Kenworth, Peterbilt to Return to Mid-America Trucking Show

This story appears in the Dec. 7 print edition of Transport Topics.

Peterbilt and Kenworth trucks will be on display at the Mid-America Trucking Show in 2010, but Volvos won’t, according to officials of the truck makers.

Both Paccar units skipped the event this year, while Volvo Trucks North America attended, along with the other heavy-duty OEMs. Volvo last week said it would skip the event next year but would return in 2011.

Although VTNA’s stablemate Mack Trucks Inc. will be at the show, scheduled for March 25-27 in Louisville, Ky., Volvo said it would concentrate on personal interaction with customers to explain its new emissions technology.

“Volvo Trucks will not have a display at the Mid-America Trucking Show in 2010,” Volvo spokesman James McNamara told Transport Topics. “We will focus on direct meetings with our customers next year by continuing to travel to them, as we have been doing for the past eight months.”

McNamara said that Volvo told MATS management that “we intend to return to Louisville in 2011. In the meantime, though, we’ve heard from some customers that our plans will help them during what they expect will be a difficult travel year.”

He said Volvo’s “personal interactions” would focus on explaining its selective catalytic reduction technology, which the company chose to meet federal emission mandates that go into effect Jan. 1.

Meanwhile, Paccar Inc.’s Peterbilt Motors, Denton, Texas, and Kenworth Trucks, Bellevue, Wash., issued separate statements Nov. 30, saying that they would attend the 2010 MATS.

“Kenworth has a lot going on in 2010, and it’s a good opportunity to show new products, such as the Kenworth T440 and Kenworth T470,” spokesman Jeff Parietti told Transport Topics, explaining the company’s planned return.

“The Mid-America Trucking Show offers an excellent forum to showcase new Peterbilt truck models, Paccar engines, and new services from Paccar Financial and Paccar Parts for 2010,” Bill Jackson, Peterbilt general manager, said in the company’s statement.

Both Paccar companies had attended MATS for the previous 22 years before 2009, and VTNA had attended for 27 straight years through this year, Toby Young, president of Exhibit Management Associates Inc., which organizes the event, told TT.

“We’re very happy that they decided to return to the show because we feel it’s a testament to the reach of Mid-America,” MATS manager Young said. “We’re happy to have them back.”

He said neither company gave a reason for its decision to return. “They missed us, I guess.”

All original equipment manufacturers have experienced a sharp drop in Class 8 sales this year, following a very poor 2008, with 2010 expected to be another difficult year.

Through October, Navistar Inc.’s International Trucks sales were down 19%, compared with the first 10 months of 2008; Daimler Trucks North America’s Freightliner Trucks was down 30.4%; Peterbilt declined 31.8%; Kenworth dropped 32.4%; Mack Trucks sales fell 46.3% and VTNA was down 42.9%. DTNA’s Western Star, a specialized brand that never has had large sales, was down 42.9%. DTNA’s Sterling brand, which ended production in March, was down 56.7%.

Young said that so far this year, companies’ reservations for MATS exhibition space was running at about the same pace as they had for the 2009 show.

The 2009 MATS had exhibitions from 935 companies from 46 states and 10 foreign countries, using more than one million square feet for exhibits, according to a MATS statement.

Attendance numbered 70,299 “trucking professionals, hailing from all 50 states and 51 foreign countries,” MATS said. 

“The 2008 Mid-America was the largest in our history, and we were down about 17% last year in the number of exhibitors and about 15% in square footage in ’09,” Young said. “Attendance was down only 7% to 8%.”

“One big change this year is that we’re seeing a resurgence in the number of foreign exhibitors,” Young said.

“They were down significantly last year from 2008, more than 20%, but it appears much of that will be reversed,” he said.

Both Kenworth and Peterbilt cited a redirection of resources as their reason for skipping the show last year.

“We are strategically refocusing our resources towards hosting most events at our plants and at our dealerships in order to meet with our customers in a more personalized basis,” Kenworth’s Parietti told TT in January.

Peterbilt spokesman David Giroux also said that his company would skip Mid-America to reallocate resources for “funding our new series of 2009 innovations and technology showcases.”

The two largest Class 8 manufacturers promised to have strong presences in the 2010 show with new product announcements.

“We will still be [at Mid-America] and in full force,” Maria McCullough, DTNA spokeswoman, told TT. “We will have some new announcements, but nothing that I can divulge at this time.”

DTNA, a subsidiary of German-based global truck maker Daimler AG, builds Freightliner and Western Star trucks, as well as Detroit Diesel engines.

Navistar Inc., builder of International truck and MaxxForce engines, also plans a significant Mid-America appearance.

“We’ve always used Mid-America to introduce major new products because we think it’s the best show in America,” Navistar spokesman Roy Wiley told TT.

“Last year, we introduced our 15-liter engine at Mid-America, and a few years ago, our most advanced over-the-road tractor, the ProStar.”

Wiley promised that Navistar “will unveil something real big, but I can’t disclose details. It will be exciting, though.”

John Walsh, spokesman for Mack, part of Swedish-based AB Volvo, confirmed to TT that the company would attend Mid-America, but he said that he could not give any further details at the time.

Christy Nycz, spokeswoman for Cummins Inc., the only independent maker of heavy-duty truck engines, also confirmed to TT that Cummins would attend MATS in 2010.