For the first time in its more than 100-year history, the Purdue Road School is hitting the road.

The Work Truck Show 2019 special session: Purdue Road School consists of three classes that are part of the 105th Purdue Road School Transportation Conference and Expo and will be held March 7 at Indiana Convention Center during Work Truck Week.

The Work Truck Show 2019 runs March 5-8 at Indiana Convention Center in Indianapolis, Ind. Fleet Technical Congress and Green Truck Summit kick off March 5 at JW Marriott Indianapolis. Other Work Truck Week activities, including educational sessions, Manufacturer, and Distributor Innovation Conference and the exhibit hall, are all located at Indiana Convention Center. The Work Truck Show exhibit hall is open March 6-8.

Purdue Road School, which runs March 4-7 at Purdue University, brings together federal, state and local agencies, elected officials, and professionals from industry, consulting, and academia to collaborate and reflect on diverse transportation topics.

“Purdue Road School is more than 100 years old, and this will be the first time some of their training will be held at a site separate from the university,” said Doyle Sumrall, NTEA managing director. “The transportation sessions being held in conjunction with The Work Truck Show are designed for Indiana fleet managers. NTEA is honored that Purdue Road School organizers decided to collaborate with The Work Truck Show to reach a wider audience with this important education and training.”

One registration gives attendees access to the Purdue Road School classes at The Work Truck Show and the special session LTAP Fleet Educational Program: The Blizzard of 2039 held Thursday, March 7. Sessions are expected to reach capacity, so pre-registration is encouraged.

In the morning, attendees can choose to attend two one-hour Purdue Road School sessions addressing Indiana statutes and ethics for professional engineers and surveyors. Or, they can attend the LTAP Fleet Educational Program from 9:30–11:30 a.m. to learn how the introduction of electronic controls, liquid deicers and global positioning systems have helped change winter maintenance equipment and operations over the last 20 years and hear about strategies to prepare for tomorrow’s demands.

All registrants may attend the afternoon Purdue Road School session, titled "Making Cents of Platooning: What’s Coming?" from 1-3 p.m., to learn how driver-assisted truck platooning improves driver teamwork, safety and fuel economy. A panel of industry, policy and research leaders will share what’s current in platooning for Class 8 trucks.

Experts will discuss NEXTCAR, a U.S. Department of Energy-sponsored project that aims to develop technologies that will use emerging connectivity infrastructure. This three-year, $5 million project intends to assess fuel efficiency benefits of an integrated, connectivity-enabled vehicle and powertrain control system for diesel-powered on-highway trucks.