TruckScience at NTEA’s Upfitting Summit
TruckScience at NTEA’s Upfitting Summit https://truckscience.com/wp-content/uploads/17-CVUS-Educational-Session-1024x384.jpeg 1024 384 TruckScience https://truckscience.com/wp-content/uploads/17-CVUS-Educational-Session-1024x384.jpegTruckScience was at NTEA’s Commercial Vehicle Upfitting Summit in Sandusky Ohio last week. And what a great occasion it was!
The event featured 12 leading chassis manufacturers, as well as Industry Resource Demos on helpful tools and resources to streamline business operations and planning.
After the previous couple of years of isolation, the novelty of meeting in person has not worn off, and the excitement of attendees to be back networking was really palpable.
The new venue, the very comfortable African-themed Kalahari Resorts and Conventions, is a perfect combination of chilled-out holiday vibe and first-class presentation and display facilities. The venue is very conducive to networking, with everyone on-site, and everyone agreed it was perfect for the Summit.
Steve Carey, NTEA’s President and CEO, offered his usual warm welcome to attendees and oversaw a very professional and smoothly-run event.
Educational Sessions
NTEA put on a full program of Educational Sessions, including ‘Using software to upfit safe, legal and efficient trucks’ which was presented by TruckScience’s Jens Hellberg (CEO) and Martin Dammann (Customer Success Manager).
This session included a live demo of the TruckScience Axle Weight Calculator to perform weight studies on both service trucks and dump trucks, and was very well attended on both days.
There was lots of nodding of heads from the floor when Martin spoke about the many elements to be taken into consideration when performing a weight study, including manufacturer ratings, equipment placement, and indeed different regulations between state and interstate roads and between states.
The audience was very engaged, with lots of great questions coming from the floor, and it was clear that the attendees were already well aware of the potential for problems when these weight studies are not carried out early in the design process.
Casual Demos
Between educational sessions and OEM presentations, the TruckScience booth in the reception area of the Convention Center was constantly busy, with upfitters and body manufacturers stopping by for a personalized demo of one of their own typical builds on a specific chassis.
Many visitors asked to see a drawing being imported from a DXF file, and still more wanted to see the ‘final product’ of the PDF report customized with their own logo.
It was great to meet many TruckScience users on the booth, and as usual, we took away lots of ideas for improving the Axle Weight Calculator, from existing users and those seeing it for the first time.
Many of them thanked us for our role in ‘bringing the industry together’, connecting all the data from all the suppliers, to generate meaningful weight studies in a fraction of the time it would normally take to do this.
Vehicle Displays
There was lots of excitement around the vehicle displays, with hundreds of upfitters taking advantage of the opportunity to examine and measure every little detail.
OEM Presentations
The OEM presentations covered important details from the chassis OEMs that body manufacturers and upfitters need to know for the 2023 models they’ll be using to build commercial vehicles.
Topics addressed included new cab/truck frame configurations and chassis ordering codes for commercial applications, as well as how to access body builder material.
If you missed any of the presentations and would still like to learn about model year chassis changes, don’t miss Bob Raybuck (NTEA’s director of technical services)’s upcoming webinar, in which he will recap key information presented by leading OEMs at the 2022 Commercial Vehicle Upfitting Summit.
Reception
NTEA’s renowned hospitality was pervasive throughout the entire event.
Fittingly, given the number of vehicles taking advantage of new drivetrain technologies at the Summit, the vibe was ‘electric’ at the opening reception. Delighted to be back in a world where networking is normal, guests stayed on long after the food had been enjoyed.
Where to from here?
We’re already booked in to Indianapolis for NTEA’s Work Truck Week 2023, which runs from March 7-10, at the Indiana Convention Center. Save the date and we’ll look forward to seeing you there!
Not yet a user of our Axle Weight Calculator?
Watch this 2-minute video introduction to the Axle Weight Calculator now, or learn more about the program on our Features page. Or just dive right in and try it for free below!
NTEA Member?
Read about our partnership with NTEA and find out more about discounted pricing for members here.
