In The News

Veteran journalist Tom Berg receives truck writers' highest honor

LOUISVILE, Ky. — Tom Berg, who has written about commercial trucks and the people who run them for over 30 years, has been awarded the 2009 Lifetime Achievement Award awarded annually by the Truck Writers of North America.

It is the highest honor bestowed by TWNA.

Berg, both as a staffer with respected trade magazines and as a freelance writer and photographer, has earned many writing awards.

He is CDL-licensed and conducts road tests on new trucks and trailers. He specializes in new truck and component specification.

Berg worked his way through Marquette University’s College of Journalism by driving newspaper delivery trucks, graduating in 1965.

He served in the U.S. Army and Army Reserve, and is an active member of American Legion and Veterans of Foreign Wars posts in Westerville, Ohio.

Berg worked in television news and public relations before going to work for Heavy Duty Trucking magazine, where he’s now senior equipment editor.

He’s also truck editor at Construction Equipment.

He is a co-founder and was the first president of the Truck Writers of North America.

Berg is respected by his peers in the trucking industry as an accomplished writer with a sharp wit, an ability to present equipment spec's in simple terms and as someone who stays in constant touch with truck and component manufacturers and fleet managers.

He is the former editor of Road King and American Trucker. He has been awarded four Jesse H. Neal honors.

Mike Pennington, senior director of global marketing communications at ArvinMeritor commercial vehicle systems and aftermarkets division, and a previous TWNA Lifetime Achievement Award winner, said, “Tom is a tough, fair and thorough reporter who knows his market, his industry, and his audience. He writes factually and calls them like he sees them (‘will you just cut to the chase, please’). He’s earned the respect of industry leaders and his fellow journalists.

“From my PR seat in the industry, he sends shivers down the spines of vehicle makers and suppliers because everyone wants ‘Berg’ to be pleased and even impressed, so he’ll share those opinions with his readers.”

In addition to excellence in journalism and service to TWNA, recipients of the TWNA Lifetime Achievement Award have a well-established record of working with other industry organizations, and of sharing their knowledge, skills, contacts and resources for the general improvement of trucking industry communications.

TWNA is an organization of professionals who are involved in gathering, writing and reporting news and information about trucks, trucking and the trucking industry. Membership is composed of writers, editors, freelance journalists, public relations and communications specialists, sales and marketing personnel, and others involved in the business of producing information related to the world of trucking.

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