The North American Commercial Vehicle Show is embarking on the second installment of the every-other-year business-to-business trucking industry expo. This year’s event is expected to be bigger and more insight filled than than the last, organizers tell HDT.

NACV takes place at the Georgia World Congress Center in Atlanta, Georgia, Oct. 28-31. For 2019, the exhibition hall has been expanded, with more than 470 exhibitors, including the top truck and trailer OEMs, with many making announcing and showcaseing new products and services.

The event is business-focused, aimed at large and small trucking fleets looking to connect with suppliers, which organizers say distinguishes NACV from other trucking industry events that can be more family or truck driver oriented.

“Attendees loved to be able to meet face-to-face with the head executives of their suppliers and vendors,” said Larry Turner, president and CEO of Hannover Fairs USA, organizers of NACV. “Ninety-six percent planned on coming back to the show again, and based on registrations it looks like that is the case.”

One of the biggest changes is the expansion of education sessions. Turner told HDT in an interview that initially NACV avoided having educational sessions because event planners wanted to maximize exhibition time for attendees.

But after the inaugural event, it became clear in the feedback from attendees that educational sessions were something that would be welcome.

“The attendees said that it would be nice for there to be some other component to justify bringing their whole team,” said Turner. “We listened, and what we put together was a program that doesn’t interfere with show hours.”

Education Options at NACV

During the run of the trade show, there are free educational sessions at NACV Show Solutions Theaters, featuring  industry thought leaders who will discuss the challenges and opportunities confronting today’s fleet professionals.

Each educational session will take place on the show floor and lasts around 20 minutes, in a similar format to a TED talk. Turner said they will not be running continuously throughout the day, so visitors will still have the opportunity to walk the show floor and catch the educational sessions as well.

Heavy Duty Trucking magazine editors will be on the show floor hosting some of the education panels.

• On Oct. 30, HDT Editor in Chief Deborah Lockridge will be speaking with John Seidl, vice president of risk services at Reliance Partners, about making the change from AOBRDs to mandatory electronic logging devices.

• HDT Executive Editor David Cullen will share insights from fleets that have found that hiring fewer drivers – the right drivers – can help you keep more of them.

• HDT Senior Editor Jack Roberts will be speaking about the rapid pace of technology change in trucking, sharing reports on groundbreaking technological developments and trends in the industry.

In addition, registered attendees can also register for a variety of fee-based workshops and conferences on and off the show floor.

More Space, More Exhibits

For 2019, the NACV show floor has been expanded into a second hall at the Georgia World Congress Center. This is expected to reduce the tightness of all the exhibits and help visitors find their way around and allow traffic to flow more easily.

Highlights across the show floor include electric vehicles, new trucks with telematics platforms, driver assistance technologies, dynamic maintenance for vehicle data analysis, service communications to more accurately plan maintenance needs, and trucks featuring improved fuel efficiency.

A newly added Connectivity Zone will feature peripheral device companies that will showcase the latest solutions and components, allowing attendees to handle, analyze and compare ELDs and IoT (Internet of Things) peripheral products. The Connectivity Zone will also highlight a variety of fleet safety products and solutions.

The four-day event kicks off next week. For more information on the NACV show, click here.