In a business climate as turbulent and quickly changing as today’s, to stand still is to fall behind. Whether you’re the proud owner/operator of one truck or a fleet manager in charge of 500 power units, success is driven by your ability and willingness to tackle challenge and opportunity head on. Continually evolving company strategy is key to strategic growth in the transportation sector. It’s no different in business publishing.

My column appears on this page (and will continue to do so from this point onwards) to announce and emphasize an important evolution in our own strategy. With my recent appointment as editorial director of Truck News and Truck West, we have brought all of our transportation products under one large umbrella. We are confident this endeavor places us in the best position to address the needs of both readers and advertisers.

As of this issue, Truck News and Truck West are part of an expanded family of editorial products tailored to serve the information and advertising needs of professionals in the transportation industry. Combined, these properties have a national circulation of more than 140,000 and provide industry-leading access to both providers and buyers of transportation services. Our dynamic family now includes Truck News, Truck West, Motortruck, Canadian Transportation & Logistics magazines, an industry research arm, an annual Buyer’s Guide, the Marketing Manager’s Guide to the Canadian Trucking Industry, and electronic news products comprising two Web sites, four online directories, two daily news feeds and two weekly e-newsletters. And we’re not done growing yet.

As editorial director of this new family, it is my responsibility to find the synergies created by this large group (and there are many) and put them to use in providing the best information vehicle available to trucking industry professionals. Simply put, there is no other news source in the Canadian transportation market that can match our new reach and access to resources.

Of course, Truck News and Truck West have done remarkably well on their own. Over the past 20 years they have developed a reputation of delivering solid, accurate, award-winning editorial for the trucking industry. So why mess with a winning formula you may ask?

If I’ve learned anything in my 17 years as a journalist, it’s that the smartest business decisions are almost always linked to the ability to access the right information at the right time. From our end, it’s all about having the resources to provide the research, insight and perspective that gets to the true heart of a matter.

Our transportation group of properties has brought together an editorial team that has no equal in the Canadian marketplace: Five editors, including a full-time editorial office in Calgary, will drive a news organization that includes more than 20 contributing editors and columnists. I haven’t yet had the chance to accurately calculate the years of journalism and industry experience this combined team brings to bear, but I can tell you it’s impressive. Add to that a research arm eager to shed light on key industry issues and you can see why we are so excited about the resources at our disposal.

Of course, this is not just about having lots of new friends. It’s also about having the right friends. As I mentioned earlier, the transportation group of magazines is unique because it has a nation-wide reach of both providers and buyers of transportation services. For Truck News readers, that means an editorial product equally capable of reporting on trends and issues within the trucking industry and providing unique insights from your best customers’ point of view. Think of the competitive advantage of being able to climb inside your best or potential customer’s head on a regular basis.

To our readers, our advertisers and, hey, even our competitors, I will say this: Keep an eye on us. We will surprise you, we will inform you, we will impress you. What you can and should expect from Truck News and the transportation group of magazines from now on can be summed up in a single word: MORE.

– Lou Smyrlis can be reached at 416-442-2922 or lsmyrlis@businessinformationgroup.ca