As the trucking industry sees a slight rebound, the Great American Trucking Show and associated events attracted more visitors and exhibitors over the previous year.

“This year’s GATS proved to be a real success in terms of exhibitor space as well as the attendee turnout,” said Mike Reilly, chairman, president and CEO of Randall-Reilly, which owns GATS. “The show itself, as well as all of the meetings surrounding it, attracted very high quality attendees.”

“The show floor was up nearly 20 percent over 2009 with almost 450 exhibiting companies in attendance,” said Alan K. Sims, GATS vice president/executive director. “Participation from external groups who are holding new meetings, or bringing existing ones to run before, or concurrently with GATS, has really increased the value of the show.”

A new event this year was the Commercial Vehicle Outlook Conference. The two-day event attracted more than 350 industry leaders from all segments of trucking immediately prior to the opening of GATS. The CVOC was produced by Randall-Reilly Business Media & Information and the Heavy Duty Manufacturers Association.

Tim Kraus, president and COO of HDMA, said, “Bringing together a large cross-section of our industry for a meaningful outlook conference on the commercial vehicle industry was our goal. Based on the more than 350 registrations and the high praise from a great mix of executives in attendance, we feel we are off to a great start for future CVOC events in Dallas, with GATS.”

Other events attracting qualified fleet attendees included the 2010 Truckload Carriers Association Independent Contractor Meeting, the newly formed TCA Open Deck Division, The Texas Motor Transportation Association’s Sand and Gravel Division, as well as its tank division. Additionally, a select group of North American truck dealers gathered.