For many, American Trucking Associations’ Technology & Maintenance Council Annual Meeting in Atlanta in February 2020 was the last event not totally disrupted by the pandemic. In 2021, the annual meeting was virtual, while the Fall ’21 meeting in Cleveland included a scaled-down exhibition hall and TMCSuperTech competition. Now the show is at full strength.
The annual meeting will return to (near) normal in 2022. The March 7-10 event in Orlando will include the traditional trade show component, along with Fleet Talk (March 7 at 4 p.m.), Shop Talk (March 9 at 7 a.m.), and myriad study groups and technical sessions to assist fleets in managing and maintaining their commercial vehicles. For the full schedule, visit the TMC 22 Annual Meeting site.
“We're more than double in terms of the space that we have just for the trade show,” said Robert Braswell, TMC's executive director, explaining that the expo will cover 500,000 square feet at the Orange County Convention Center, while the Huntington Convention Center in Cleveland had 225,000 square feet. “We're pretty excited to be getting back to our more normal annual meeting pattern and scope and size.”
Braswell also said that, like the Cleveland show last September, which he called “successful” and “safe,” masks and vaccination cards will not be required for entry this year, though they are encouraged.
The theme this year will be “Electrifying Performance in Maintenance Management,” though attendees should expect to glean more than new electric vehicle insights from the 150-plus learning opportunities. This includes about 120 task force meetings for industry standards development, around 16 problem-solving committees, and many others to address imaging and awards.
“Yes, we're talking about electric vehicles and fuel cells, but we're also talking about electrifying performance and maintenance management in all aspects,” Braswell noted.
These include tackling technician apprenticeship standards, delving into SuperTruck 2 & 3, autonomous vehicles (March 8 at 8:30 a.m.), and litigating nuclear verdicts. John O'Leary, president of Daimler Truck North America, will keynote Tuesday’s kickoff breakfast.
EV maintenance topics
Electrification of course will be front and center, confirmed by the agenda, featuring a three-day track on EVs. On Monday, March 7, Braswell confirmed TMC members can attend around a dozen task forces to address the challenges of commercial EV adoption.
Braswell explained that the trucking sector does not account for a large share of commercial EVs, but the bus sector does, and “they're even having a lot of struggles in terms of maintaining these electrified vehicles.”
On March 8 and March 9, educational sessions will cover EV design, specifying, and maintenance.
The trucks will shed engines and aftertreatment systems, but there will be new tire spec’ing practices, different lubricants and areas that could leak, and visible vapor areas to detect.
“These are all service-related things that our members say need some sort of best practices or standardization, and we're working on all those issues,” Braswell asserted.
Understanding who can even perform maintenance on EVs will be at the top of the agenda. Braswell heard form bus fleets that manufacturers insist on being the ones to maintain the vehicles, taking agency away from the shops.
“That’s not the way fleets operate,” the TMC leader said. “And so where is the line here? Are fleets going to be able to work on these things or not? Do you have to be a licensed electrician to work on [an] electric vehicle? It's not clear. So we have a task force to try to figure all that out.”
He also noted that other task forces will examine how to do pre-tip inspections on EVs and what metrics to use to measure efficiency and performance.
Towing is another area that needs clarification, as the electric axles contain motors that could be damaged by towing them the conventional way, Braswell suggested.
The show will also feature the Electric & Automated Vehicles Pavilion, with opportunities for ride and drives to test out SAE Level 4 & 5 driving modes. ZF will also have a static display of their smart trailer.
Technician Apprenticeship Standards
TechForce Foundation reported that the industry may need 35,000 new diesel technicians by 2024. That demand calls for more technician apprenticeships. On March 7, TMC’s S.5 Fleet Maintenance Management Study Group will tackle just how to standardize registered apprenticeship programs throughout the country.
“There is no standardization right now,” Braswell said. “It's all haphazard—there's no synchronicity between different programs.”
Standardizing will allow graduating students to enter the workforce with a solid plan to grow in competency. This key component of this is having mentors and employers from all shops using the same key performance indicators to track performance and growth.
Braswell noted the ASE Education Foundation has worked on a similar program in Arizona on the automotive electronics side, and TMC is working with ASE to develop a trucking model in Arkansas.
Wheel-off mock trial
On March 8 at 2:30 p.m., the S.2 Tire & Wheel Study Group Task Force will adjourn to litigate a hypothetical wheel-off civil case.
“We're actually going to have a courtroom and walk the attendees through what it's like to be a fleet on trial for a wheel-off,” Braswell proudly revealed. Nuclear verdicts are a top concern for fleets, one "strangling the industry" and harangued often by ATA President Chris Spear. This mock trial will offer insights into both the plaintiff’s and defendant’s side of the courtroom, led by trucking industry attorneys, to better prepare trucking companies if the worst happens.
“That's a useful exercise," Braswell said, "because a lot of fleets don't know what to expect when they enter that situation in a courtroom or a deposition, so we think that's going to be a very interesting session.”
