Mid-America Trucking Show Expects Rise in Exhibitors, Attendees, Organizers Say

This story appears in the March 15 print edition of Transport Topics.

Despite a challenging freight environment over the past year, the 2010 Mid-America Trucking Show organizers said industry optimism may be rising. They cited an anticipated increase in the number of exhibitors and attendees for the March 25-27 show.

“Interest is certainly elevated this year,” Toby Young, president of Exhibit Management Associates Inc., which organizes MATS, told Transport Topics on March 5. “As it stands today, preregistration is outpacing last year by around 5%,” he said.

Young said enrollment already is on pace to surpass the figures for last year, when 935 companies set up exhibits and more than 70,000 trucking professionals attended from all 50 states and 51 other countries. He said he expects 950 or more exhibiting companies this year.

The annual show will be held in the 1 million-square-foot Kentucky Exposition Center in Louisville, Ky.

In addition to the usual array of new and updated trucking services, equipment and products ranging from tractors and trailers to brakes and tires, the show this year will include a Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration listening session, the fifth in the agency’s series of meetings around the country to hear comments from the industry on FMCSA’s review of its hours-of-service rule.

FMCSA Administrator Anne Ferro is scheduled to attend the listening session from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. March 26 at the Kentucky Exposition Center, South Wing, Room B101.

To attend the listening session, register for free before March 15 at http://truckingshow.com/attendee/

attendee-registration. Registering the day of the listening session as part of MATS will require a $5 registration fee.

FMCSA plans to webcast the listening session, but details are not yet available, said agency spokes-man Duane DeBruyne.

Young said he expects the show this year will continue the debate on 2010 engine emissions technologies — exhaust gas recirculation versus selective catalytic reduction systems — that took center stage last year.

“I think there will still be significant interest in SCR and EGR,” Young said. “Only now, manufacturers will be showcasing a little more of those technologies.”

Diesel truck engines made after Jan. 1 must meet strict federal limits on emissions of nitrogen oxides and soot. All truck makers except Navistar Inc. use SCR, which removes NOx in the truck exhaust with the help of a catalyst. Navistar’s International trucks use exhaust gas recirculation to remove NOx.

Other hot topics expected to hit the show floor and seminar rooms will include natural gas as an alternative fuel and the FMCSA’s new safety rating system, Comprehensive Safety Analysis 2010, Young said.

“We’ll basically have all the hot-button topics in trucking right now, addressed either in an event, in a seminar or on the show floor,” Young said.

Truckers come by the tens of thousands to MATS, he said, not only because of the scale of the exhibition but also because of Louisville’s centralized location and the city’s relative affordability.

Paccar Inc. manufacturers Peterbilt Motors Co. and Kenworth Trucking Co. did not participate in MATS last year, but they plan return to the show this year.

However, Volvo Trucks North America will not have a MATS display this year. Volvo spokesman James McNamara said the company instead would concentrate on personal interaction with customers to explain its new 2010 emissions technology.

Volvo plans to return to MATS in 2011, the company said. Mack Trucks, also part of Volvo Group, will attend the show, however.