Rikki-UK:
So tell us what you want in a magazine for you.
what would make you spend out for a magazine and buy it each month?
If you tell us we can work towards it… and give you what you wish
dont tell us and the guys producing the magazine have to guess. you have a chance here to shape the future of your magazine
I personally will take your sensible comments and ideas and put them forward
The “Truck in service” articles in TRUCK magazine were always an interesting read, as you got the perspective of three operators views of a certain type of truck, and what was good, and what was not so good about them, and also , importantly, what went wrong with them and how much they cost to run and repair.
Funny how, for all the fond memories of Headlight and Truck, they didn’t actually attract many readers and so went out of business. Or maybe people just read them at lunchtime and put them back on the shelf?
Rikki-UK:
Tom is recognised as easily one of the best photographers in the automotive field… he is also a smashing down to earth bloke
One of the issues we have to address is that an issue of T&D with a well shot cover image of a blinged up motor sells better than one without… you all say you dont want that but when we have tried not doing blinged up on the front cover it hasnt sold as well
People buy into bling and their perceived dream, T&D is not produced as a charity case for you to read, it is a business that provides a wage for those working on it, in the same way you drive a truck to make money for the company you work for and dont deliver goods out of the goodness of your heart.
Some how we have to provide the balance between what you lot want (and get you buying the mag) and what sells on the news stand
That is what this discussion is all about, finding that balance. I dont know where it is, there is a lot in this thread I can take forward (and that is why I opened up this discussion) There is some stuff that I wish too but economically just is not possible
the cost of paper and print has risen massively, far more than any cover price rises, and that has hit on what we can spend, LDD’s (Long distance Diaries) have always been among the most popular of articles but are hugely expensive when paying a journalist to go on the trip.
I believe we can still do these using the community to record their trips and the journalists to sub edit- turn our jottings into a readable article- some here can right a good article, but at the end of the day we are truck drivers and ■■■■ good at it, they are good at writing and ■■■■ good at it…
I have a fairly good perception of the industry and I write a lot for RTM nearly everything I write is rewritten into English by the Journo’s I have the knowledge they have the writing skills - thats a fair division of labour.
Those who don’t like blinged up / nicely turned out trucks really are in the small minority. Keep them coming i say
Rikki-UK:
Tom is recognised as easily one of the best photographers in the automotive field… he is also a smashing down to earth bloke
One of the issues we have to address is that an issue of T&D with a well shot cover image of a blinged up motor sells better than one without… you all say you dont want that but when we have tried not doing blinged up on the front cover it hasnt sold as well
People buy into bling and their perceived dream, T&D is not produced as a charity case for you to read, it is a business that provides a wage for those working on it, in the same way you drive a truck to make money for the company you work for and dont deliver goods out of the goodness of your heart.
Some how we have to provide the balance between what you lot want (and get you buying the mag) and what sells on the news stand
That is what this discussion is all about, finding that balance. I dont know where it is, there is a lot in this thread I can take forward (and that is why I opened up this discussion) There is some stuff that I wish too but economically just is not possible
the cost of paper and print has risen massively, far more than any cover price rises, and that has hit on what we can spend, LDD’s (Long distance Diaries) have always been among the most popular of articles but are hugely expensive when paying a journalist to go on the trip.
I believe we can still do these using the community to record their trips and the journalists to sub edit- turn our jottings into a readable article- some here can right a good article, but at the end of the day we are truck drivers and ■■■■ good at it, they are good at writing and ■■■■ good at it…
I have a fairly good perception of the industry and I write a lot for RTM nearly everything I write is rewritten into English by the Journo’s I have the knowledge they have the writing skills - thats a fair division of labour.
Those who don’t like blinged up / nicely turned out trucks really are in the small minority. Keep them coming i say
The people who don’t like them are usually the people with experience of them, and the type of people who operate them.
Remember the famous “curse of Truck”?
Well it wasn’t a curse, it was the ineptitude of the people who operated the tarted-up, over-the-top money-pits that Truck seemed to enjoy writing about. Cab-happy, camera-enhanced-forearmed, narcissistic, egotistical dreamers who knew everything about bragging and nothing about cashflow, pricing, taxes, costs or anything else to do with business. Notice how (at a guess) 90% of the time it was the wife/sister/mum/dad who was the CPC holder? That in itself should give cause for concern.
So no, people who don’t like them are the majority - those of us who realise that it’s a business, and a serious one at that.
Going on a fuel protest or getting a rate rise sticks in people’s throats a whole lot less when you don’t turn up with a 6 month-old Topline V8 looking like Cash converter’s window on the outside and the Moulin Bleedin’ Rouge when you open the door.
Rikki-UK:
Tom is recognised as easily one of the best photographers in the automotive field… he is also a smashing down to earth bloke
One of the issues we have to address is that an issue of T&D with a well shot cover image of a blinged up motor sells better than one without… you all say you dont want that but when we have tried not doing blinged up on the front cover it hasnt sold as well
People buy into bling and their perceived dream, T&D is not produced as a charity case for you to read, it is a business that provides a wage for those working on it, in the same way you drive a truck to make money for the company you work for and dont deliver goods out of the goodness of your heart.
Some how we have to provide the balance between what you lot want (and get you buying the mag) and what sells on the news stand
That is what this discussion is all about, finding that balance. I dont know where it is, there is a lot in this thread I can take forward (and that is why I opened up this discussion) There is some stuff that I wish too but economically just is not possible
the cost of paper and print has risen massively, far more than any cover price rises, and that has hit on what we can spend, LDD’s (Long distance Diaries) have always been among the most popular of articles but are hugely expensive when paying a journalist to go on the trip.
I believe we can still do these using the community to record their trips and the journalists to sub edit- turn our jottings into a readable article- some here can right a good article, but at the end of the day we are truck drivers and ■■■■ good at it, they are good at writing and ■■■■ good at it…
I have a fairly good perception of the industry and I write a lot for RTM nearly everything I write is rewritten into English by the Journo’s I have the knowledge they have the writing skills - thats a fair division of labour.
Those who don’t like blinged up / nicely turned out trucks really are in the small minority. Keep them coming i say
The people who don’t like them are usually the people with experience of them, and the type of people who operate them.
Remember the famous “curse of Truck”?
Well it wasn’t a curse, it was the ineptitude of the people who operated the tarted-up, over-the-top money-pits that Truck seemed to enjoy writing about. Cab-happy, camera-enhanced-forearmed, narcissistic, egotistical dreamers who knew everything about bragging and nothing about cashflow, pricing, taxes, costs or anything else to do with business. Notice how (at a guess) 90% of the time it was the wife/sister/mum/dad who was the CPC holder? That in itself should give cause for concern.
So no, people who don’t like them are the majority - those of us who realise that it’s a business, and a serious one at that.
Going on a fuel protest or getting a rate rise sticks in people’s throats a whole lot less when you don’t turn up with a 6 month-old Topline V8 looking like Cash converter’s window on the outside and the Moulin Bleedin’ Rouge when you open the door.
Rikki-UK:
So tell us what you want in a magazine for you.
what would make you spend out for a magazine and buy it each month?
If you tell us we can work towards it… and give you what you wish
dont tell us and the guys producing the magazine have to guess. you have a chance here to shape the future of your magazine
I personally will take your sensible comments and ideas and put them forward
Ok then here’s my view.
Like many it seems I stopped buying truck magazines with the death of Truck. It was the only one worth reading. T&D may still outsell the competition but that’s fairly academic when the competition is crap. I’ve picked up a copy of T&D on the odd occasion I’ve seen it lying about and I’m sorry it just doesn’t speak to me. For instance why have music reviews? Is that relevant? Esp when it’s endless country bands I’ve never even heard of. Not all of us are living in 1970 America driving Kenworths.
So, more tests, I used I love the tests where you put half a dozen trucks up against each other across Europe. Less blinged up trucks.
More relevant gadget reviews and less music reviews of music no one listens to. For instance people are always asking my opinion on gadgets I used such as my digital radio or satnav.
Maybe more competitions, maybe tied in with Trucknet. Again relevant stuff, give away a digital radio or something people actually want.
Columnists that people actually want to read. Whenever I read one I just give up after a couple of paragraphs because it’s just another driver having another moan. I get enough of that as it is. You need humour.
An newbie section maybe. Show new guys how to do things like operate a fridge etc.
iPad editions. I may actually buy an iPad edition of Commercial Motor. But do it properly. Don’t just scan it in, have extras such as videos and working links.
More connectivity. As I see it you do have twitter and other accounts but you don’t really make the most of them. You need to make them worth following. Have you got a Facebook page for the magazines? If not you should have and if you have why don’t I know about it? I never leave the Trucknet page because nothing makes me want to. I actually think ditching roadtransport.com and splitting everything back up again was madness. I know you talk about the strength of he individual brands but they could have still been part of an integrated roadtransport.com brand.
Which brings me to brands. As I see it people buy your magazines because it’s one of only three thy can get anywhere. I don’t think many people have a connection with the T&D brand which makes them proud to read it. Look at the worlds most successful brands, thy are successful because people are evangelical about them and spread the word. Truck had that for me, I loved it. I think you could do this with T&D but in my opinion you need to throw out the whole magazine and start from scratch for that to happen.
So that’s my view, I’ve been thinking about it a lot! Right, I’m gonna go set up a magazine…
Papa Numpty:
Dont worry Mark your posts are allways interesting as far as i am concerned it reminds me of when i really used to enjoy the job, the days when we ran together and the fun we had are sadly no more in Europe as far as i can see.
Also it pains me to say it but i was member of The Headlight Drivers Club and wore my badge with pride ,i know ill get my coat keep it up (no pun intended)
Take Care all
Thanks Melvyn, you’re dead right, the job is indeed very different now, I think it’s all the progress and technology, years ago we never had big huge cabs and all the gadgets so when we parked up we got out of the cab and went into a cafe/resturaunt/bar and spoke to our mates, now we sit in our XXLsupermegaspacetrotters messing around on the internet or watching dvds/playing computer games and have no interaction with other drivers, it’s why the old customs are not being passed down the line anymore
Papa Numpty:
Dont worry Mark your posts are allways interesting as far as i am concerned it reminds me of when i really used to enjoy the job, the days when we ran together and the fun we had are sadly no more in Europe as far as i can see.
Also it pains me to say it but i was member of The Headlight Drivers Club and wore my badge with pride ,i know ill get my coat keep it up (no pun intended)
Take Care all
Thanks Melvyn, you’re dead right, the job is indeed very different now, I think it’s all the progress and technology, years ago we never had big huge cabs and all the gadgets so when we parked up we got out of the cab and went into a cafe/resturaunt/bar and spoke to our mates, now we sit in our XXLsupermegaspacetrotters messing around on the internet or watching dvds/playing computer games and have no interaction with other drivers, it’s why the old customs are not being passed down the line anymore
Hmm, criticising technology whilst using it… Not sure about that one.
I agree in a way though, technology has changed the whole industry but I think it’s more trackers, sat-navs, mobile phones, digital tachos and routeing software etc etc. It’s kind of hard to meet up with a friend who’s going to run his card out half an hour before you and then explain why you’ve stopped with time left to use.
Happydaze:
Hmm, criticising technology whilst using it… Not sure about that one.
Not a critisism as such, just pointing out why I think things have changed so much in such a short space of time and the one thing that stands out is lack of interaction.
The removal of the borders and Custom’s Clearance killed off the continental job for many, a lot of the social aspect of the job was chatting with fellow drivers while waiting for Customs, everyone could choose which returaunt to stop in, but you had no choice with Customs, so you met people you ordinarily wouldn’t have and learned stuff from them, where deliveries where, what was a good resturaunt, a way to bypass a certain area blah blah blah, now because of technology we don’t need that anyway, so even if Customs still exsisted we would all be sitting in our cabs playing Angry Birds (or moaning on tnet that we ain’t got anyone to talk to )
Hi again i wasnt really criticiseing (spelling) technology i just meant the whole job in general before everything became so rigid, i dont honestly think i am alone in this but what do i know, i had 26years of international fridge work that i remember with affection if thats the right word but know i would not want it now,but enjoy keeping in touch with old friends you all make the most of it take care Melv.
del949:
In answer to OP, I haven’t bought one in the last 30 years or so.
used to get the “Headlight” now and then.
AS Harry says the job is less interesting …and so are the trucks.
So true… there are only 7 major heavy truck manufacturers on UK sale now, and that will soon effectively be 5, as the differences between Volvo/Renault and MAN/Scania become less and less.
Having read transport magazines slavishly since 1984, it’s inevitable that the same old topics get covered; there are only so many ways you can dress up articles about the different types of job we all do.
However, I still have Trucking on Subscription, read Commercial Motor & Motor Transport at work and read T&D on the shelf - it just takes me less time to read them all
Ive bought 1 industry mag in the past 5 years I reckon and that was only because the firm I work for was on the front cover. I did stop buying them as it was always the same old chrome and spotlights stories. I used to like the long distance diaries and the bit where a group of drivers gave the lowdown on the firm (anon of course).
Magazines do cost a lot so as others have said, I consider them a luxury purchase.
skids:
Ive bought 1 industry mag in the past 5 years I reckon and that was only because the firm I work for was on the front cover. I did stop buying them as it was always the same old chrome and spotlights stories. I used to like the long distance diaries and the bit where a group of drivers gave the lowdown on the firm (anon of course).
Magazines do cost a lot so as others have said, I consider them a luxury purchase.
Almost £4 for the same old crap every month plus some ads…
)