Show History
1973
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 the United States of America. The first Mid-America Trucking Show was held in 1972 with 80 Exhibitors and 4000 visitors in attendance. The show occupied a portion of the West Wing of the original Kentucky Fair and Exposition Center.
1984
Since that time, The Mid-America Trucking Show has grown steadily, first filling the West Hall of the mammoth KY Fair & Exposition Center, then expanding to the larger East Hall. The show continued to grow throughout the 80's spilling over to auxiliary Hall A, then also into auxiliary Hall B.
1991
With the completion of the new South Wing of the KY Fair & Exposition Center in 1991, The Mid-America Trucking Show was able to meet what had become an overwhelming demand for space. Almost half a million square feet of space was taken up by 650 Exhibitors and more than 35,000 people attending in just three days, making it the largest Trucking Show in the Western Hemisphere!
1994
The next major growth phase of The Mid-America Trucking Show occurred in 1994, when the South Wing Phase II expansion was immediately filled by the Show. 160,000 square feet of exhibit space was added, along with additional outside exhibits.
1996
The 1996 Mid-America 25th Anniversary Trucking Show was the Industry celebration of the year. Over 55,000 visitors from around the world arrived in Louisville to experience what had truly become The Greatest Trucking Show on Earth.
1997
The 1997 Mid-America Trucking Show once again expanded to meet the ever increasing demand. The show's expansion into the West Wing of the KY Fair & Exposition Center gave Mid-America 1,000,000 square feet of show space hosting some 1058 exhibiting companies!
1998
The 1998 Mid-America Trucking Show leaped into cyber space and featured the first Internet Technology Center for the Trucking Industry.
2000
The 2000 Mid-America Trucking Shows was the largest trucking show ever seen in the Western Hemisphere with over 70,000 registered Attendees from every state in the union and 44 countries.
2001
The 2001 Mid-America Trucking Show marked the 30 year anniversary of the show. A record number of Exhibitors showed that the truck show is still providing a wonderful experience for both Exhibitors and Attendees alike.
2002
The 2002 Mid-America Trucking Show proved to be a tremendous success for the trucking industry and especially for the 980 companies that exhibited. The show included a wide array of companies and products with Exhibitors from 47 states and 9 foreign countries. Once again, the aisles of the show stayed grid locked from show opening to show close with a final attendance total of 68,164 Attendees.
2003
MATS 2003 once again provided an extraordinary forum for more than 1,000 of trucking's most prominent companies to gather and keep the industry thundering into the future. A wide variety of innovative products and services were displayed by Exhibitors from 44 states and 11 foreign countries to the delight of more than 70,000 in attendance.
2004
The 2004 show was another big hit for those Attendees and Exhibitors that witnessed the amazing display of the latest and greatest trucking had to offer. With 1050 exhibiting companies and more than 74,000 Attendees, the show once again set the standard by which other trucking tradeshows are judged.
2005
It was "Showtime" once again in Louisville as 1,080 Exhibitors made the 2005 show one that will not be soon forgotten. The show rolled out the red carpet to more than 75,000 trucking professionals from all 50 states and 43 foreign countries.
2006
The 2006 show marked the next major growth of the show as the South Wing C Expansion project was completed adding approximately 160,000 sq. ft. of Class A exhibit space, bringing the show to well over 1 million square feet of exhibit space throughout the South, West, East and Pavilion. This addiitonal space seemed to vanish as quickly as it came on-line. The expansion enabled the 2006 show to break all previous records for attendance, number of exhibiting companies, and total square footage. By the close of the show, 1,144 Exhibitors had occupied more than 1 million sq. ft. indoors and 200,000 sq.ft. outdoors; showcasing the latest products and services to a record breaking 80,291 trucking professionals from around the world
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