The numbers are in - MATS 2015 breaks all-time attendance record

81,768.

That's the number of attendees who made it down to Louisville for this year's Mid-America Trucking Show, the largest in the event's  33-year history. The previous high for attendance was just under 81,000 at the 2012 event.

The attendees came from all 50 states and 74 countries worldwide.

The trucking show released its attendance figures via email Thursday, April 2, and several of the Land Line veterans of MATS' past will tell you that number sounds about right. Exhibit halls, lobbies, parking lots and even the highways were jammed-packed the entire time.

Along with all those people, the 1.2 million square-feet of exhibition space served as a temporary home to 1,064 vendors and exhibitors from 43 states and 14 countries.

If you weren't able to make it this year (or if you were and want to relive some of the highlights) the folks at the official MATS website put together an outstanding video playlist that's worth checking out. See for yourself below.

If you weren't one of the lucky 81,000 this year, there's plenty of time to make plans to be there for next year's show, which will take place March 31-April 2, 2016.

'We can't do this unless we do it right'

MATS is a wonderland of opportunity for us as the trucking media.

As I prepared to take a seat and visit for a moment with Mark Reddig at the “Land Line Now” booth, a young gentleman in an OOIDA cap walked up and looked like he wanted to talk on the radio microphone set up for interviews.

His parents, Garry and Teresa England, politely smiled at us said something to the effect of “Come on, Alex, I’m sure these people are very busy.” 

Alex England, 9, does his best Mark Reddig impersonation 

at the “Land Line Now” booth at MATS. Alex is the son of new 

OOIDA Member Garry England and wife Teresa of Cullman, Ala.

(Photo by David Tanner)

They were wearing OOIDA caps as well. Hello, opportunity.

“It’s OK,” I assured, and invited them to stick around and check out the radio booth. I asked if Alex would like to pull up a chair and talk on the mic. "Sure," he said.

Mark seized his opportunity without hesitation.

“Now, we can’t do this unless we do it right,” he said, extending a set of radio headphones to the young man.

Within seconds flat, Alex was styling, "testing, 1, 2, 3" on the mic. It was one of those fun MATS moments, and an opportunity to show what OOIDA and its media are all about – our members.

You see, Garry had signed up as a new OOIDA member just minutes before his son spotted the mic.

Thanks to that interaction, we got to meet another fantastic trucking family, and who knows? We may have discovered a future on-air talent. 

Alcoa goes Hollywood, and it is glorious

This is in no way meant to disparage any of the other cool things we're seeing at MATS 2015, but the folks at Alcoa Wheels have earned the right to be called champions of the 20-minute press conference.

Dynamic, to the point, and with production values that would make Hollywood proud, Alcoa unveiled its newest Dura-Bright EVO wheel in proper style.

Proper style meant showing a full-on "Imagine a world ..." video production followed by company VP/GM Victor Marquez proclaiming, "Obviously we have some Star Wars geeks on our staff."

Check out the video goodness.

"Imagine a world where your wheels are always protected," it begins. The video proceeds to call the Dura-Bright EVO the most durable and easiest-to-maintain wheel in company history. It's resistant to many chemicals and you can wash it with soap and water.

Alcoa VP Victor Marquez introduces the Dura-Bright EVO
in proper style. Photo by David Tanner, Land Line Magazine

Yes, they called an epic press conference to make those proclamations, interspersed with slogans and statements about how the company continues to "reinvent the wheel."

Full credit where it's due: Alcoa did invent the forged  aluminum wheel in 1948 and has been at the cutting edge of alloys as well.

Perhaps the Star Wars geeks could have gone an extra step and dubbed the latest one the "Aluminum Falcon."

Proper style at the event also meant live-streaming the press event to the world. Technology abounded.

Marquez went on to discuss how using aluminum to manufacture truck components and framing can help save hundreds of pounds in weight, and that was certainly worthy of our attention.

Alcoa may not have invented or reinvented the press conference, but they are really good at it.

One couldn't help but marvel, grin, and nod a "touche" to them when it was all said and done.

Thermo King Offers Dealership Yards for Truck Parking and Two Smart Phone Apps

Thermo King,the temperature control people, announced two new smartphone apps at MATS on Wednesday. One of those apps provides location and contact information for Thermo King dealers with drop lots where drivers may be able to pull off the road and park. Thermo King personnel said they could not be specific regarding possible charges, but said use of the drop yard service could involve a "nominal fee."

According to Gayatri Abbott, Director of Smart Products & Telematics for Thermo King, the service called Dealer Locator and Drop Yard Referral System provides alternatives for drivers who may be running short on hours and in need of a place to stop, for example.  The system might also serve a driver looking for an overnight stop close to an AM delivery location. In any case, the sheer number of dealer locations – 2,250 in all – provides possibilities to drivers, particularly in the densely populated East and Midwest.

Individual dealers are free to charge what Abbott called a "nominal fee" for the Drop Yard service, and not all facilities offer driver services, say food and showers, like those at a truck stop. However, she noted, it's something some dealers are working on. Considering that the system is new and that space at any one dealership might be limited, Abbott agreed it is best to call or text the dealership before showing up. To use the system, a driver must first download and install the Dealer Locator app from the Apple Store or from Google Play.

The second app announced Wednesday enables smartphone access to data sent from Thermo King's TracKing Telematics system that is available on the web. A driver need only download and install the app on his or her smartphone that will then be able to display critical information from a Thermo King unit on their truck. The driver who can be inside a truck stop or virtually anywhere remains able to monitor product temperature and other indicators.

To download either app, Abbott said, simply enter Thermo King in an Apple Store or Google Play search window to see a selection of Thermo King apps.

Trucking Moves America Forward: Let's all tell our stories

When it comes to image, the Trucking Moves America Forward movement has three words.

"Educate, educate, educate."

TMAF Co-Chairman Kevin Burch encouraged those attending press day at MATS to go forth and tell their stories to promote the positive image of trucking and truckers.

"We need to talk about the people who have two hands on the wheel. It's long overdue," Burch told the assembled press and numerous truckers who attended the one-year anniversary of the launch of Trucking Moves America Forward.

Burch said TMAF is a movement and "not a campaign" because campaigns have a beginning and an end. He said people will be talking about TMAF for many years to come and that it has no end.

OOIDA Life Member Dick Pingel. OOIDA is a founding
member of Trucking Moves America Forward.
(Photo by David Tanner, Land Line Magazine)

The movement pulls together all facets of careers and job duties in and around trucking, from one-truck owner-operators like OOIDA Life Member Dick Pingel to fleet executives to shippers and receivers to truck stop and travel plaza personnel.

OOIDA is a founding member of Trucking Moves America Forward.

"Owner-operators are in it for the long haul, pardon the pun," Pingel said, moments after it was announced that OOIDA had made a generous donation to TMAF.

OOIDA Media Spokesperson Norita Taylor recognized at least a dozen OOIDA members who were in attendance for the event.

During its one year of operation since being unveiled at the Mid-America Trucking Show in 2014, Trucking Moves America Forward has exceeded its goal of raising $1 million in donations from all across the trucking industry. The movement has a goal of raising that every year for the next four years, and after that?

"Hopefully more than that," said Elizabeth Barna, vice president of public affairs with the American Trucking Associations.

Kevin Burch, co-chairman of Trucking Moves America Forward,
pays homage to the late Mike Pennington who always put forth
a positive image for trucking. (Photo by David Tanner)

Members of ATA's America's Road Team attended the event, including 28-year trucking veteran Don Logan who has 2.3 million safe miles.

"We've got to earn respect by being safe and reliable professionals," Logan said during his turn at the podium.

Each speaker asked the various representatives from across trucking to continue to promote the image of trucking and truckers to enable the industry to grow in a positive way.

"Image is at the leading edge of the Trucking Moves America Forward," said Keith Tuttle, president and chairman of the Truckload Carriers Association.

During the event, members of Trucking Moves America Forward also paid respects to the late Mike Pennington who, perhaps as much as anyone in trucking, always put forth a positive image and greeted everyone he met with a smile.

Bendix fuses systems to create next gen collision mitigation

Press day at the Mid-America Trucking Show was just minutes old when the first big announcement came down.

Building on a product portfolio that has already brought electronic stability control into the rulemaking arena, Bendix announced the next generation of collision mitigation technology, the Wingman Fusion.

Bendix Director of Marketing and Customer Solutions T.J. Thomas explained how the system fuses cameras, radar and brakes to help fleets and drivers avoid, or at least mitigate, crashes.

T.J. Thomas, center, discusses the Wingman Fusion by Bendix.
Photo by David Tanner, Land Line Magazine

The camera points forward, the radar detects vehicles or stationary objects in the road, and the system provides alerts to the driver. The braking system will engage if the driver does not react in time or if the system deems that the truck is closing too fast on the vehicle or object.

Another feature of the Wingman Fusion involves an alert if a truck is going, say, 5 mph or 10 mph over the posted speed limit. The cameras detect the shape and number on a posted speed-limit sign, and alerts the driver with an audible signal if he or she is traveling above a pre-set level. At 10 mph over, or whatever setting the fleet decides, the audible alert amps up and the system will even cut engine power for a split second as an additional alert to slow down.

Data from the alert is also sent back to the fleet's back office, as Bendix says, for "coaching" purposes.

The company says Wingman Fusion is a "driver assistance system" and is not meant to replace driving skills.

"This is here to help the driver if he has a bad day," Thomas told the assembled media.

We wanted to know how the recognition of posted speed limits would work in construction zones. Thomas says its system differs from a vehicle-to-infrastructure system or GPS-based system because the cameras are actually reading the speed-limit signs. He added that if the system doesn't recognize a sign, or if the sign is twisted or not facing the right way, the system cannot read it and will therefore not trigger an alert. When it comes to split speeds for cars and trucks, Thomas says the system will read the higher limit and will not produce an alert unless the truck is going faster than the higher of the two limits.

Wingman Fusion is available on Class 6, 7 and 8 trucks with any air-braked vehicle that is compatible with Bendix's ESP full-stability system.

Bendix is confident that "collision mitigation" will become a regulatory action in the near future.

Bendix Director of Government Affairs Fred Andersky mentioned during his overview of legislative and regulatory issues that the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration has received a petition to place collision mitigation in the regulatory agenda. The National Transportation Safety Board has also identified technology and maintenance in its annual "most wanted" list of recommendations to regulators.

Bendix has already been at the forefront for electronic stability control, known as ESC. The company's version of ESC has sold 375,000 units.

Andersky said he's optimistic that NHTSA will publish its final rule on ESC sometime in the second quarter of 2015. NHTSA has currently pegged May 2 as its publication date. The regulatory action currently resides at the White House Office of Management and Budget.

For drivers concerned about mandates, Bendix offers up the following quotable nugget: "We don't want drivers asking 'why is this on our trucks?' We want them to say, 'I'm glad that this is on my truck.'"

As a matter of record, OOIDA does not oppose the technology itself nor the choices of fleets or truck owners to use it, but the Association does oppose a mandate of so-called safety technologies on all trucks and for all drivers. The Association supports responsible entry-level driver training for truckers.