Work Truck Show rolls into Indianapolis, March 8-10
Government fleet managers and other trucking professionals will find new products, workshops on green technologies and more at the 2011 Work Truck Show, March 8-10 at the Indiana Convention Center in Indianapolis. The show is held in conjunction with the 47th annual National Truck Equipment Association (NTEA) convention. Educational programming, including the Green Truck Summit, starts March 7.
Produced annually by NTEA, the Work Truck Show presents 500,000 square feet of Class 1-8 vocational trucks and equipment from more than 500 exhibitors. It brings together thousands of work truck professionals, including fleet managers, equipment buyers, maintenance personnel, manufacturers, distributors and dealers. The event includes 40 educational and technical training programs.
About 60 companies have announced that they will launch new work truck chassis, bodies, power systems, components, accessories and service equipment at the 2011 show.
The Green Truck Summit, a two-day event (March 7-8), offers a wealth of information on the deployment and application of green technologies and how they affect government and commercial fleets. Fuel use, fleet and vehicle integration and cost justification are a few of the topics addressed during the summit.
The Green Truck Ride-and-Drive program at the 2011 show will have 22 hybrid, alternative fuel (including pure electric), and high-efficiency diesel work trucks available for attendees to drive. Attendees can view green vocational and fleet vehicle equipment demonstrations in a stationary display area adjacent to the outdoor Ride-and-Drive course.
And Now for Something Completely Different: John Cleese
British comedian John Cleese is bringing his uncommon perspective on business and life to the 2011 show as the event’s keynote presenter. He will speak at the President’s Breakfast and NTEA annual meeting on Wednesday, March 9. The breakfast event runs from 7:30 a.m.-9:15 a.m.
Cleese is a well-rounded comedic actor as well as a leading business motivator. With the legendary Monty Python’s Flying Circus, Fawlty Towers and A Fish Called Wanda, he’s created a unique comedic style that has inspired writers and comedians. His influence is also felt in the corporate world. Cleese and three other British actors founded Video Arts, the world’s largest provider of business training programs, in 1972.
Cleese attributes his success at making popular training programs to his fascination with psychology and his love for teaching and making people laugh. He says, “Humor in training increases retention and decreases anxiety. When the training point is surrounded with humor, it can be readily digested, remembered and applied.” On the lecture stage, Cleese brings new meaning to his award-winning series of videos.
The President’s Breakfast and NTEA annual meeting where Cleese delivers his presentation is open to show and convention attendees by ticket only.
Government agency fleet managers will gain practical knowledge at the show’s expanded Fleet Management Symposium, which runs a day and a half. In the symposium, consultant Kelly Walker, president of Dallas-based Kelly Walker Associates, and Bob Johnson, fleet relations director for NTEA, teach methods to improve fleet and shop productivity while reducing costs.
The symposium focuses on best practices and strategies for vocational fleets of all sizes. It requires a separate, advance registration. At the symposium, fleet managers will learn how to:
- Reduce capital and operating budgets by 25 percent in 12 months.
- Apply 20 benchmarks with more than 100 performance measures.
- Implement new fuel, shop, and parts management models.
- Cope effectively with shop-parts skills shortages.
- Compute the 12-step fully loaded labor rate.
- Calculate optimum fleet staffing levels.
- Make shop labor insource/outsource decisions.
- Achieve fleet management software efficiencies.
- Apply remote GPS tracking and onboard monitoring to manage work crews and fleet assets.
- Specify work trucks to achieve lowest total owning/operating cost with the highest productivity.
Kelly Reagan, fleet administrator for Columbus, Ohio, will present an educational session, “The Implications of Managing an Aging Fleet,” on Wednesday, March 9. At the session, attendees will learn about developing a “Replacement Standard,” implementing it fleet-wide, and determining which fleet assets require replacement before others. The session will explore the “we can” attitude of effecting change in an organization or agency’s motor pool, and reducing costs, even with an aging fleet.
Several forecasts are part of the show’s agenda. On Wednesday, March 9, Gary Meteer, director of Commercial Vehicle & Aftermarket Solutions for Southfield, Mich.-based R.L. Polk & Co., will discuss trends and economic forces that drive the markets for Class 3-8 commercial vehicles. He will share highlights from the most recent R.L. Polk Commercial Vehicle Intelligence Report.
Stephen Latin-Kasper, NTEA’s market data and research director, will tell attendees where the truck equipment market is headed, identify expected trends, and identify the role that U.S. and international economies play in short- and long-term business cycles. Latin-Kasper’s talk, “What is the Future Economic Landscape for the Work Truck Industry?” will be Monday, March 7.
Go to http://www.worktruckshow.com/worktruckshow/ for more information on the show.
At a Glance
Work Truck Show 2011
March 8-10
Indianapolis
Trade Show Hours:
Tuesday, March 8
11 a.m. – 5 p.m.
Wednesday, March 9
11 a.m. – 5 p.m.
Thursday, March 10
9 a.m. – 12 p.m.
