In trucking, many people you talk to have grown up in the industry. Their parents or grandparents may have been truckers or worked for trucking companies. Others fell into trucking by chance—possibly prompted by a career change, a new outlook on life, or a desire to help others and contribute to our nation’s economic stability.
When I started my career as a journalist 15 years ago, I never imagined it would lead to trucking. I thought I’d end up at some mainstream newspaper like The Wall Street Journal or The New York Times as some big shot syndicated columnist. That was at least the dream when I went to journalism school.
My reality, however, was not so glamorous. My days as a local news reporter involved late nights at police commission and board of finance meetings, covering planning and zoning laws, and writing about local happenings. At one point in my career, I made $18,000 a year, worked close to 80 hours a week, and had growing student loan and credit card debt. No chance I’d ever move out of my mom’s house.
I was on the verge of going back to school and accruing even more debt when I saw a job post for an associate editor at FleetOwner magazine. I had no clue what to expect, but I figured if I could learn to write about one local family’s encounter with necrotizing fasciitis (a flesh-eating bacterial disease), then I could certainly write about trucks.
My business-to-business reporting journey began in 2015, and it was the best decision I ever made. A few days into my new gig at FleetOwner and covering the trucking industry, I realized the joke had been on me the whole time. I could have gotten my CDL, dodged the student loan debt, and moved out of my mom’s house long before I was able to. Live and learn, right?
I am one of the people who fell into this industry by chance, and I fell in love immediately. After careful consideration and many back-and-forth conversations with my family, I have decided to move on to the next chapter of my career. Although today is my final day as FleetOwner’s editor in chief, I will remain in the trucking industry and have taken on a new role at a truck manufacturer.
I am looking forward to staying in this incredible industry and continuing to work with so many of the wonderful people I’ve met—and those I have yet to meet—in a new capacity. Though this is a bittersweet move for me, I know I am leaving FleetOwner in the best possible hands. Josh Fisher will take on the role of editor in chief, effective June 1.
Josh joined FleetOwnerin 2017. Before that, he had his first staff byline at a small Connecticut newspaper in 2001, where he started off covering education and other local issues. Josh and I actually worked together at one of those local newspapers in the New York City area. We covered some major events together, including Hurricane Sandy in 2012, which involved very little sleep and all-nighters at the office. Josh was my editor at the time, and he taught me the importance of using social media for good and as a valuable service for our audience.
No matter what the story is, Josh has a talent of capturing the voice of his sources and covering an issue from all sides. Over the last few years, Josh and I have worked closely to maintain FleetOwner’s 95-year, industry-leading legacy. We’ve won awards for our coverage, traveled to trade shows together, and launched a new video series called the FleetOwner Pre-Trip. The future is bright for Josh and the entire staff here.
Working in this role at FleetOwnerhas been incredibly fulfilling, and one in which I've made lasting friendships and connections. During a recent podcast episode with the North American Council for Freight Efficiency’s Executive Director Mike Roeth, we talked a lot about the unique place FleetOwner occupies in the trucking industry. We also spoke about the collaborative nature of the industry and the passion that really drives the work that the people in trucking do.
I truly believe this industry is one where you can start out doing one thing and then end up doing something totally different, which makes it a wonderful place for the next generation of workers.
Like I told Mike Roeth during the podcast, trucking is in my blood. And I am so fortunate that I fell into this industry.
