This was our last year to attend the Expo in Wilmington, OH as the Expo is moving to Lexington Center, Kentucky in 2016. It is a great thing when a show runs out of space and needs a bigger convention center.
We attended our first Expedite Expo in 2004 in Detroit. We were able to experience the heat, rain, and humidity that the truck stop parking lot endured during the Expo. The first four years of the Expedite Expo the event was held in a large tent. In 2006 the Expo moved to Wilmington, OH and most of the booths were inside the air-conditioned convention center.
Ten years later the Expedite Expo is once again going to venture to a new location with much more needed space not only for exhibiters but also for hotel accommodations. A truck show needs several items and the first is plenty of truck parking which the Lexington Center has. The move is exciting and we look forward to Expedite Expo 2016.
Some of the highlights of the show was the TA/Petro sponsored pre-trip challenge. Several volunteers helped with the judging and scoring through the six sessions. We had drivers come through that were just getting into trucking and had never preformed a pre-trip to the ultimate winner who has started his own expedite company and has a long trucking background. This was the first year of doing the Pre-Trip Challenge and we are thinking of new defects and also better ways to streamline the challenge for 2016.
Some of the pre trip defects were easy to spot, others where tricky, and others required you to really look and touch to find them. As Terry O'Connell mentioned "All of the defects are hidden in plain sight" and he was right. Once drivers were told were the defects were they were surprised they had missed them. One of the defects that a few missed was the load bars lying in the back of the truck and these are considered unsecured freight. Next year we will try and get Homer Hogg, TA/Petro Technical Training Manager, to perform a pre-trip after everyone has competed to show on how to perform a proper pre trip and show were the defects.
We had four automated transmission workshops at our truck and it appeared Henry Albert, Team Run
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| Bob & Henry talking about the DT12 |
Smart Pro and Bob had a great time talking. They discussed tricks and tips to get the maximum performance out of the DT12 transmission and also answered many questions. Each session drew in more drivers who were looking at getting new trucks or those that all ready had them.
We had our truck open to attendees and it felt like several million people went through our truck and sleeper. Bob & Henry stayed outside of the truck discussing our fuel mileage, our specs, skirts and trailer tail. I basically stayed inside the truck and talked about how the truck was set up, ease of driving, how I maximized my storage in the sleeper, and how we can stay out for months at a time away from our home.
Each day we started with the annual PJ Drivers Health Walk sponsored by TA/Petro with a gift bag for those that walked the first day and a water bottle for those that walked the second day. Thanks to Homer from TA/Petro for walking with us. It was hot and muggy each day but we still had a good time chatting and it was a nice way to get the day started.
Thanks to CIS Progressive Insurance for another awesome Casino night we had a great time and the room was overflowing with people that wanted to play and could not get a chair. I thought back to Casino night when it was in one of the smaller workshop rooms and how this event has grown. One side of the room was stacked with giveaways and the most popular give away seemed to be the gift cards and cash.
We are back to work now and getting some much needed rest after two jam-packed days of Expediter Expo! See you next year in Lexington, KY.