Howard Returns to TT in Executive Editor Post

This story appears in the Jan. 23 print edition of Transport Topics.

Joe Howard has been appointed executive editor of Transport Topics, a move that marks his return to the publication.

Howard by Joseph Terry/TT

Howard, who served in a variety of editorial roles at TT from 2008 to 2015, spent the past 16 months in a communications role for two councils within American Trucking Associations. His return, he said, comes at a critical time for trucking.

“I am thrilled to be returning to TT at this moment in its history,” Howard said. “The trucking industry is poised for tremendous activity in the next few years, and TT will be there to keep the industry informed.”

He cited hours-of-service rule changes, the emergence of autonomous vehicles and potential policies for infrastructure improvements, all while a new presidential administration takes office.

Publisher Sue Hensley said that Howard is the right choice.

“I have confidence that Joe brings to the role the experience and vision necessary to help lead TT’s ongoing evolution and carry forward the great work our excellent staff does each day,” Hensley said.

Howard said his familiarity with that staff is one of the reasons he is excited to return.

“I’m fortunate to be surrounded by a staff of people I know and like and respect,” he said. “This is an extremely rare opportunity to step into a job like this at a publication that is well-respected and covers such an important industry.”

It’s an industry that has always excited Howard, a self-described “proud son of a diesel mechanic.”

“Trucks have been a part of my life my whole life,” Howard said. “Growing up, we always owned a truck, if not two.” In fact, as a child he tagged along when his father handled repairs for a small local trucking company. “My dad would take me with him, and I would climb around on the trucks. It was fun.”

Working at TT gives him an opportunity to blend that passion.

“I was always better at writing than anything else,” said Howard, whose journalism career began at the student newspaper “The Bottom Line” at Frostburg State University in Maryland. “I have always enjoyed being able to create something. I left TT for the same reasons I returned: career opportunity; to stretch myself; to do something I’ve never done before; and to be a part of something that I think is growing.”