Heavy Duty Aftermarket Week '09 has registered a conference-record 100 suppliers for pre-scheduled, One-on-One Meetings during the February 2009 conference.


HDAW '09 will be held at the Rosen Centre Hotel and the Orange County Convention Center in Orlando, Fla., Feb. 16-19, 2009.

During HDAW '08, 89 distributor and 90 supplier companies participated in 1,415 scheduled meetings. With 100 suppliers already registered, organizers estimate the number of meetings to be well over 1,500 for 2009. Currently, 15 percent of the registered suppliers are new to the One-on-One meetings.

One-on-One meeting participation is limited to suppliers that are members of one of the sponsoring organizations and have registered and reserved exhibit space at HDAW '09.

"The supplier registrations for One-on-Ones are the largest numbers we have had for any of our previous events," said Marc Karon, president of Total Truck Parts and co-chairman of HDAW '09. "Many suppliers plan to use the HDAW conference to introduce new program and product launches and view the event as an excellent opportunity to promote their latest and greatest technology. I personally would like to encourage distributors to consider bringing extra teams to participate in the One-on-One meetings to tap into the total value of their supplier meeting opportunities."

HDAW is the largest North American gathering of the independent heavy-duty industry. More than 1,800 managers and executives from 17 countries including distributors, manufacturers, service providers, educators and media attended the 2008 conference.

HDAW is presented by a joint operating committee made up of industry leaders from American Council of Frame and Alignment Specialists (ACOFAS), Commercial Vehicle Solutions Network (CVSN), Heavy Duty America (HDA), Heavy Duty Distribution Association (HDDA), Heavy Duty Manufacturers Association (HDMA), Heavy Duty Remanufacturing Group (HDRG), International Truck Parts Association (ITPA), Overseas Automotive Council (OAC), Power Heavy Duty, Service Specialists Association (SSA), Truck Pride, Truck Frame and Axel Repair Association (TARA) and VIPAR HD Parts.

For more information visit www.hdaw.org or contact W.T. Glasgow, conference management, at (708) 226-1300.