A tale of two trade shows

After nearly two years with nary a chance for trucking professionals to gather together and get hands-on with the latest trucks and equipment, many had to make a tough decision the second week of March. The question was whether to attend The American Trucking Associations’ Technology & Maintenance Council Annual Meeting or NTEA’s Work Truck 2022. TMC’s event in Orlando was scheduled March 7-10, while Work Truck went on March 8-11 in Indianapolis.

Both events were virtual last year, though held as usual in 2020, taking place in the “old normal” times, before COVID-19 came and buzz sawed society and civility. But this year they came back with a vengeance, both promising a deep exploration of electrification to go along with plenty of product launches and general industry updates.

TMC’s Annual meeting is a vital week of educational opportunities for fleet and shop leadership, a chance to check out what’s new and exciting at the exhibit hall, and a great time to air grievances at the Fleet Talk and Shop Talk forums. The week is just as important for journalists covering the trade, from the Sunday press conference marathon, to several days of walking the show floor gathering stories to refresh and sustain our publications’ content for the next year, and often longer.

While Work Truck Week takes place in a colder climate, the NTEA and city of Indianapolis are always more than hospitable. By event standards, Work Truck is more intimate than TMC, though bursting with things to do and see, with chassis pilling out into the hallways. As a Midwesterner, I appreciate the blue-collar feel; and as a tech enthusiast, the Green Truck Summit is always a fascinating journey into the future of sustainable trucking that does not shy away from the challenges of the messy middle.

Read: Electrification at a 'tipping point' as fleets explore adoption

Personally, choosing which event I should attend was just as messy. TMC is all about helping fleets manage their maintenance, and as the editor of Fleet Maintenance, I ultimately decided it was the best for me to attend. The theme this year, “Electrifying Performance in Maintenance Management,” also didn’t hurt. With momentum for electric trucks growing every year, and a litany of questions about operation and service still unanswered, this conference, and several task forces within it, would surely help narrow down what areas fleets should focus on in the short term.

“Are fleets going to be able to work on these things or not? Do you have to be a licensed electrician to work on [an] electric vehicle? It's not clear. So we have a task force to try to figure all that out.” TMC executive director Robert Braswell told me in February.

The chance to ride along in some EVs, and escape from Ohio’s unpredictable March weather, were fine bonuses. They came unfortunately at the expense of my attending Work Truck, which also had a heavy focus on EVs and their maintenance.

Work Truck also landed Mike Rowe as the keynote, an advocate for the trades who I greatly admire, though TMC’s keynote, John O’Leary, president and CEO of Daimler Trucks North America, is a no slouch.

Read: The world is changing fast, and trucking industry must, too, says DTNA CEO

“Just because there's no dipstick in it doesn't mean there's no maintenance,” Kevin Koester, NTEA’s managing director, told me before the show. “And giving people a good understanding of the impacts and the requirements of maintaining an electric vehicle will be [important] as they propagate in the industry and start to hit the road.”

There were also specific insights into the light- and medium-duty EV spaces, where electrification will take holder faster, as battery capacity does not limit them as much as long haul.

These work trucks also have a wider variety of jobs, and the need for more upfitting.

“In our space, there are 1,000 versions of a truck that are all massively different from each other,” said Koester, adding that the new powertrain will create new potentials for danger. “Am I drilling into places on the frame that are going to get my guys electrocuted?”

In an industry as vast as transportation, things like this are bound to happen on occasion, but it’s a shame that stakeholders had to choose between the two. Luckily, you’ll find plenty of coverage of both shows at FleetMaintenance.com, as Fleet Maintenance is part of a larger team covering all angle of the commercial vehicle business, and we were able to send editors to both.

Here are a few from each show:

TMC

Work Truck

We consider you, the reader, as part of our team as well, and we know there’s far more (around 95% more) to trucking than EVs, so if there is ever a topic you’d like to learn more about, or some equipment or tools you think will help fellow maintenance colleagues, my inbox is always open: [email protected].