David Lee Cullen, who has been covering trucking exclusively for major industry magazines since 1981, is joining the Heavy Duty Trucking editorial team as executive editor.

Cullen most recently held the position of executive editor of Fleet Owner Magazine. He launched his career with DES (Diesel Equipment Superintendent) magazine, where he served as managing editor.

In his new role at HDT, he will help develop print and digital editorial strategies, write substantive features for the magazine, cover industry events and more while reporting to Editor in Chief Deborah Lockridge.

Cullen's duties will include taking over Washington legislative and regulatory coverage from Oliver Patton, HDT's award-winning Washington editor, who is retiring after 40 years covering the trucking industry. Patton has been with HDT since 1998, prior to which he was editor of Transport Topics.

Cullen has received numerous editorial writing awards, including a prestigious Jesse H. Neal journalism award from American Business Media and the distinguished Stephen Barr Award for Excellence in Feature Writing from the American Society of Business Publication Editors. He holds a Bachelor of Arts in Communications/Journalism from Iona College, New Rochelle, NY.

A native of Connecticut, Cullen will be based in Fairfield, Connecticut, starting February 10. He joins an award-winning and highly experienced team of writers and editors; with Cullen's addition, the editorial team collectively has more than 250 years of experience covering the trucking industry.

Heavy Duty Trucking is part of Bobit Business Media's Fleet Group, which also includes publications such as Automotive Fleet and Work Truck magazines.