About TAP Publishing
TAP Publishing Company publishes buy/sell tabloids for the aviation, heavy
construction and oil and gas industries. We
also offer searchable web sites for each publication as well as Commercial
Printing Services. Our web-based weather service WeatherTAP has
twice been named "Best of the Web" by Forbes
Magazine.
For 68 years all of TAP Publishing’s operations have been based
in Crossville, Tennessee. We employ a full press and mailing staff
as well as advertising representatives, customer service representatives,
IT specialists, and our own web and computer development departments.
Our
mission is to strive to continually offer superior printed and web-based
products and services while always providing excellent customer service and
paying close attention to our customers’ needs and the changing technological
environment.
In 1935, when Cosby Harrison, a private pilot from Crossville,
TN, crashed his airplane in stormy weather, he could not have realized the
lasting impact of his adventure. His slight misfortune would give rise to
a shoestring operation that would become the great entrepreneurial success
of Trade-A-Plane, the flagship publication of TAP Publishing Company.
Luckily after the crash, only
his ego was injured. His plane, however,
was in tatters. The determined aviator encountered a great deal of
frustration finding parts to repair it because aviation magazine advertisements
of the day took months to generate a response. This became Harrison’s
inspiration for starting Trade-A-Plane, a buy-sell publication for aircraft
and parts. At age 37, he and his wife, Margaret, began publishing the
tri-monthly paper on their kitchen table. By focusing on advertisements
and excluding editorial content, the publication served to bring buyer and
sellers together in the general aviation market.
In 1950, TAP Publishing entered
the heavy construction industry with the first printing of Rock & Dirt.
In 1980, Tradequip was acquired to serve the oil
and gas industry. Rock & Dirt
expanded into the Latin American construction
and mining market with the
publication of Rock & Dirt en
Español in 1992.
In 1997, TAP Publishing launched individual web sites
for each publication. The web sites offer users not only the opportunity
to search the entire contents of each publication but several other special “online
only” features
as well.
In 2003, TAP Publishing installed a new press that allows us to print four-color
on every page. The press consists of a 12-unit, 3-web heatset
press configured as two parallel lines, one with eight units stacked four
over four and one with four units. The press also employs stochastic
screen technology which adds better definition and clarity. The standard
spray technology allows a faster turnaround with less waste. Not
only do our publications benefit from the new press, our commercial printing
customers do as well.
For more information on our individual products, please select one of the
links on the left hand side of the screen. Contact us today to see
how TAP Publishing Company can serve you.
TAP Publishing
P.O. Box 509
Crossville TN 38557
Phone: 800-337-5263 or 931-484-5137
Fax: 800-423-9030 or 931-456-2532
E-mail: info@tappublishing.com