I’ve now attended the NTEA Work Truck Show five times: 2018 and 2020 with Coach Ken Taylor, and the last three years with One Nexus. One thing becomes obvious when you’ve seen enough of them: every show has a unique personality. If you’re not feeling that, you’re just walking the floor.
In 2018, I was overwhelmed. That’s the standard first-time experience.
In 2020, there was real energy around emerging technology. It was vibrant! By the middle of that Thursday, that energy shifted as conversations turned toward what would soon become a global shutdown. The tone of the room changed before the world officially did.
The shows in 2024 and 2025 carried a different kind of tension. In 2024, election-year uncertainty slowed decision-making even as business continued. In 2025, tariff discussions and cost concerns added another layer of hesitation that kept many organizations from moving with a freeing conviction.
Then came 2026, and for the first time in several years, the industry felt like it was breathing with true confidence again. That observed optimism wasn’t based on hype or novelty. It felt grounded in a clearer understanding of where things stand and how to move forward.
That clarity showed up in a very specific way for us at One Nexus as well. In 2024, it seemed we spent most of the week explaining who we were. In 2025, we had some traction but were still initiating nearly every meaningful conversation.
In 2026, the dynamic changed. Conversations started finding us in hallways, significant introductions were brought to us, and significant unplanned moments happened throughout the event. That shift doesn’t come from visibility alone. It happens when the market starts actively looking for the next solutions to make real progress. We like to drive those connections.
One conversation summed it up. An OEM leader pulled me aside and said, “We’ve dealt with the losses. All of us. Doesn’t matter which brand, but we’re all here with finally a sense of certainty. I’m excited to see things move forward.”
Clarity in the work truck world is GOLD. But it’s also not enough. There needs to be execution on top of that to make a real difference.
Here’s a simple, acronymically sound concept I enjoy sharing with my dealerships: CPR, which stands for Clarity, Process, and Rhythm. Most organizations try to operate in reverse, focusing on activity before establishing structure and direction. The result is movement without consistency, and effort without measurable progress.
Clarity has to come first by defining what success actually looks like, down to the daily actions. From there, a process can be built to guide execution and create accountability. Only then can rhythm develop, allowing that process to be repeated, scaled, and improved over time.
That same need for structure showed up in one of the most important developments at the show, but with one of the best answers I’ve seen in my career.
Work Truck Solutions introduced a CRM designed specifically for commercial and fleet operations, addressing a gap that has existed seemingly forever. Dealers have been promised “commercial-ready” systems before, but those solutions rarely aligned with how the business actually works.
I’ve seen no less than twenty different attempts to solve this problem, from existing vendors to industry innovators, but this is the first time something appears to truly fit. This brings visibility and organization to an area that has long relied on workarounds. That is not a small improvement. It changes how decisions get made.
Work Truck Solutions brought a new industry standard more than a decade ago. Now, it appears they are doing it again. I love that!
What made 2026 different wasn’t just the announcements. It was the alignment. For the first time in several years, the conversations, the technology, and the mindset all pointed in the same direction. Clarity wasn’t just present. It was being acted on.
That’s where “CPR” becomes real. Clarity is finally emerging across the industry. The process is taking shape through better tools and better thinking. The next phase will come down to who can establish rhythm and sustain it.
And that’s where separation happens.
Because there were still plenty of dealers walking the floor, collecting ideas, having conversations, and leaving with no real plan to execute. That hasn’t changed. What has changed is that the path forward is more visible than it’s been in years.
The ones who take that clarity and turn it into a structured, repeatable approach will move fast. The ones who don’t will stay busy and call it progress.
I’m fascinated to observe that development.
About the author: Will Brogan is the Strategist for the Commercial Truck Training Division at the One Nexus Group. Will has been a part of Ken Taylor & Associates since 2012, overseeing its transition to the One Nexus Group portfolio in 2024. Will has an excellent track record of developing and delivering training programs and building highly effective leadership collaborations with a variety of industry partners.
