We Brought a Wrecked Truck to the Mid-America Trucking Show and Here is What Happened!
The Mid-America Trucking Show (MATS) is the largest annual trade show dedicated to the Heavy-Duty Trucking Industry. This is a 3-day event of hands-on demonstrations, education, networking, and technology related to the industry. It offers face-to-face interaction between industry representatives and trucking professionals. Atendees travel from all over the world to come to MATS to research the latest products and services in the business.
MATS Continues to Grow, Drawing Larger Crowds Each Year
The Mid-America Trucking Show began in the early 1970's, when a private management group was formed by Paul K. Young, to create the largest and most diversified trucking show in North America. The first show drew 4,000 attendees and just 83 exhibitors.
Photo Credit: The Mid-America Trucking Show
MATS 2019 show drew a whopping 72,584 attendees from 50 states and 11 countries. 1,020 exhibitors filled the 1,000,000 sq. ft of show space with booths and special events, including Vander Haag's, Inc.
The Evolution of Vander Haag's Booth at MATS
Vander Haag's has been an exhibitor at MATS since 2016. It stared off in a 10x20 booth in the West Wing, where it remained for the next 2 years. It featured a backdrop, table, some truck parts, & small monitor that showed off our website.
2018 brought exciting changes as we upgraded to a 20x40 booth in the North Building. This allowed us to get creative and show attendees what we do in a BIG way! We featured our 2010 Custom Lonestar Truck that attracted people to our booth, where we could have the opportunity to speak with them face-to-face about who we are and what we do. We were also able to debut our website kiosks, allowing our customers to purchase heavy duty truck parts right from our website and have them shipped right to their door!
4 Years Later
4 years later, we are still attending MATS and each year our booth continues to improve. 2019 featured a WRECKED 2014 Peterbilt 388 truck. This really drew in a crowd and was definitely a conversation starter at this show. Most people expect to see beautifully polished trucks...not a wrecked one. We left the hood open to display the engine. Our team mounted a monitor to the side of the engine, allowing attendees to view our timelapse video of our engine inspection process.
81 parts were inventoried off of this truck and labeled. Attendees could scan the QR code with their phones, as it directed them to the part listing on our website. This allowed attendees to see our enormous inventory of quality recycled truck parts & see how easy it is to purchase parts online from vanderhaags.com.
There were two 55" tv's mounted to the back of the truck on both sides, displaying videos advertising more about Vander Haag's. We also had 2 daily giveaways that included prizes such as set of Hogebuilt Quarter Fenders, Trux Accessories Horns, Vander Haag's work coats, and more!
Show Highlights & Our Future at MATS
As Vander Haag's continues to grow, we find shows like this help to create brand awareness and it gives us the opportunity to continue to improve our products and services when we hear from attendees face-to-tace. We truly enjoy attending this show and absorbing all that it has to offer.
MATS19 allowed us to achieve all the goals we set while attending the show:
- Brand Awareness
- Reach New Customers
- Connect with Returning Customer
- Advertise our inventory of quality recycled truck parts & more
- Advertise our website & how easy it is to purchase parts online at vanderhaags.com
If you thought our 2019 booth was interesting, just wait!! We have even BIGGER plans for MATS 2020. Be sure to watch for our updates and announcements on Facebook, Instagram, & Twitter.
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While Vander Haag's, Inc still holds strong to its family focused values that have been at the core of the business since first opening in 1939, the company now features 11 Midwest locations selling quality used/rebuilt/new truck parts, selling commercial trucks & trailers, and providing full service heavy duty truck repair.
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