Truck World counts 12,000

Avatar photo

TORONTO, Ont. – Thw first Truck World trade show is now a memory, and organizers find themselves analyzing the number of visitors who stepped through the gates and onto the show floor.

About 12,000 people were counted by the organizers of the new industry trade show run by the Ontario Trucking Association in cooperation with the Canadian Trucking Alliance.

Show manager Barbara Cole admits she had hoped for higher numbers (“I had very, very high expectations”) given a massive promotional campaign that included trade and mainstream media, direct mailings and radio ads.

The turnout is thought to have been affected in part by confusion over the cancellation of Truckcan. The long-established show run by dmg World Media had been advertised until its official cancellation, late in the summer, leading many people to believe the bi-annual event is still being held this October. Others were apparently confused about Truck World’s location and were showing up at Truckcan’s traditional venue at the International Centre in Mississauga, rather than traveling to Truck World at the National Trade Centre at Exhibition Place.

Ultimately, the attendance could have been a reflection of a weaker market for on-highway trucks, Cole said. “I guess my conclusion is that the industry is very soft right now, and maybe one of the things exhibitors need to look at is a Friday-Saturday-Sunday show,” Cole said.

But she dismisses those who suggest that Truck World might have been more successful if it had been held at the International Centre in Mississauga. “The venue was fantastic,” she said of the National Trade Centre. “I mean, it was a first-class show… I don’t think the location had anything to do with it.”

Officials with the International Centre were actually re-directing traffic to Exhibition Place over the course of the three-day event, but refused to post a sign clarifying the different venue. n

Avatar photo

Truck News is Canada's leading trucking newspaper - news and information for trucking companies, owner/operators, truck drivers and logistics professionals working in the Canadian trucking industry.


Have your say


This is a moderated forum. Comments will no longer be published unless they are accompanied by a first and last name and a verifiable email address. (Today's Trucking will not publish or share the email address.) Profane language and content deemed to be libelous, racist, or threatening in nature will not be published under any circumstances.

*