OOIDA to host events at Mid-America Trucking Show

OOIDA will be front and center at the Mid-America Trucking Show from March 26-28 in Louisville, Ky.

In addition to having two booths at the show and The Spirit tour truck in attendance, OOIDA will host a pair of events at the Kentucky Expo Center.

On Thursday, March 26, OOIDA will provide a government roundtable discussion for its members. The seminar will be from 10-11 a.m. in room C-104. It is for members only. It will be hosted by members of OOIDA’s government affairs team and OOIDA Executive Vice President Lewie Pugh. One of the topics to be discussed will be the Environmental Protection Agency’s Cleaner Trucks Initiative. An EPA representative is scheduled to participate and take questions.

On Friday, March 27, OOIDA will host a Shift Into Success program from 3-4 p.m. in room B-104. The one-hour class, which will be taught by Pugh and Andrew King of the OOIDA Foundation, will focus on how to develop a business plan. The class is free and open to everyone.

OOIDA will also be at Booth 11128 in the North Wing and Booth 65229 in the West Wing. You also can chat with Jon Osburn at OOIDA’s tour truck at the PKY Truck Beauty Championship in Lot J behind the West Wing.

It will cost only $35 to join or renew your OOIDA membership at MATS.

OOIDA prize pack

OOIDA members also will have opportunities to win prizes at the truck show. Each day of MATS, OOIDA is giving away one prize pack valued at $550. Any life members, as well as anyone who joins or renews their OOIDA membership at the show, will receive one entry.

The daily prize pack will several OOIDA-branded items:

• Leather duffel bag
• Toiletry bag
• Toy truck
• Tire thumper
• Safety vest
• Throwback Dickies work shirt
• Tumbler
• Member license plate
• $200 TA & Petro gift card

More MATS info

MATS officials said earlier this week that it is taking steps to ensure the health of all attendees as concerns regarding the coronavirus spread.

“We encourage all of our participants to take the necessary precautions to avoid the spread of the virus and avoid (the) show if they are sick,” the MATS website stated.

Jayne Denham, the Australian “country rock” singer who has been a mainstay at MATS’ Red Eye Radio stage in recent years, will headline the MATS concert along with Larry Fleet.

The show will be at 7 p.m. Friday, March 27 at Fourth Street Live in downtown Louisville, Ky. Fourth Street Live is a 350,000-square foot entertainment and retail complex located on Fourth Street between Liberty and Muhammad Ali Boulevard. Traditionally, the MATS’ concert had been at the Kentucky Expo Center’s Freedom Hall.

Shuttles will be available at the Expo Center to transport attendees to Fourth Street Live and back, courtesy of Howe’s Lubricator. The shuttles will pick up attendees beginning at 6 p.m. in front of Freedom Hall and will run every 30 minutes until midnight.

A MATS attendee badge will serve as a ticket for the concert, which is presented by Mobil Delvac.

MATS also will be offering several seminars involving the FMCSA.

On Thursday, March 26, FMCSA Acting Administrator Jim Mullen will present an FMCSA Hot Topics seminar from 3-4 p.m. in room B-104. The seminar will discuss FMCSA’s latest actions to promote safety and reduce burdens on the commercial motor vehicle industry.

FMCSA’s Joe DeLorenzo also will present FMCSA Hot Topics seminars from 10-11 a.m. on Friday, March 27 and from 12:30-1:30 p.m. on Saturday, March 28. Both seminars, which will go over what drivers should expect from the Drug and Alcohol Clearinghouse, hours-of-service reform, ELDs, and the National Registry of Certified Medical Examiners, will be in room B-104.