Economy, State of Industry Top Issues at Heavy-Duty Manufacturers’ Meetings
This story appears in the Jan. 9 print edition of Transport Topics.
Manufacturers and sellers of components, parts and systems for heavy-duty trucks will examine the state of their industry, the economy at large and issues of corporate culture at two meetings in Las Vegas, Jan. 23-26.
Heavy Duty Dialogue, sponsored by the Heavy Duty Manufacturers Association, will host about 350 manufacturing executives and other participants on the first of the four days and will mainly look at economic issues, the group’s president said.
Heavy Duty Aftermarket Week immediately follows Dialogue, with about 1,800 people expected for a trade show, educational sessions and one-on-one meetings between suppliers and distributors. HDMA and 13 other companies and trade groups sponsor Aftermarket Week, first held in 2006.
Economists Jeffrey Rosensweig of Emory University and William Strauss of the Federal Reserve’s Chicago Regional Bank are scheduled to offer economic analysis on the global and domestic econ-omies, respectively. Transport Topics Editorial Director Howard Abramson will moderate the session with Strauss.
HDMA President Timothy Kraus said the focus will then shift to trucking equipment, with presentations from analysts with R.L. Polk & Co., Frost & Sullivan, Alix Partners and Eli Lustgarten of Longbow Research. Collectively, they will make forecasts for domestic and global markets for new truck and aftermarket parts sales.
In regulatory and legislative affairs, Ann Wilson of HDMA’s parent organization, the Motor & Equipment Manufacturers Association, will make a presentation again at Dialogue, as she did last year. In addition, Bill Graves, president and CEO of American Trucking Associations, will offer his perspective on issues related to trucking during Aftermarket Week.
Consultant Annette Sandberg, a former head of the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration, will discuss FMCSA’s Compliance, Safety, Accountability program that started at the end of 2010.
Tom Stewart, the vice chairman of the HDAW organizing committee, said corporate culture will be the major theme at Aftermarket Week. Edgar Papke will examine culture’s effect on innovation, accountability and the art of business. Robert Richman of Zappos Insights will also address the issue, and there will be a roundtable discussion on how to improve sales by parts distributors.
Stewart, the CEO of Carolina Rim & Wheel Co., said the trade show has sold space for about 300 booths and that registra-tions are running ahead of their 2011 pace. Last year’s Aftermarket Week drew nearly 1,700 participants.
Kraus said heavy-duty suppliers are doing much better than in recent years.
“Across the board, all trends are very positive now,” Kraus said in summarizing the results of his group’s quarterly survey of membership. He said their major concern has shifted from the profound lack of demand during the recession to current worries about the prices of inputs.
