Soendker honored with TWNA Lifetime Achievement Award

Sandi Soendker

Sandi Soendker, editor-in-chief of Land Line Magazine, received a Lifetime Achievement Award from the Truck Writers of North America (TWNA) at the 2013 Mid-America Trucking Show. Soendker, who has been covering the trucking industry for 26 years, is the latest recipient of this award celebrating a person who exhibits the highest standard of journalism or communications within the trucking industry over a career.

“This is the highest award bestowed by TWNA, and we are pleased to be presenting it to Sandi this year,” said TWNA Executive Director Tom Kelley. “Her dedication to our industry is unparalleled.”

Based in Grain Valley, MO, Land Line Magazine’s editorial policy encompasses informing truckers, the trucking industry and various government agencies about issues related to the industry.

A reporter/editor for more than 40 years, Soendker has worked for daily newspapers, small town weeklies and horse magazines. But it is at Land Line where she developed her passion for the industry and discovered the role that advocacy journalism plays in trucking.

When interviewed for an article on What it Takes to Be a Good Reporter Soendker explained, “I am a cause-oriented person. I always have to have a cause, be fighting for the little dog, to right wrongs, expose bad people, to shine a light in dark places. Trucking is full of wrongs, unjust rules and regulations, overworked drivers and in general ugliness.”

“Advocacy journalism in this industry is a niche that is custom-made for a person like me,” Soendker continued. “Covering this industry from my unique corner office at OOIDA headquarters is like riding with the James Gang. You need a fast horse and the ability to get in close, but not get shot.”

In addition to serving on the board of directors of OOIDA and the board of directors of the St. Christopher Truckers Development and Research Fund, Soendker is also a member of Truck Writers of North America, Women In Trucking, Kansas City Press Club, Society of Professional Journalists, Missouri Quarter Horse Association, and the American Quarter Horse Association.

Sandi has interviewed countless subjects over her career. Her favorite, however, was in 1978 at Claiborne Farm in Paris, KY, with a 16-2 hands race champion – Secretariat. And he never said a single word.

Previous winners of the TWNA Lifetime Achievement Award include Rolf Lockwood, Don Alles, David A. Kolman, Tom Berg, Mike Pennington, Jim Winsor, Paul Abelson, RJ Taylor and Bob Deierlein.  

OOIDA media receive 19 awards in TWNA annual competition

The TWNA Communication Awards are the centerpiece of the organization’s annual Industry Awards Banquet. Now in its ninth year, the Communication Award program generated 78 entries ranging from newspaper and magazine articles to covers and layouts to press events.

More than 60 of the top scoring entries received awards this year. Winners included magazines, publishing companies, public relations firms and individuals. The competition recognizes excellence in trucking industry journalism in both the trade and the mainstream press, as well as excellence in communication by public relations professionals.

The Communication Awards include categories for writing, graphics, broadcast, websites, and internal communications, just to name a few. Virtually everything from feature articles to press kits to marketing brochures to magazine redesigns are all included in the scope of the program. Nearly everything except advertising is eligible for entry.

The award program is administered by Elaine Haessner, co-founder of the International Automotive Media Awards. The entries are peer-judged against a thoroughly refined and tested standard scale. TWNA membership, although encouraged, is not required to submit entries.

The following are awards received by OOIDA’s media outlets, Land Line Magazine and “Land Line Now.”

Bronze Awards

• Land Line Magazine - Failure To Launch - Clarissa Kell-Holland
• Land Line Magazine - In A Perfect World - David Tanner
• Land Line Magazine - 2011 Chain Advisory - Jami Jones
• Land Line Magazine - 2012 Legislative Guide - Keith Goble
• “Land Line Now” - Aaron Tippin - A Truck Driver Who Made Good - Terry Scruton & James Fetzer

Silver Awards

• Land Line Magazine - Cracked Carols - Bill Hudgins
• Land Line Magazine - One Gargle Over The Line - Charlie Morasch
• Land Line Magazine - In Harm's Way - Clarissa Kell-Holland, Charlie Morasch, Nikohle Ellis & Greg Holmes
• Land Line Magazine - Tapping Into Power On The Road - Xantrex Technology
• “Land Line Now” - Joplin Copes W ith Damage From Historic Tornado - Patsy Terrell & Barry Spillman
• “Land Line Now” - Radioactive Cars - The Wave Of The Future? - Reed Black & James Fetzer

Gold Awards

• Land Line Magazine - July 2011 Issue - Land Line Staff
• Land Line Magazine - Pork Chop Diaries - Land Line Staff
• Land Line Magazine - Truck Of The Future - Paul Abelson & Jami Jones
• Land Line Magazine - What Happened To Bette Garber's Pictures? - Suzanne Stempiniski & Sandi Soendker
• “Land Line Now” - Zombie Apocalypse? You, too, can be prepared. - Mark Reddig & James Fetzer
• “Land Line Now” - Anne Ferro - Getting The Lowdown - Terry Scruton, Jami Jones, David Tanner & James Fetzer

The following awards were selected from all entries receiving 98 points or more on the 100 point scale used to judge each entry. There are five best of division categories: public relations, total publication, radio, magazine graphics and magazine writing. The following entries were deemed best in division among qualifying entries.

Best of Division Awards

Radio

“Land Line Now” - Anne Ferro - Getting The Lowdown - Terry Scruton, Jami Jones, David Tanner & James Fetzer

Magazine Writing

Land Line Magazine - Truck Of The Future - Paul Abelson & Jami Jones

Goodyear Highway Hero is all Harte

Goodyear has recognized Jason Harte as this year's Highway Hero during the Mid-America Trucking Show in Louisville, KY.

Harte, a trucker from Rogers, AR, and an OOIDA member, made a quick decision last July that saved lives. Harte witnessed a speeding pickup run a minivan off the road and slam into another car. While others attended to the car occupants, Harte, a former paramedic, approached the van. One-by-one he helped a man, woman and baby from the van and assisted in helping three other children in the vehicle as emergency personnel arrived.

Jason Harte

 Harte becomes the 30th Highway Hero. The company has recognized the life-saving efforts of truckers since 1983.

Goodyear held a press event Thursday at MATS to recognize Harte and three other heroic truck drivers for deeds that went above and beyond the call. They are representative of a much larger group of truckers who put their own lives at risk to help others in need.

Other finalists this year include:

Christopher Burgess of Ravenna, OH, who died after steering his truck loaded with 15 tons of sand into trees and over a river bank rather than put the public in harm's way after his brakes failed. Burgess' parents attended MATS as guests of Goodyear in Christopher's honor.

Chad Dickey of Wadena, MN,  who came upon vehicle debris in the roadway one night near Chattanooga, TN. After investigating, Dickey, an OOIDA member, found an 18-wheeler in the ditch and driver Lewis Boyd suffering from a severe gash in his leg. Dickey applied a tourniquet to Boyd's leg as Boyd was passing out, and the act saved his life.

David Williams of Angier, NC, who spotted a disabled car that had spun out in the rain and was facing oncoming traffic. The quick-thinking Williams placed safety cones around the car and directed traffic away. The story doesn't end there. An oncoming pickup then slammed into his rig and burst into flames. Williams put out the flames as the pickup driver made it to safety.

"Each of these finalists is a hero in his own right," said Gary Medalis, director of marketing for Goodyear Commercial Tire Systems.

Goodyear awarded a commemorative plaque and a cash sum to each finalist.

Tune in later to the blog for an interview and feature on this year's Highway Hero, Jason Harte.

A deeper sleeper

If I didn't have other commitments this afternoon, I would probably wander back to the Peterbilt exhibit and  sprawl out in the new 80-inch sleeper the company unveiled Wednesday at the Mid-America Trucking Show.

Peterbilt GM Bill Kozek says it's the largest sleeper in company history, and it complements the 579 long-hauler rather nicely.

I've seen apartments with less room.

From the outside, you can identify the larger model because of its ample-sized window on the side.

Once inside, you notice how far Peterbilt has gone to maximize every available space for driver comfort.
 
I'm 6 feet tall and I barely had to duck to transition from driver seat to sleeper berth. And once back there, it was easy to tune the rest of the world out, even if only for a moment.

Speaking of sleepers, Kenworth introduced a new one today, as well. This one is a 52-inch mid-roof sleeper that matches with the company's award-winning T680.

This sleeper provides an aerodynamic option for tankers or flatbedders on regional hauls.

"It's a big package in a smaller footprint," Kenworth GM Gary Moore said.

Kenworth and Peterbilt – under the Paccar umbrella – are offering flatscreen TVs and other amenities to help you stretch out and spec a comfortable truck that fits your operation.

Scientists still don't know ...

Behavioral scientists still can’t explain why thousands of drivers leave their homes and their jobs each year at the end of March to travel to Louisville.

Four years ago, a special team of scientists from Amsterdam began attending MATS to do a commissioned study on this phenomenon. For a bit of background, these internationally known scientists spent years doing similar studies, and prior to the MATS study they researched Indonesian turtles that swim thousands of miles to return to the beach where they hatched.

Land Line had the opportunity to interview these scientists on one of their first trips to Louisville and we’ve kept in touch with them ever since. They have now made four trips to the U.S. in March to attend MATS. Not only have they studied why drivers swarm in droves to this truck show, but they’ve studied how drivers somehow, mysteriously, have the ability to navigate the mazes set up for them by show management.

Last year, over a pork chop sandwich, they told us they were determined to discover if this ability was “developed in isolation or in a variety of contexts and constant inaction.”

“It could be a major breakthrough in understanding truck drivers,” said the team leader of the expedition.

Today, we learned their study had been deemed inconclusive and the funding discontinued.

However, this same team of scientists decided to return to MATS anyway and arrived early Tuesday in Louisville so they could make side trips to Churchill Downs and the Louisville Slugger bat factory. When we asked them why they were coming back, even though the study was over, they said they were not sure.

One didn’t want to miss the trucker’s annual Health Walk and was hoping to catch a glimpse of Tony Stewart or Kasey Kahne or some famous NASCAR driver. Another needed to pay his OOIDA dues, and said he heard that Todd and Beth Roccapriore were bringing a brand-new show truck to the Paul K. Young Truck Beauty Championship and didn’t want to miss out on that. Another scientist said he was craving German roasted nuts and had not yet scored one of those good one-inch-by-one-inch yardsticks.

The elephant graveyard

I really like the drive-all-night road trip that is part of our annual MATS experience. I like feasting my eyes on cities like St. Louis at night and stopping in truck stops in the wee hours.

In recent years I have been traveling with Managing Editor Jami Jones and Associate Editor Dave Tanner. Somewhere along I-70 just east of St. Louie, we will normally pull in to the TA for snacks and caffeine. I poke around looking at DVDs (hey, they have all of Burt Reynolds’ movies) and books on tape. Jami Jones checks out a Buck Shot Pro game, grabs a Diet Coke and marvels at a 6-foot piece of beef jerky.   

One stop I distinctly recall was at that TA this side of St. Louis. I think it was me, Jami and staff writer Charlie Morasch (who was wearing a snazzy Southern Trucker do-rag). On the way out the door of the c-store, we saw a driver in an OOIDA jacket. A fine looking gentlemen, fine in the way of Wilford Brimley. We introduced ourselves. He was surprised to see us skulking about the TA in the early a.m. but smiled big and shook our hands enthusiastically. I liked him. His name was Ed Sims.

We shouted him good night and good luck. We headed back to the mini-van and Ed trudged back into a black parking area of trucks. I looked back and watched him disappear into the shadows.

The lot was full and trucks were lined up solid. That’s when it hit me. I had found the elephant graveyard.

Road trip moment

Don’t you love those great moments that inexplicably reinforces how much you like the pure and simple joy of rolling down interstate America?

It was March 2001 and we were coming back from Louisville. I don’t know where the heck it was. Indiana, Illinois, maybe Missouri. Todd Spencer was driving and we had followed Jim Johnston (who was driving his pickup truck and big horse trailer full of booth stuff) and the others all the way from Louisville. Jim had been talking all night to truckers on the CB. In our car, we listened to Truckin’ Bozo and Todd tried to call a couple of times but it was busy. We pulled into a small convenience store somewhere off the highway to get coffee and stretch our legs. It was pitch black, cold and windy and the harsh light of the little white concrete block store hurt our eyes. We pulled back on the highway and past a big yellow lighted sign with black letters that said, “Good luck Hornettes.” Yep, spelled just like that.

I thought to myself, “This is pretty good.”