Earlier this month, we learned that a long-time, well-respected trucking industry trade journalist would be leaving the profession to join the communications team at the American Association of State Highway Transportation Officials.

That journalist is none other than Fleet Owner’s Sean Kilcarr, who became editor-in-chief of Fleet Owner magazine last year following the retirement of Jim Mele. On April 6, Fleet Owner vice president and group publisher Reggie Lawrence announced the promotion of Neil Abt from senior editor to editorial director to succeed Sean. http://www.fleetowner.com/people/fleet-owner-promotes-neil-abt-editorial-director-taps-michael-catarevas Sean’s last day was Friday the 13th. Fleet Owner is also expanding Michael Catarevas’ role as managing editor to include some new responsibilities.

Neil and Michael have some pretty large shoes to fill and we wish them great success as they take on their new roles. But on a bit of a sad note, we bid adieu to Sean – you will be greatly missed. Your insight and expertise in covering trucking and transportation news have been important to our industry. Certainly, your wit and sense of humor reflected in your posts on Fleet Owner’s Trucks at Work blog have been a pleasure to read.

We wish you luck with your new job on the communications team at AASHTO, and look forward to any opportunities we have in working with you at your new post.

We’ll leave you with some words we think you’ll not only recognize, but also appreciate:

“Jump in the cockpit and start up the engines. Remove all the wheelblocks. There’s no time to waste. Gathering speed as we head down the runway. Gotta get airborne before it’s too late.”
Stephen Percy Harris

Good luck, Sean.