CLEVELAND, Ohio—It’s been quite awhile since the commercial vehicle industry has gathered in-person to discuss all things maintenance, which will add an extra level of excitement and anticipation to the American Trucking Associations’ Technology & Maintenance Council 2021 Fall Meeting & Transportation Technology Exhibition in Cleveland. Last year’s fall and this year’s spring meetings were both virtual.
In the time between the last TMC Spring meeting in February 2020, held in Atlanta, and now, we’ve faced incredible hardships both at home and work: world-shattering pandemic, tumultuous social and political upheaval, and paradigm shift in logistics now weighted toward ecommerce and the last mile. And the biggest threat to normalcy and consistency in the trucking maintenance world continues to grow: electrification.
Meanwhile, diesel trucks have continued to become more complex, and the need to diagnose and resolve fault codes and get them back on the road has become increasingly more vital. So there’s a lot to catch up on.
The theme this year is “Mastering the New Realities of Maintenance Management,” and will feature the latest in diagnostic tools and telematics, while the sessions will focus on best practices surrounding advanced driver assistance systems (ADAS) and the future of truck spec’ing. Click here for the interactive floor plan.
TMCSuperTech 2021 will be held Sunday, September 12, and feature a written test and 11 skills stations. The HD Repair Forum will be co-located with the event and be held Wednesday and Thursday.
Chris Spear, ATA president and CEO, reported the event has experienced “strong registration.” How the recent COVID-19 Delta variant will impact attendance remains to be seen, but Cuyahoga County (population: 1.2 million) has averaged less than one COVID-related death per day in the last 30 days despite cases trending upward, according to The New York Times data. Huntington Convention Center has taken several measures to combat the coronavirus as well, such as touchless restroom doors and upgraded ventilation filters.
There is also cause to celebrate. Because in spite of all the madness, each and every day trucking’s maintenance professionals tackled all the new issues jeopardizing uptime head-on, and came back the next day to do it again. And while truck drivers were able to see and hear the thankful denizens cheering them on as they enter city after city with new supplies, the maintenance side just walked through the garage door, opened their toolboxes, logged into their maintenance systems, and quietly got to making sure those trucks could keep moving.
Now it’s time to rock and roll with old friends and new acquaintances, and there’s really no place better to do that than Cleveland in the waning days of summer. I say that mostly because it’s my hometown and I don’t have to travel or stay in a hotel, but also because the city has plenty of great places to eat and meet. If steak is your thing, Red, the Steakhouse and Marble Room are pricey, but totally worth every penny.
Several eclectic neighborhoods surround the Downtown area, such as The Flats, which flanks the East and West Banks of the Cuyahoga River. I recommend getting an outdoor table at Alley Cat Oyster Bar or Shooters on the Water (the latter is closed on Mondays). Punch Bowl Social Club is a good place to eat, drink, and be merry with games and private karaoke rooms.
Across the Lorain-Carnegie Bridge, whose Guardians of Traffic inspired the Cleveland Indians’ name change, lies Ohio City, a cool neighborhood beloved by Anthony Bourdain and other foodies for the West Side Market. Across the street, you can hit up Great Lakes Brewing Co., which has plenty of comfort food and an amazing array of beers to satisfy beer snobs and casual sippers alike. One is named after Eliot Ness, the famous cop and city’s former safety director, who as legend goes, was in some way responsible for the bullet holes embedded in the mahogany bar (though likely just an urban legend).
That’s my take on what’s on tap for TMC this year, but this is really only my second time attending in-person, and first as editor of Fleet Maintenance. So I asked a few industry veterans for their thoughts:
Nicole Oreskovic, regional VP of marketing, product planning, and sales operations, Bendix Commercial Vehicle Systems
Booth #8077
How many TMC events attended?
Seven
Most interesting thing you’ve ever seen/learned at a TMC event?
The most interesting aspect I’ve seen and learned over the years at TMC is not a specific product or technology—it’s the collaboration across the industry between competitors, peers, and customers. It’s a uniquely beneficial experience as we all learn from each other to make the trucking industry better.
What are you looking forward to learning more this year?
For me, the availability of skilled/trained technicians and the training protocols necessary to keep up with the latest in technology innovations. I’m most looking forward to discovering more about the move toward electrification and the associated changes to the infrastructure as well as maintenance practices.
What are you most excited about attending in-person?
Meeting with colleagues, customers, and friends from across the industry in person again. It’s a bit like that old saying, “You don’t know how much you miss something until it’s gone.” After a year and half without a lot of face-to-face discussions and collaboration with customers and other industry colleagues, you really come to realize how important it is to our mutual success and how much you miss it.
And Cleveland is a fabulous city and I’m so excited for individuals from around the country to experience my hometown firsthand. There are some amazing restaurants on East 4th, West 6th. Ohio City is home to one of my favorites, Johnny’s on Fulton. It’s a small Italian restaurant in an old Cleveland neighborhood that has been around since the 1920s.
What can attendees expect from your booth?
Our guests can expect to learn more about the safety systems and support for e-vehicles offered by Bendix, including our flagship Wingman Fusion driver assistance system with enhanced feature set. Coupled with our powerful Bendix air disc brakes, it delivers the ultimate stopping power in the CV industry. In addition, they can explore more about our e-vehicle brake system, new air treatment technologies, newly released active steering system, and information on our trailer products.
Brant Schneider, national fleet sales manager, Alcoa Wheels
Booth #3075
How many TMC events attended?
25
Most interesting thing you’ve ever seen/learned at a TMC event?
What is learned at TMC is that this organization is the “one-stop shop” that brings all industry stake holders together in one place, not only to network and share ideas and best practices, but to work as a team to resolve the maintenance challenges that are present today and in the future.
What are you looking forward to learning more this year?
On the schedule this Fall, it can be noted that there is a lot of focus on electrified vehicles. In many of the Task Force, Study Group, and Technical Sessions, you will see a theme. I believe many component suppliers will have to have a strategy as to how they will bring value and synergy to this emerging technology.
What are you most excited about attending in-person?
First and foremost: Seeing friends, colleagues, and customers in a non-virtual setting after many months.
The Convention Center is in the heart of it all in Downtown Cleveland. Much of it can be accessed by walking a few short blocks to anything from brew pubs to five-star restaurants.
What can attendees expect from your booth?
Attendees will see first-hand how great our wheels can look on their equipment. Overall, our theme at the booth is how Alcoa Wheels can bring value to the fleet operation with many of our innovations and patented technologies. We will also have some surprises at the booth as well.
Bruno Gattamorta, VP of sales and marketing, Cojali USA
Booth #: 3056
How many TMC events attended?
Four
Most interesting thing you’ve ever seen/learned at a TMC event?
How the work groups are set up and how they work to create legislation favorable to the industry and how everyone participates.
What are you looking forward to learning more this year?
The technician shortage and having the right tools. It all translates to downtime and how efficient we are in avoiding it.
What are you most excited about attending in-person?
Seeing more about connected vehicles. There seems to be lot’s of buzz in that matter and I am excited to see the advances.
What can attendees expect from your booth?
They can see our approach on solving maintenance issues through diagnostics, and our take on connected vehicles, meaning running diagnostics and regens remotely to avoid downtime. A thorough look at the present and a sneak peak at the future.
Be sure to follow Fleet Maintenance for updates and coverage from the TMC 21 show.
