Well, this is a first. Since I launched Hooked Up five years ago, I’ve never turned over the reins to a guest contributor, no strings attached. But that’s exactly what I’m doing this time out. I’m passing the pen to Rob Penner, COO and executive vice-president of Bison Transport.

Why? To be honest, I wanted a little break and I also wanted to mix it up a bit. I’m assembling this edition of Hooked Up from a Residence Inn just outside Rochester, N.Y. I’ve been away a lot of late, so I took a short family trip with my wife and daughter to Darien Lake – where it rained continuously for the duration of our little camp-out – and now to Rochester, which is home of the Museum of Play, a great vacation destination if you have young children or grandchildren.

I’ve mentioned before that this newsletter was inspired in part by Peter King’s Monday Morning Quarterback, which is in my opinion the best NFL newsletter out there. During the off-season he at times turns the MMQB over to high-profile NFL insiders. This is brilliant on a couple of levels. First, it gives the readership a fresh perspective from time to time. And also, he managed to find someone else to do his work for him. Brilliant, I say!

When I thought of doing likewise for this summer edition, Rob was the first person I thought of. He’s always good for a quote, he’s an industry superstar (no, he didn’t approve this part), he has strong opinions and isn’t shy about sharing them. I told him the platform is his – no strings attached. No rules. Tackle any topic you wish.

Most of the rest of this week’s Hooked Up is directly from the pen/keyboard of Rob Penner. I handled the Tweets of the Week, Worth Repeating and the item on ZF’s recent technology demonstration in Germany. If you can’t keep that straight, just check out the byline to the left of each item, as it will indicate the author of that section.

If this goes well – and given some of the contentious issues he chose to tackle, it’s a big if – look forward to a couple such guest-written Hooked Ups from other high-profile contributors each year.

Over to you, Rob…