Crowd at 2011 Great American Trucking Show

Registration and exhibitor totals at the 2011 Great American Trucking Show were among the best in the show’s 13-year history.

More than 48,200 registered for the three-day event last month in Dallas. Exhibit space was up 22 percent over 2010 with almost 500 exhibiting companies and all major truck and trailer brands represented.

The show also generated greater participation from trade groups that held meetings before or concurrently with GATS, including the American Truck Dealers, National Trailer Dealers Association, Truckload Carriers Association, Texas Motor Transportation Association, Avondale Partners and the Heavy Duty Manufacturers Association.

The second-annual Commercial Vehicle Outlook Conference attracted more than 350 trucking industry leaders who viewed presentations and panel discussions during the event prior to the opening of GATS. The event was produced by Randall-Reilly Business Media & Information and the Heavy Duty Manufacturers Association.

On the final day of GATS, thousands of truckers watched as winners of the first Custom Rigs Pride & Polish National Championship were announced. The event will be featured on Speed Channel’s American Trucker, hosted by Robb Mariani, who also served as a judge at the contest.

Beginning next year, GATS and all of the planned events and conferences will be packaged as Intersection 2012, an all-encompassing trucking convention developed to attract even more participants from all segments of the industry, including on-highway and vocational fleet executives, owner-operators, drivers, dealers, OEMs, suppliers and associations.

Next year’s Great American Trucking Show will be held Aug. 23-25 at the Dallas Convention Center.