The 2011 Work Truck Show fills the Indiana Convention Center show floor with thousands of work truck industry professionals. (Photos provided)

About 10,000 people attended what’s billed as North America’s largest work truck event, on March 6 through March 8 at the Indiana Convention Center, 100 S. Capital Ave., Indianapolis, Ind.

The National Truck Equipment Association’s annual gathering is the time and place to witness new truck model launches. More than 500,000 square feet of Class 1-8 vocational trucks and equipment and over 8,000 work truck industry professionals including manufacturers, distributors and dealers come together for hands-on and face-to-face presentations of the vehicles that cities need to carry out daily operations.

More than 60 training sessions provided 2012 Work Truck Show attendees with critical insights and solutions on how to improve their operations. Pictured are participants at a 2011 Work Truck Show session.

Ram, International, Isuzu, Peterbuilt, Western Star, Mack, Nissan, Freightliner, Ford, Hino, Chevrolet, GMC, Kenworth and Mitsubishi presented their newest trucks in “Chassis Update” sessions scheduled throughout the four-day conference. But in addition to catching a glimpse of the newest designs, fleet managers, purchasers and drivers also had valuable opportunities to improve their knowledge and skills at the show. This year’s educational sessions included how to avoid costly truck frame modification errors, making vehicle investment decisions using life-cycle cost analysis, and human resource topics that apply to both private and public institutions.

President George W. Bush was the keynote speaker at this year’s Work Truck Show. His presentation took place at the president’s breakfast and NTEA annual meeting on Wednesday, March 7.

President George W. Bush was the slated guest speaker at the conference’s annual breakfast and NTEA meeting that happened at 7:30 a.m. Wednesday morning, March 7. The former president included reflections on his time in office, on the challenges that lie ahead for the nation, the role of faith and the power of freedom. Tickets to the breakfast were sold out in advance.

Conference organizers released a smartphone application to help make the experience of attending the show easy and convenient. The app works on smartphones, tablet devices, Androids and BlackBerrys and contains the show’s floor plan and list of booth exhibitors and their locations, among other features.

NTEA’s Green Truck Summit both preceded and overlapped the Work Truck Show, running March 5 and 6 in the same location. Manufacturers of hybrid and alternative-fuel vehicle plans presented and discussed their cutting-edge developments and offered two opportunities
to ride in or test-drive work trucks equipped with hybrid and alternative fuel engines. Educational sessions at the Green Truck Summit include easy ways to reduce fuel consumption, where to look for funding for clean vehicles and the role that a truck’s duty cycle should play in selecting hybrids to add to municipal fleets.

For complete information on session times, conference fees and hotel reservations for future events visit www.ntea.com/worktruckshow/index.aspx?id=11272.