My day started by visiting the lobby, of course, to the FMCSA booth with a burning question about NON-Domicile licenses. I had a good conversation at the FMCSA booth, asking about the next day’s appearance by FMCSA Administrator Derek Barr. I found out he was standing right behind me, which was a big surprise. This made my day. We had a short talk with Mr. Barrs with the promise to continue the conversation in the next few days. Met my old friends in the FMCSA group.
Well, I am writing this about my experience at MATS because I want my Punjabi trucking community to see why attending these kinds of shows is important. This is the time to check out new ideas in the trucking industry, learn about products, and, of course, meet old friends and vendors. So this time, I am going to share my talks with different vendors and maybe some friends. Let’s dive in.
The setup at MATS was nice, though it was smaller, and most of the big truck and trailer makers were missing, which we noticed. My first stop was at the Automann truck parts store. Talked to Mr. Jeev and Brice about the current industry situation. They are top suppliers of truck parts. Next stop was at Axel Spindle from NY and Toronto. Talked to Mr. Bajwa about the great products they provide to the trucking industry. Next stop was the 4 State Trucks booth, looking for Jena Johnson, but found out she wasn’t attending this year. Met with Rhonda; great booth setup.
On my way back to the south side of the hall, I met with Tapan Chaudhari, founder of Hey Bubba, the AI AutoPilot dispatcher for Carriers. Talked about the new features and options available for the carriers. Met the team and decided we are going to dress Tapan up as Bubba. This is the fun part of the show, enjoying talking to old friends and supporters. Next stop was the Truck Parking Club meeting, where Evan and Colin talked about the problem facing today’s truckers, which is parking, and how they are trying to fix this problem. We are confident we can work together to provide truck parking through our driver portal.
Right from here, I walked to our long-time supporter, Apex Capital, a top factoring company, and the TCS fuel card, which is also NAPTA’s fuel card. Met Sharon, Hannah, and Sherry. As I said, we have been customers of Apex Capital since 2002. We started offering the TCS Fuel Card as an NAPTA-branded fuel card in 2018 and are still going strong. We appreciate the partnership and look forward to working together on upcoming projects. We were invited to an event at the Kentucky Derby Museum on Friday evening, where we had so much fun later.
On Friday, I had a chance to hear a session from the FMCSA, and later in the day, DOT Secretary Sean Duffy came to the show for a short appearance. As expected, the talk was all about NON-Domicile drivers. As we all know, the hot topic of NON-Domicile license cancellations is happening across the country, but we need to look at the root of the problem and make sure we don’t repeat it, and Mr. Barrs understands that rules will not change in the future, no matter what kind of driver shortage happens.
As I continued my day, I met Heather from TAT and promised to work together to train our drivers for TAT courses and help them become productive members of society. The next stop was at the TACH USA booth, where I met Scott & Trent. They offer interesting banking services for the trucking industry to help truckers manage their budget. In this area, I met several vendors, including Anytrek Corp, GOFRTS, a FleetHunt ELD service provider, Alvys TMS, ORDP Commercial Credit Group, Drivers Legal Plan, and many more. I am sure I forgot a lot of them, but it was definitely a great experience.
Not to forget Nicole Ward, CEO & Co-Founder of www.AAWTA.org, and learned about all the services they provide to the trucking community. Really appreciate all the good work you are doing to keep our trucking industry safe and secure.
Special thanks to the Mid America Trucking Show (MATS) for putting up a great show and a really good Pro-Talk stage. Appreciate all the services provided in the press room and special passes. I hope everyone enjoyed the show as much as I did. I wish MATS good luck and hope to work with you in the future.
