Welcome to the Truck News blog! The addition of the blog to trucknews.com not only makes the Web site more interactive, but it will also provide you with a look behind the scenes of Canada's largest trucking newspaper.

In addition to providing thought-provoking industry commentary, we will also share some of our own stories about our experiences covering the industry and a look at the lighter side of the job we do.

I am writing my first blog entry from St. Petersburg, Florida...but you wouldn't know it by the weather. I am here to cover the ATA's Technology and Maintenance Council meetings. If you've never been to TMC, it's quite a show. In fact, technical editor John G. Smith will be accompanying me on the trip to ensure we can properly cover all this show has to offer.

I must admit, I was pleased to hear the show was taking place in Florida. It is February after all, and although there's little time to relax here, the prospect of soaking up a few rays definitely appealed to me. But when the plane landed and they opened the doors a gale-force wind swept through the aircraft. I feared I had mistakenly boarded a flight to Winnipeg. It is cold and miserable outside, but alas, I'm here to work anyways.

There's a lot going on at TMC this year. Many of the industry's top suppliers are hosting press conferences over the next few days. I'm a bit surprised, considering the Mid-America Trucking Show (the industry's favourite venue to debut new products) is just around the corner. I take it as a sign of a healthy industry. Check for updates all week on www.trucknews.com to find out what's new and what's coming up down the road.

As I await the first of these press conferences, the waves are crashing against the shore outside my hotel room. The taxi driver who drove me here said not everyone is upset about the weather. "You should have brought your wet suit," he said. "Surf's up!" Maybe next time I'll check the weather report. One final note about this unseasonable weather we're experiencing here. The same gale-force winds that swept through the plane when the doors were opened made for a hairy landing. A poor kid two rows ahead of me proceeded to fill not one - but two air sickness bags on our descent. It's the first time I've seen one of those things used. I felt bad for the kid, but worse for the poor old codger who happened to be seated next to him.

Well, that's all for now. I hope you check back regularly for updates from the Truck News editorial staff. Despite the weather, this promises to be an exciting week for the industry with plenty of new product announcements expected. In addition, technical guru John G. Smith will be scribbling furiously in his notepad during the technical sessions. The April issue of Truck News and Truck West will carry a full report from him.

See ya at the next stop,
James

Permalink | Comments (1)

by Julia Kuzeljevich

It often comes up in casual conversation with friends and acquaintances, “What do you do for a living?” and when I tell people I’m a journalist, and more specifically, an editor and writer for a transportation trade publication, the response is always, with some variance,

“So do you, like, write about trucks?”

Well, I say, I do and I don’t.

I don’t profess to be an engineer, mechanic or maintenance manager, and I prefer, when researching a technical story, to consult the experts and relay the information to the readers as accurately as possible.

But I have made attempts in my career as a transportation journalist (now in my 7th year) to gain a better knowledge of trucks and how they operate.

I even took, at one point, an admittedly accelerated truck driving course. I passed the air brakes exam with flying colours, and with no surprise-it involved studying an actual book and listening to the instructor, and then responding in concise, organized sentences to exam questions.

I’m a whiz at that.

But I failed rather miserably at the driving exam.

Sure, I could drive smoothly down some of Ontario’s secondary highways while actually shifting gears in the truck without much grinding. (I credit this with having first learned to drive on a standard transmission.)

But on the actual day of the driving exam, a blustery, overcast December day, I did not succeed in backing up my trailer properly. Instant failure.

Of course I blamed it on the female examiner being extra tough on me, and later, on the fact that I was pregnant at the time and didn’t know it, a condition that surely must have affected my already-limited spatial judgement!

And technically, I had only accumulated about half the required driving hours, so I really was wasting the Ministry’s time trying to make a go of the exam.

But I was secretly relieved, because the exam taught me many things.

First of all it, that someone is doing something right by not letting me loose on small city streets to clog up traffic with my wide left-hand turns that put the cab on the curb.

It also taught me that I’m a real Girly Girl who likes uninterrupted sleep, doesn’t like doing circle checks in the frigid cold, or getting grease on my hands, and who is unwilling to part with the high heeled boots that actually would have allowed my 5’2 height to reach the pedals in those multi-tonned machines.

Sitting in the Ministry’s waiting room with some of the other candidates, however, I was ashamed of myself because so many of these guys were relying on a successful test to permit them a chance at a new career when their current ones in manufacturing and farming, to cite two examples, were coming to a premature close due to circumstances well beyond their control.

I was there because someone thought it a good idea for a trucking magazine editor to actually get in a truck for a change, and indeed, it was a good idea.

I’ve gained a whole new perspective, appreciation and respect for what drivers do, day in, day out, night in, night out.

You have a damned difficult job, and it’s time you earned some more credit for doing it.

So the next time people ask me, do I, like, write about trucks, I won’t worry about their eyes glazing over when I launch into all the varied aspects of the transportation industry.

I won’t wish I was writing an article about “10 different things to do to brighten your day” in one of those grocery-store magazines.

I’ll simply say yes.

Permalink | Comments (5)