screen
Mrs. Carter’s acceptance speech that she had previously
recorded on video, exclusively for the occasion, at her Nashville,
Tennessee, head office. Eric even wore a Stetson cowboy hat
in tribute to the “City of Country” with his tuxedo
during the presentation!
Why do a Canadian
re-run of the Technical Achievement Award when it has already
been handed out in the U.S.? “Because even though this
might be a North American award that was presented to a U.S.
company, this organization (Cummins Filtration this year) has
sales and technical staff in the field in Canada as well, to
market and explain the product. We felt that these Canadian
people deserved a tap on the shoulder as well as the engineers
who developed these new user-friendly filters”, Berard
said.
As a matter of fact,
the TWNA Board of Direction liked the idea so much that it was
decided to create a new award, still to be determined, that
would have a North American status but would be handed out exclusively
in Canada, in order to stimulate even more TWNA presence and
membership there. All suggestions are welcome on what the new
“Canadian” award should be. Please send ideas to:
eberard@bomartgroup.com.
Fleet Owner Editor Terry Nguyen Dies In Accident
Terrence Nguyen,
the journalist responsible for Fleet Owner’s online news
and email newsletters, died Friday afternoon, June 1, 2007,
due to a swimming accident while on vacation in Florida. A native
of Manchester, CT, Terry was 27.
Here is what Tim
Brady, TWNA Northeast Press Director, prepared in memory of
Terry:
Terry graduated from
the University of Connecticut with a degree in journalism and
joined Fleet Owner as its web editor in 2004, his first full-time
position as a reporter and editor.
Combining intelligence
and enthusiasm with great energy, Terry quickly began filing
multiple stories every day covering all aspects of the trucking
industry. In addition to his reporting, he put together a daily
e-mail newsletter that provided a quick but thorough report
on trucking business activities and was widely read by both
fleet and supplier executives. He also created two weekly electronic
newsletters covering industry issues for drivers and information
technology executives. Late last month, Terry received word
that he had been awarded a Young Leaders Scholarship from the
American Society of Business Press Editors. The award is given
to five editors under the age of 30 whose work shows great potential
in the field of business journalism.
Tim Brady has worked
with Terry for the past three years on DriversMag.com, an online
weekly newsletter directed towards truck drivers. Tim said "Terry
has been an inspiration in helping me develop my objectivity
as a trucking journalist. His tutelage and friendship will be
greatly missed. We have just lost one of the great up and comers
in trucking journalism."
Driver Advocacy Journalism Award Being Developed
America’s truckers
lost a true friend when René Tankersley, 42, feature
editor at Land Line and former staff writer with The Trucker,
died Wednesday, June 9, 2004, after her car was involved in
a traffic accident.
Known as a tireless
advocate for truck drivers, René won several national
awards for her work at Land Line, including the magazine’s
first national gold medal in the International Automotive Media
Awards.
She kept an open,
charitable mind and possessed a shrewd sense of resource. The
combination made her a first-rate writer. Aside from her normal
feature assignments, she was beckoned by her great sensitivity
to people who were in need or disadvantaged, and so maintained
a constant backlog of projects, bent on improving someone’s
lot somewhere. She toiled with humor and determination. Her
zeal when going to bat for drivers who had been scammed by unscrupulous
businesses was extraordinary.
“I get all riled
up,” she would say. She’d often spend hours tracking
down details of fraud and researching allegations of misbehavior.
In some cases, her stories led to official investigations.
René’s
story about driver John Kendrix helped expose a sloppy investigation
of a heavily publicized wreck involving the OOIDA member, who
investigators falsely accused of using drugs and alcohol. That
story was an IAMA-winning effort.
René kept
a “Pulitzer Prize” file in her desk. A constant reminder
to meet each and every story with an attitude of excellence.
While she never won the coveted Pulitzer, her writing led to
investigations righting wrongs in the trucking industry –
a greater reward for those she helped.
The Rene Tankersley
Award will recognize writers who tackle investigative pieces
with the same tenacity, commitment, determination and quality.
Criteria for the award are in development.
Kolman’s Corner
By
TWNA Director & Former President David Kolman
The Things One
Overhears
Poor listening can
often cause problems, among them misunderstandings, lost opportunities
and troubled relationships, especially with one’s significant
other.
Good listening, on
the other hand, can pay benefits, such as improved efficiency,
reduced stress and fewer fights with one’s significant
other.
Good listening can
also be entertaining, perplexing and startling.
Some things that
I’ve overheard have made me take pen to paper (I’m
probably one of the few remaining communicators who doesn’t
have a personal digital assistant) so I could note the gems
of conversation. Here’s a sample from my collection.
- “He called
me everything but dirt.”
- “I’ll
sue you so bad you won’t have a pot or window.
- “If I close
my eyes and eat it, it still wouldn’t taste good.”
- “We have crime
in New Jersey, but we’re better organized.”
- “I plan on
living long enough to be a burden to my kids.”
- “Talking to
_______ is kind of like opening the refrigerator and talking
to the cucumbers.”
- “The day is
turning to worms.”
- “Actually
it takes one drink to get me loaded. Trouble is I can’t
remember if it’s the twelfth or eleventh.”
- “I haven’t
spoken to my mother-in-law for 14 months. I don’t like
to interrupt her.”
- “I’m
as well as can be expected.”
- “Don’t
question your wife’s judgment; look who she married.”
- “All I’ve
got to say is: ‘I ain’t got nothing to say.’”
