Allow Me to (Finally) Introduce Myself, and Ask For Some Help
My name is Mark Williams and I’m the new editor of PickupTrucks.com. I’ll start by apologizing for not having done this sooner; as you might imagine, things have been pretty hectic around here.
To put it bluntly, I’m not sure anyone could replace Mike Levine. He created, nourished, and slaved over this site to the point it has now become one of the most significant pickup news and information sources around. For those who have been here from the beginning, you know he created this site with his own sweat and blood and always treated PUTC with the care and protection of a newborn. In fact, the energy and sustained quality of PUTC is practically a legend in the auto industry.
Some of you know a little bit about me from doing various searches, but I have to admit that really doesn’t provide the complete picture. I’ve been around the auto industry for almost 25 years, working for various publications. I did a long run with Four Wheeler magazine through the 90s. I did another good run with Motor Trend, publishing Truck Trend magazine though the 00s. And for the last several years I’ve been freelancing, much of the time with PUTC.
I like to think (and I’m pretty sure Levine would back me up on this) I’ve played a small part creating one of the best and most thorough testing procedures in the auto industry. If I know one thing about the PUTC audience, it’s that you want as much testing data and vehicle information as possible. I assure you, we will always provide the best and most thorough comparisons and road tests we can put together. With that said, we’ll continue to have a point of view and keep our focus on the type of vehicles we love best: pickups and their work-duty siblings. We’ll do everything possible to get you the most recent and up-to-date info on all the existing, coming, and possibly never-coming trucks we can find. And we’ll keep trying to get the stories that get us behind the major headlines.
Now, that’s my end of the bargain, but you have some responsibilities too. From what I’ve seen and what I hear from the major manufacturers, this is probably the most important source of information for engineers and product planners around. You may not think you’re doing anything more than responding to the stories we post or making corrections to less-informed commentators, but the truth is you are, quite literally, the smartest, most informed focus group anyone at Ford, General Motors, Toyota or Ram Truck could possibly ask for. The OEs know that when they come here to peek in on a specific conversation about the latest new vehicle or engine or technology or option package, they’re going to get high-level criticism from real truck people and potential buyers that are as discerning as they are passionate.
Those same OEs know this is where their harshest critics reside and where their most loyal fans check in. And that’s the way it should be at PUTC. With a few exceptions, what I’ve read and followed is at a level that I don’t get to enjoy very often. So you have a pretty important role to play in the survival and ongoing significance of this website too. This is the big leagues and if you can’t play like a major leaguer, than you shouldn’t be stepping out onto the field.
We’re all aware that PUTC is unique, but the most important thing to keep in mind is that we are one big tent. PUTC wants to be a big tent. That doesn’t mean we all agree or even remotely share a similar point of view all the time, but it does mean we all have to remember to be respectful and understand we are not the only ones’ that need to enjoy the shade. Of course, we all have different experiences and knowledge depth and we’re not all on the same path, but we are under this canopy together. And when the opportunity comes to help someone new or someone who might not understand pickup trucks or towing or four wheeling or engineering or economics as well as we do, I hope this community can be forgiving and accepting, because we can (and want to) be used as an educational tool as well.
I know what you’re asking at this point. What is all this about? The short answer is not a whole lot. This is, after all, just a website. But the way I see it is that with your help, we can make this the most important website the truck industry has at its disposal. It wouldn’t surprise me to learn that this site has already influenced the development and engineering product plans for several truck-making companies. I think the spectacular interest in the comparisons alone have proven that. And you are a big part of that. Keep those suggestions, comments, and brutally honest posts coming and we’ll try to keep our end up too.
Comments
pretty nice words for a bunch of fanboys! Anywho, you've been doing so good a job the transition has been relatively seamless; except for maybe the first coupla posts. And thanks so much for keepin' up the monthly sales!
Well said Mark...this is the big leagues.
How about a formal welcome to Mr. Mark Williams.
We appreciate you stepping in and taking over this great website. You have an extensive background that will be an asset to us all.
As a suggestion: I feel that it is not very beneficial, and sometimes frustrating, to read about global vehicles that it is highly unlikely we well ever see them in North America. Up and coming technologies is fine. I just get saddened to read about a potentially great product, that we will never see here, that is only for foreign products. Other than that, keep up the fantastic work.
Thanks,
Steve
Congrats on the new position and a big welcome from Texas.
Welcome Mark!
This has been a great source for truck news! Keep it going strong!
Mark, I for one am very grateful that someone with your background was willing to take on this job. PUTC has been my favourite site over the last 5 years since I discovered it. PUTC is fun, educational and up to date. Congrats and thank you for accepting your new position as editor of PUTC! All the best.
MMP
Question for you Whats your Favorite truck.....
Also welcome to the Pickup House.
@Mark Williams
Welcome to PUTC.
I don't expect you to replace Mike Levine.
Mike was the father of the site. Taking it from a newborn to what might be regarded as a young adult. The personality and other traits inculcated by Mike Levine will remain.
It is time for PUTC to find its own way with you acting as a mentor and/or guide. I look foreward to your own style and personality influencing this site.
Good luck.
I like seeing what the rest of the world has to offer in the way of drivetrains, trucks and "truck like" vehicles. I definately do not want to be confined to the North American continent.
How about a full sized versus small truck comparison test. Which truck really, and truly offers the best offroad capability, or real world value.
Raptor versus FX4 or PowerWagon versus Ram, Tacoma TRD versus base truck.
How about 4x4 versus 4x2.
Might be fun and interesting.
Mark played more than a small role with the website. As PUTC grew, I always saw the work Mark did at Motor Trend and Truck Trend as a benchmark. It was invaluable to have Mark contribute to PUTC in recent years. I'm very happy Mark is steering the ship!
Thanks for all the hard work you have put into PUTC love this site
Thanks Mark...look forward to seeing you put your stamp on things. Mike could never be replaced but glad to see someone of your caliber take the reins.
@Mike Levine - settled into your new job?
Nice to see your name on these boards form time to time.
Good luck.
@Mark Williams I can give Ford and GM feedback, that they are not going get from their subsidiaries on how the new Ranger and Colorado are fairing globally. Amazing how personal stories and users comments on websites, reflect more accurately how the vehicles have been accepted by the public.
Andrew Mackenzie who is the current boss of Motor Trend and prior to that was the Editor of WHEELS Magazine in Australia.
welcome Mr.Williams you name did look very familiar upon your arrival now I know why youve worked for alotta magazines I read. its nice to know that the industry recognizes the fact that the biggest p.u.t fans and fanboys are regulars here. let's not turn this article into a bashing of yota or gm or something let's just welcome our new friend!
Too bad this site is 110% biased to Ford! Ford always wins on PUTC! GM is still the clear winner though!
I guess I'm not going to be getting a phone call to interview for the editor position, huh? Great... LOL!!
Congrats Mark, at first I thought you were just a "fill-in" until PUTC found Mike's replacement, but glad to hear you're here to stay, I respect your background and experience.
Mike was extremely talented, and as a GM fan, I hate to see him go to work for my rival because Ford didn't need any more help than they already had. I would have liked to have seen him go to work for GM, obviously, but he did what was best for him and I don't blame him one bit. I really do hope GM is reading the comments on this site, because they need a lot of help and they need to start listening to their loyal customers! Offering more options, colors, models, updates, etc on their trucks like Ford does is key to their success! Anyway, I'm going off on a tangent, but I hope that this site will continue to grow and get better. Thanks for your committment.
@Bobbeh,
You have no class!
@Mark Williams (MK)
Thanks for all you do. Now that you put it that way, I will refrain my self from the bad comments and avoid the trolls.
Thanks for being real!
Welcome Mark. Hope you keep up the great work that was started by Mike. By the way Mike nice to see you on these post still, how's the new job coming along?
Mark, please don't ever make us sign in to post!
welcome mark,
i know putc will continue to be the reference
for all pick up truck fan, i start visit this website 2 or 3 years ago and never been disapointed, will continued to come every day :)
Long time reader, first time poster. Welcome Mark, love the site.
Not to get off topic but I think signing into post and maybe the addition of a fullblown forum for the site as well might be really nice. Despite the fact that some people on here are total idiots Ive often learned stuff from die hard GM yota Ford and Nissan fans that I normally wouldnt have interacted w/ on a Ram/Mopar forum.
Welcome.
In case any manufacturers are reading this...
We want TURBO DIESELS. We want crew cabs WITH longbeds. We want manual gearboxes. We want solid front axles. We want a truck that looks like a truck. And we want it made here. And we want it for well under $30k.
That's not asking too much, is it?
Mark, Best wishes and thanks for all of your hard work. Many of us use your site to get the best information about trucks on the web. We all have our biases and most of us always try to be as considerate as possible because we all have one thing in common. We are truck people.
Congrats on your new position Mark, and thanks Mike for all of your hard work over the years.
-Chrissy
Mark now that Mike has gone over to Ford, maybe if you want a full time job maybe you could toute the Mahindra pickup as the next best thing to a PP&J sandwich. Welcome aboard Mark and what ever happened to Mahindra?
@Mark Williams
Thank you for the great job you do. We all know that PUTC is the best website...that's why we keep coming back. We are still waiting on that towing and mileage test of Ford's 5.0, Ecoboost and 6.2 engines.
I enjoyed the site for the first time last week and bought a truck for $24436.00 and $2000.00 for shipping great deal until it never showed up and now Iam out $4436.00 Now Iam not sure how I feel
Welcome aboard & best of luck !!
Please remember ..............
It's Truck Trend , not S.U.V. Trend or station wagon trend
or even crossover trend.
Pick up trucks are why I buy this mag.
T.H.
Welcome on board from a frenchie ! Hope that you keep this very informative website , the reference for the pickup-trucks, always on the top.
Welcome to PickupTrucks.com Mark!
Your insightful introduction made me wonder- as a '11 Titan driver, will the next gen Nissan Titan be built off the modified Nissan Patrol platform which uses the updated Titan drive train in global markets, and which we see here in the Infiniti Q56?
Welcome and thanks for keeping the site going!
Anything pickuptruck related is warranted on here whether we have access to the product in the US and Canada or not. Ignoring what goes on in the rest of the world is why a lot of us are considered ignorant. I've learned a lot from this site.
As far as SUV's, it's tough to draw the line sometimes but what's the hurt in knowing what's happening with them? Not every news story will appeal to everybody.
As long as we're inundated with plenty of truck news as it becomes available and it stays a dedicated site for pickuptrucks there's no harm in having some fringe articles. If I dont care about the topic I won't read it, it's simple.
In the mean time, I think we should be respectful that things change and grow so let's not be a bunch of as*holes if all news stories or tests don't meet our personal categories and tastes.
I'm into the HD tests/shootouts but it doesn't kill me to read about the under $30K half tons!
Best wishes Mike Levine and Mark Williams to your endeavors! And welcome, Mark, to writing for PUTC. I have been a PUTC fan for almost ten years and a truck fan all my life. Keep up the good work!
I've been a subscriber to "fourwheeler" since the mid 90's and I love many of the things you all came out with. The first years of "top truck challenge" and the variety of vehicles that first competed were awesome. We all appreciate your contributions to that magazine.
It's nice to know PUTC's new editor didn't come from Consumer Reports!
Keep up the good work. We are happy to chew on anything even remotely related to pickups and 4wd Suv's from around the world. Many of the best Ideas are borrowed from others and combined into a product that exceeds the sum of it's parts.
I'm not sure an enthusiast is truly capable of being completely impartial but keep feeding us news and comparisons and we'll do what we do best...
toss our $.02 in!
welcome aboard !
one thing Mike was going to look into was some sort of log in procedure so its known who's who. people like Bob log in under 10 different names and Lou gets impersonated etc.
i've been here mostly lurking for a couple years now and always look forward to the articles with much antipation, keep up the good work !
welcome aboard !
one thing Mike was going to look into was some sort of log in procedure so its known who's who. people like Bob log in under 10 different names and Lou gets impersonated etc.
i've been here mostly lurking for a couple years now and always look forward to the articles with much antipation, keep up the good work !
If we are going to be teased with products, that we are not likely to see here in North America, then the whining needs to stop. No crying about Thailand getting the new Ford Ranger. No crying about the new Chevrolet Colorado, destined for other countries, getting diesel options.
We get what we get here in America and we get to be jealous of what the rest of the world gets. Enjoy reading about options we will unlikely see!
Welcome Mark from the truck lovers in Canada. Love this web site. We would like to here more stats about sales in Canada as we buy more trucks per capita than you guys in the USA. Keep the great stories coming.
Congratulations and Welcome, Mark!
Speaking of the big leagues, when are we getting a proper forum where we can edit our comments when we have a typo? ;-)
@ Mark Williams
Welcome aboard (officially) from Southwestern Ohio. I look forward to your spin on things.
I've been enjoying this site for a few years now and I must say its been quite interesting. I really enjoy the site even though some people turn it into a bash session, thats annoying....(especially when they're just wrong lol)
This is a fun site, keep the cool info coming......
Welcome aboard.
The downfall of all message boards and blogs are personal attacks and nonsensical brand bashing. Brand loyalty is one thing but too many folks on this and other boards and blogs take it to an extreme.
I am a licensed (in 5 states) Professional (Civil) Engineer, a certified Professional Traffic Operations Engineer, and a certified Professional Transportation Planner. I would have gone into mechanical/automotive engineering if I could have lived in the South while doing so. My wife is also a licensed Professional Engineer, so we're an engineering family. I'm also a "Car and Truck Guy" I subscribe to Motor Trend, Truck Trend, Car and Driver, and Road & Track. I've owned Toyota Trucks, Ford Trucks, and Chevy Trucks both gas and diesel. Each truck had their own pro's and con's. I am NOT a brand loyalist. I really enjoys the technical aspects of head to head comparisons. I hope Chevy, Ford, and Dodge continue in their transformation and quest to build better and better vehicles. The US should never accept building second rate vehicles like they did in the 1980's. Godspeed!
@Buy American, any American who is jealous of what they have overseas has some pretty low aspirations. I hear people talk about wanting a comparable truck to the diesels over there, personally I don't see why anyone in their right mind would want a medium to large truck with a 200 HP engine. We had them in the 80's here, I don't wanna go backward. Americans have the best pickup trucks the world produces because of our lower priced fuel. If I get a choice of a 400 HP truck that's almost as comfortable as a luxury car, or a 200 HP spartan trimmed truck, I don't have to think about it long. Hey Weymard, why did you buy your Chevy when you could have had a Hilux?
"...any American who is jealous of what they have overseas has some pretty low aspirations...." -Tom
I agree. I am happy with all of the American products we have. There is no foreign vehicle that I really care for. American car companies have equal, if not better, choices.
I could think of a number of foreign cars I would love to see offered in the US--heck, even a few GM and Ford ones:
GM: Any and all RWD Holdens (I know that GM tried with the GTO and G8).
Ford: Falcon and Ranger
I would like to see Toyota offer the diesel Hilux and the other Land Cruiser variants. Any reasonable person would want these vehicles offered--if nothing else to see how the other manufactures may respond... .
To guys wanting forums, doesn't that already exist here? If you look at the top bar it says "forums" click on that and tada! I've been posting there for several years now anyway??
Anyway best of luck Mark... great site
So glad you got the job! Couldn't be any other choice. You're one of the top automotive journalist and fun to read. Stock up on B12, see you in Texas.
Wecome aboard!..Officially.
I have an article suggestion, very important, hit me up.
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