Before the Work Truck Show, the NTEA held other events, such as this 1982 Supershow in New Orleans.Photo: NTEA
The 20th anniversary of the Work Truck Show this March in Indianapolis promises to be a special occasion.
By December, the main exhibit hall at the Indiana Convention Center had already sold out, according to show organizers, the NTEA — the Association for the Work Truck Industry.
Also sold out was space in the New Exhibitor Pavilion, returning for the second straight year. In total, more than 530 exhibitors have booked booths for the event, which takes place March 3-6.
Will that mean a new attendance record for the show, which set the benchmark at 14,256 in 2019?
“As with every year, it’s difficult to predict final attendance numbers this far in advance, but we
“The service truck sector has always been an important part of the commercial vehicle industry. The complexity of these vehicles aligns very well with the activity at the event. Everyone has the opportunity to work together to design and engineer vehicle solutions that are optimized for each customer’s specific needs.”— Steve Carey, president and CEO, NTEA
hope to continue the attendance growth trend experienced over the last several years,” said Steve Carey, the NTEA’s president and chief executive officer, in an email interview with Service Truck Magazine.
Plenty of special events
Highlights of the 2020 show include the Manufacturer and Distributor Innovation Conference, which made its debut last year; the Green Truck Summit, which has been a show fixture since 2007; and a variety of educational sessions, such as Fleet Management 101, and Spec’ing for Success.
Other special events on the schedule include the opening reception, with a race-track theme, at the JW Marriott Indianapolis, and the NTEA annual general meeting. The latter features keynote speaker Nikki Haley, the former U.S. ambassador to the United Nations. Haley will take part in a moderated discussion.
Carey said show organizers received positive comments from attendees of the inaugural Manufacturer and Distributor Innovation Conference “with a majority saying they would recommend the conference to others and plan to attend the 2020 event.”
The NTEA’s “unwavering goal” for the Work Truck Show “is to provide a platform to help companies be successful, and the industry has shown that the show plays an important role in helping discover new opportunities, overcome challenges and achieve goals,” Carey said. “It’s exciting to witness the evolution, as each year, more industry businesses and organizations use this week to debut products, host meetings and networking events, and provide training.”
Service trucks prominent
Among the exhibitors at the show are dozens of manufacturers of service bodies as well as accessory makers for service trucks. They include such familiar brands as Auto Crane, Stellar, Boss, CTech, Service Trucks International, Coxreels, Vanair, Taylor Pump & Lift, Hannay Reels, Palfinger, Venco Venturo, Reelcraft, Maintainer, Summit, and Lincoln Electric.
“The service truck sector has always been an important part of the commercial vehicle industry,” Carey said. “The complexity of these vehicles aligns very well with the activity at the event. Everyone has the opportunity to work together to design and engineer vehicle solutions that are optimized for each customer’s specific needs.”
Blair Vrcan (left) and Katie Powell staff the Lincoln Electric booth in the New Exhibitor Pavilion at the 2019 Work Truck Show.File: Keith Norbury
Blair Vrcan, product manager for commercial engine-driven products with Lincoln Electric, attended the Work Truck Show for the first time in 2019. “This is an awesome event,” she said during the show. “The NTEA have been so kind to us in walking us around, showing us what we need to know. They helped us out even getting current information on the service truck industry. They’ve been awesome hosts.”
At the 2019 show, Lincoln was in the New Exhibitor Pavilion. For 2020, it has a booth on the main floor.
“Last year, NTEA wanted to provide an improved way to highlight new exhibitors at the event,” Carey said. “New Exhibitor Pavilion was ultimately successful with 20 of the 26 companies that participated in 2019 returning for 2020.”
“Really good show”
Work Truck Show attendees include distributors and end-users of exhibitors’ products. For example, Darrell Doom and Jacob Bostic of Southern States Cooperative checked out a Pal Pro 43 service body on display at the IXS Coatings stand at the 2019 show.
“It’s been a good show, really good show,” said Doom of his third visit to the event.
Bostic, who was attending for the first time, was most impressed with vast size of the show and the array of vendors. “You get to see a little bit of everything,” Bostic said.
The 2020 show is nearly three times as large as the 2001 show, Carey pointed out. Indeed the occasion has grown to be known as Work Truck Week.
While the show in its present form began in 2001 in Baltimore, the NTEA and its precursor organization, the Truck Equipment & Body Distributors Association, had produced member events since 1965. That was a year after the formation of the Truck Equipment & Body Distributors Association, commonly called Distributors Association or D/A.
Those early events were smaller affairs, with tabletop displays, but eventually grew into larger conventions, and later a biennial Supershow that launched in 1982 in New Orleans. “In the late 1990s, markets were consolidating, distribution channels were shifting, customer demands were changing and there were rapid developments in information technology and equipment innovation. It was time for a new, more frequent trade show,” a recent NTEA news release pointed out.
That led the NTEA in 2000 to produce T3 — The Commercial Truck Trailer & Technology Expo — which a year later became the Work Truck Show.
Complex undertaking
Since 2001, attendance at the show has nearly doubled, from 7,143 to the record in 2019. It’s no surprise that the show is the most complex activity for the NTEA, which has a staff of 34. Producing the show “also relies on outstanding vendor partners,” Carey said. That’s both before and during the event itself.
The 2020 Work Truck Show opens Tuesday, March 3 with a full day of education and networking that includes the Manufacturer and Distributor Innovation Conference, and the Green Truck Summit, culminating with an opening reception that evening. The reception, taking place at JW Marriott Indianapolis, features arcade racing games, a pit stop tire change challenge, and micro reality race track. The main exhibition hall is open March 4 and 5 from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m., and March 6 from 9 a.m. to noon. The New Exhibitor Pavilion is open March 4 and 5 from 9.m. to 4 p.m. “It opens an hour before the main exhibit hall to give attendees extra time to discover something new,” Carey explained.
Educational opportunities abound throughout the show. (See related stories.) And once again, the show features a Ride-and-Drive event on March 4 and 5 from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. that is open to all attendees.
In March 2021, the Work Truck Show will again return to Indianapolis, where it has been held since 2011.
For more information on the 2020 Work Truck Show, visit www.worktruckshow.com.