Heavy Duty Trucking has landed five finalist spots in the 60th Annual Jesse H. Neal Awards competition for editorial excellence. The contest, often called "The Pulitzer Prize of the business press," is put on by ABM, an association of business information and media companies.

HDT has five of the 173 finalists selected by a distinguished board of judges for entries in commentary, news, technical, how-to and best theme issue categories:

Best Commentary

Editorials, by Deborah Lockridge, Editor in Chief. Three examples of editorial-writing were entered:

• "Is a CDL worth someone's life?" February 2013

• "Why the industry needs more women," April 2013

• "The Fallacy of the Open Door," May 2013

Best News

Hours of Service, by Oliver Patton, Washington Editor, and Evan Lockridge, Senior Contributing Editor. A series of online news stories covered the battle to delay or derail the new hours of service regulations that went into effect last summer, culminating in a print feature in August analyzing the early effects of the new rules, with a timeline tracing the convoluted and contentious history of the regulation.

Best Technical Content

"Green in 2014," January 2013, by Jim Park, Equipment Editor, and Deborah Lockridge, Editor in Chief. This cover story examined what the new EPA and NHTSA fuel economy regulations mean to your fleet.

Best Theme Issue

"The Quest for Fuel Savings," June 2013. HDT's entire staff was honored as finalists for this category. Our annual fuel issue looked at how fleets can save fuel, from making sure you're getting the fuel rebates you're due to cutting idling and improving fuel economy.

Best Instructional Content

"Drivers Today & Tomorrow," May 2013, by Deborah Lockridge, Editor in Chief, Oliver Patton, Washington Editor, Evan Lockridge, Senior Contributing Editor, and Jim Beach, Contributing Editor.

This package of stories covered "Nine ideas to find and keep drivers," plus the latest on driver pay trends and expanding the driver pool through immigration reform and hiring veterans.

The judging panel, chaired by Trevor Butterworth, of Stats.org, selected four finalists in each category from an original pool of 612 entries. The winners will be announced on March 14 during ABM’s annual Neal Awards ceremony at Pier Sixty in New York City.

Established in 1955, the Jesse H. Neal Awards recognize and reward editorial excellence in business media. The awards are named after ABM’s first managing director, who remained active in promoting the industry throughout his life. The Neal Awards are presented annually to those editors who have submitted entries exhibiting journalistic enterprise, service to the field and editorial craftsmanship.

Entries are divided into three classifications, according to the brand’s advertising and circulation revenue, with 12 editorial categories within each size classification and nine categories that do not require revenue figures. Material must have been published between December 1, 2012, and November 30, 2013.

ABM is a division of SIIA, an association representing the software and digital content industries. It focuses on the entire B-to-B business model – including data, events, information, marketing services and media.

Click here for a gallery of all the finalists.