Moving on to serve you
When I joined Randall-Reilly nearly 13 years ago, the company basically had done one thing for 65 years: Publish magazines and other printed materials. That year, 1998, was a turning point for the company, however. In April, Randall-Reilly – then known as Randall Publishing – acquired Equipment Data Associates, a company that specializes in tracking the purchase and financing of equipment. That same year, the company announced plans to launch a major trade show, the Great American Trucking Show.
Although the company – today known as Randall-Reilly Business Media and Information – has become more than a publishing company, it has continued to add publications, including titles that serve owner-operators, fleet operations, company drivers, truck and trailer dealers, aftermarket parts and service distributors – all of which have special information needs.
Meanwhile, Randall-Reilly kept pace with the move to add digital and Web-based products, and in 2008 bought a company that specializes in interactive media. And Randall-Reilly has added more trucking events and educational programs such as Commercial Carrier University for fleet operators and Partners in Business for owner-operators. Simply put, Randall-Reilly’s mission is to offer comprehensive solutions to you and the companies that serve you with products and services.
Why the history lesson? One other area in which the company has served the trucking industry is research and analysis. You see the fruits of these efforts in the pages of CCJ when we report the results of reader surveys. We also help industry suppliers learn through market research how to serve you better. Although we have conducted surveys for many years, research and analysis haven’t been a strategic focus – until now.
In my new position as executive director of trucking research and analysis, my mandate is to build on Randall-Reilly’s market intelligence capabilities. Jeff Crissey, who has managed CCJ’s editorial coverage over the past couple of years, now will take over fully as chief editor.
Part of my new role will be to manage development and operation of TruckGauge (www.truckgauge.com), a new product Randall-Reilly has launched in conjunction with transportation forecasting firm FTR Associates. This subscription-based tool provides real-time forecasts and analysis of economic data to help trucking companies make sound business decisions.
Also, look for ongoing research-based analysis of common and best practices within trucking’s various disciplines, such as operations, safety, maintenance, finances and information technology. In fact, I will be reaching out to many of you in the coming months to participate in these initiatives. In addition, I will be mining Equipment Data Associates’ comprehensive trucking database to ferret out other industry trends and insights and will be digging into other areas involving data analysis, such as the costs of federal regulations and the performance of government agencies.
And although you won’t see me in this spot anymore, you will find my column elsewhere in CCJ every month. I also will remain on CCJ’s staff as senior editor for industry analysis, heading up CCJ’s coverage of economic trends, compiling our annual CCJ Top 250 ranking and writing or contributing to other articles that rely on research and data analysis.
My 10 years as CCJ’s editorial director have been the most rewarding professionally in my career so far. It’s hard to imagine a better job, but my goal is to serve you even more meaningfully in my new role. n
LET ME HEAR FROM YOU
Have a suggestion on how we can provide information that you want and need? Want to volunteer for future research efforts? Drop me a line at [email protected] or you can store my contact information to your smartphone by capturing this mobitag by using the Microsoft Tag Reader, which you can download to your phone at http://www.gettag.mobi.
Avery Vise is executive director, trucking research and analysis for Randall-Reilly and senior editor, industry analysis for Commercial Carrier Journal. E-mail [email protected] or call (205) 248-1386.
