On Record

Sticktoitiveness

MarciaBy Marcia Gruver Doyle

I want to call your attention to the issue of ProPickup polybagged with this issue of Equipment World, both for what it is and what it represents.

First, there’s what ProPickup is: the most warmly received startup publication we’ve had … ever. Take a look at the letters to the editor on page 10 of ProPickup to get a flavor for its reception:

“Not sure how you all do it, but this is the best and best written magazine for contractors and fleet managers,” wrote Robert Dorazio of Avila Beach, California. “…I can surely tell a lot of hard work went into this publication.”

“I enjoyed reading the article about SCR and the new diesel engines,” commented John Fischer of Palatine, Illinois. “The benefits of SCR are quite interesting.”

ProPickup addresses the love-work affair you have with your pickups. Bruce Smith, no stranger to writing about pickups and tires, serves as editor of this quarterly publication, assisted by our own Tom Jackson and contributing editor Larry Walton. Bruce, Tom and Larry know you consider a pickup much more than just mere transportation – it’s your mobile office, tool box, crew cab, image maker and get-out-of-the-mud assistant. And on the weekends it hauls all your fun stuff.

It’s another way to bring even more information to our audience, something we consider a dang good alternative to waving the white flag.

Second, ProPickup is significant because of what it represents: our refusal to just hunker down and ride out this turbulent period, praying the next wave won’t take us overboard. ProPickup shows we’ve thought of ways to bring even more information to our audience, something we consider a dang good alternative to waving the white flag.

But ProPickup is hardly our entire response to the recession. This spring, we hosted our first Construction Symposium, bringing together sponsors and their invited contractor guests to network in ways that just aren’t possible in everyday business. And on October 8-9, we’re co-hosting a joint construction/trucking kick-the-tires event, the Charlotte Diesel Super Show at the Charlotte Motor Speedway zMAX Dragway in Concord, North Carolina.

Partner Insights
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We’re hardly alone in our efforts. The informal term “sticktoittiveness” has been around for decades, beloved by sportscasters describing a dogged competitor. For the past two years, this industry has weathered a tsunami of bad market indicators, and there may still be more to come. Yet I’ve been struck with the resiliency of this industry on all sides – contractors, dealers, rental companies and construction equipment manufacturers. Despite some wicked hits, most are still standing.

You haven’t left, and neither have we. EW