TMC Honors Paul Abelson With Membership Award
ARLINGTON, Va. — Trucking journalist Paul Abelson, Lisle, Ill., is the latest recipient of the Technology & Maintenance Council’s (TMC) Gerri Murphy Membership Award, presented recently during TMC’s 2009 Annual Meeting in Orlando, Fla., Feb. 9-12.
Mr. Abelson, senior technical editor for the Owner-Operator Independent Drivers Association’s Landline and TravelCenters of America’s Road King magazines, received the award in recognition of his member recruitment and Council development efforts and for mentoring future TMC leaders. His numerous articles for trade publications promoting TMC, its Recommended Practices and Council participation have helped create awareness of TMC’s maintenance and safety standards among owner-operators and other commercial vehicle drivers.
In addition, his recruitment of owner-operators into the Council helped to incorporate the driver’s perspective into TMC Recommended Practices and technical presentations, and helped to promote a new owner-operator membership category.
In his 26 years of participating in TMC, Mr. Abelson has actively served on numerous Task Forces, the Associates Advisory Group, Membership Outreach Committee, and as a Study Group officer and a director at large. He is a TMC Recognized Associate and received the Silver Spark Plug award, the Council’s highest honor, in 1995.
Mr. Abelson, a CDL holder himself since 1992, is also active in the Society of Automotive Engineers, Trucker Buddy International, the National Association of Show Trucks, Truck Writers of North America (TWNA) and the Midwest Automotive Media Association. He was presented with the TWNA Lifetime Achievement Award in 2006.
The Gerri Murphy Membership Award, presented in honor of former TMC membership director Gerri Murphy, recognizes lifetime and career achievements in support of a growing TMC membership. Past recipients include Murrey Alderfer, 2001; Darrell Hicks, 2003; and Jim Winsor, 2006.
TMC, a technical council of American Trucking Associations, is North America's premier technical society for truck equipment technology and maintenance professionals. TMC features a diverse membership of equipment managers, service-dealers, owner-operators, technicians, industry suppliers and manufacturers, educators, academia and others that support the trucking industry. TMC member fleets represent the broad range of industry vocations, including truckload, less-than-truckload, municipal, private, on/off-highway, construction and other operations. Find out more about TMC online at http://tmc.truckline.com.
American Trucking Associations, the national trade association for the trucking industry, is a federation of affiliated state trucking associations, conferences and organizations that includes more than 37,000 motor carrier members representing every type and class of motor carrier in the country. ATA serves the interests of more than nine million people and 420,000 companies involved in trucking before Congress, the courts and regulatory agencies. http://www.truckline.com