ORLAND PARK, Ill. – A record-breaking number of exhibiting suppliers and independent heavy-duty distributors participated in the eighth annual Heavy Duty Aftermarket Week (HDAW ’13) in Las Vegas, according to HDAW organizers CVSN, HDDA and HDMA. The annual conference was held Jan. 21-24 at The Mirage in Las Vegas.
More than 2,100 aftermarket industry leaders attended the three-day conference, including more than 1,400 supplier and 590 distributor executives. Available booth spaces for exhibitors at the HDAW Product Expo sold out more than a month prior to the start of the event, with 408 booths purchased in total. In addition to extremely high overall attendance to the eighth annual conference, more than 1,600 people attended the HDAW all-industry opening reception on Monday evening. All of the above broke records for the HDAW conference, event organizers say.
“HDAW ’13 provided an outstanding environment for suppliers and distributors to come together once again for networking and to support the independent heavy duty aftermarket industry.” said Tom Stewart, HDAW ’13 co-chair and TruckPro LLC’s director of industry affairs. “The phenomenal growth in HDAW participation suggests that the value and importance of HDAW to the heavy duty aftermarket industry continues to increase as we strive each year to improve its content and take away for those who attend.”
“The theme for HDAW’13 was Formula for Success – Focus on the Future,” stated Walt Sherbourne, 2013 co-chair and Meritor’s senior director of field sales, North America. “The education sessions were very well-attended and received, the product expo traffic was consistently heavier from start to finish over previous years, the numerous networking sessions were expanded this year and the One-on-One meetings were extremely popular as always. My conversations with industry colleagues all mentioned how impressed they were with this year’s attendance and genuinely believe that the event continues to get better every year, making the HDAW’13 event the best one yet.”
More than 800 people attended the opening general session as Sam Geist of Geist and Associates Inc. presented ”Competing for Today-Building for Tomorrow,” which was developed specifically to highlight current marketplace trends and strategies. Bill Strauss of the Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago, presented “Economic Outlook: 2013 and Beyond,” in which Strauss shared economic data trends that will impact the industry. The Distributor of the Year Award, presented by Chip Magner of Randall Reilly’s Truck Parts & Service Magazine, was awarded to Mid-West Wheel Companies of Des Moines, Iowa, and accepted by COO, John Minor.
The 2013 Heavy Duty Industry Hall of Fame Award was presented to Harvey Peterson, former owner of CATCO, based out of St. Paul, Minn., and a longtime veteran of the heavy-duty industry. The award was presented by Mark Seng, vice president of Polk’s Commercial Vehicle and Automotive Aftermarket business units.
New this year was Service Opportunities and Learning Day (SOLD!), a program for WDs who provide truck service and repair, which attracted more than 200 shop owners and managers. Presentations included “Service-Readiness: Preparing for the Shop of the Future," a panel discussion moderated by Tony Molla of ASE; "Steer Axle, Drive Axle, Trailer Axle and Suspension Inspection and Diagnostics," presented by Rick Martin of Meritor LLC and Tony Kockritz of Hendrickson International; "Heavy Duty Aftermarket Service Outlook," presented by John Blodgett of MacKay & Company; and "Driving Profit Into Your Service Business,” presented by Bill Wade of Wade & Partners.
Four education seminars were held during HDAW’13: “Unbundled Services: Is it Time?" presented by Michael E. Workman of Michael E. Workman and Associates, LTD; “Technology Trends Driving Aftermarket Opportunities,” presented by Derek Kaufman of C3Network; “It’s Not Who You Know, It’s Who Knows You: How to Build Your Business by Building Your Brand,” presented by David Avrin, The Visibility Coach; ”Gaining Competitive Advantage with Virtualization, aka Outsourcing," presented by Mike Marks of the Indian River Consulting Group.
Presentations from HDAW’s SOLD! and Education Program are now available online at www.hdaw.org.
