"Commercial Motor is supporting its readers and advertisers during this trying time" says editor Will Shiers

We are STILL the road haulage industry's trusted partner, and have been for 115 years, says editor Will Shiers.

UK road haulage is incredibly resilient, and will cope with COVID-19 just as it has coped with many crises before.

And throughout the last century which has seen two world wars, the credit crunch, the Brexit referendum and now this pandemic, the road transport industry’s leading publication has been there to lend its support.

Since 1905, Commercial Motor has been published weekly, providing readers with guidance, advice and the biggest marketplace for used vehicles, and it is doing exactly the same today. Despite the disruption caused by the pandemic, Commercial Motor continues to print and distribute hard copies with 50 pages of industry, vehicle and legal news, road tests and in-depth features to keep hauliers bang up to date with the latest developments.

Through our expanded news coverage, we’re reporting on the latest legislative changes and top stories from the frontline, helping to steer our readers on a successful course through this latest challenge.

And Commercial Motor is still by far the best place to buy or sell a used truck or trailer, with 1,000s of classified ads every week in the print edition.

Commercial Motor is available every Thursday through leading newsagents as well as being delivered direct to the door of subscribers. While there has been no reported disruption to our usual distribution channels, if any subscriber is having difficulty obtaining their copy just email us on Subscriberemails@dvvmediainternational.com to receive a full digital version of the magazine.

In addition, every Monday morning, a classified-only digital version is available for FREE download.

Now has never been a better time to subscribe to Commercial Motor as there are some great deals available to make sure you never miss an issue.

Since the COVID-19 pandemic started, we have also witnessed record numbers of visits to our website commercialmotor.com, as UK truck operators turn to a trusted source for the latest news. And it’s not just the quality editorial that’s driven this additional traffic, as we’ve experienced a recent spike in visits to the used trucks section too. While there was a dip in traffic for the first two weeks of lockdown, this recovered significantly by the end of March, and the trend shows no signs of slowing.

While some buyers are making fewer calls than previously, they are still reaching for their phones, and sending WhatsApp messages instead. Our WhatsApp ‘click to chat’ button is getting more than a thousand clicks per week, and we are confident that this will continue to increase as more dealers choose to display the button on their profiles.

To support the industry at this challenging time, throughout the entire month of May used truck dealers will be able to advertise unlimited stock on commercialmotor.com totally free of charge.

On 26 November, when we can hopefully put COVID-19 behind us, join us at the Commercial Motor Awards to celebrate the best in new and used commercial vehicle sales and aftersales.

Commercial Motor has been there for hauliers through thick and thin for over a century – it has and always will be the beating heart of the industry.