Though The Work Truck Show itself debuted in 2001, the event’s roots go much deeper.
NTEA — The Association for the Work Truck Industry, started producing member events just a year after it was formed as Truck Equipment & Body Distributors Association (commonly called Distributors Association or D/A for short) in 1964. What started as the Sales and Marketing Conference, an event featuring sales workshops and tabletop displays, grew over the next decade into D/A Convention, the industry’s annual meeting for truck equipment distributors, body builders and suppliers, NTEA says.
In 1982, the Association debuted Supershow, a biennial tradeshow that in its first year covered the Superdome field with 67,350 sq.-ft. of exhibits, including vocational trucks.
As the pace of industry evolution quickened, NTEA surveyed members about its challenges. In the late 1990s, NTEA says markets were consolidating, distribution channels were shifting, customer demands were changing and there were rapid developments in information technology and equipment innovation. The organization says it was time for a new, more frequent tradeshow.
NTEA introduced its largest event yet, T3 – The Commercial Truck, Trailer & Technology Expo, in 2000. The new show broke long-standing industry barriers by bringing together the entire commercial truck marketplace: manufacturers, distributors, dealers and end-users. T3 2000 filled 340,000 sq.-ft. with commercial trucks and equipment.
A year later, to better reflect the broad scope of the annual event, NTEA debuted the name The Work Truck Show. Over the last 20 years, The Work Truck Show has continued to expand, and NTEA now calls the entire week around the show Work Truck Week.
Next year’s Work Truck Week will include educational sessions, with the Green Truck Summit and Manufacturer and Distributor Innovation Conference beginning March 3, and the exhibit hall will be open March 4–6.
NTEA says registration for The Work Truck Show 2020 opens in October.
“We’re excited to mark the 20th anniversary of The Work Truck Show and reflect on how this event and the work truck industry have advanced over the past 20 years,” says Steve Carey, NTEA president and CEO. “The show plays an important role in helping our industry discover innovative solutions, overcome challenges and achieve goals. The show’s success is the result of the commercial vehicle community’s thirst for continuous education and evolution.”
NTEA says The Work Truck Show is nearly three times larger today than it was back in 2001, thanks to continuous demand from new and returning exhibitors. The number of exhibitors has grown from 350 in 2001 to more than 500 in 2019.
Additionally, after maxing out all available exhibit space at Indiana Convention Center, NTEA found creative ways to accommodate some of the companies on the show’s waiting list every year. In 2019, New Exhibitor Pavilion, a dedicated space outside the main 500,000 sq.-ft. exhibit hall, was added to showcase first-time exhibitors.
Show attendance also has nearly doubled since 2001, growing from 7,143 attendees to a record 14,256 at The Work Truck Show 2019, NTEA says.
