Every year, the country’s truck suppliers and up-fitters meet in Indianapolis for the NTEA Work Truck Show, combining their expertise to show some of the most innovative, hardest working new trucks on the market.
Everyone from aftermarket suppliers to fleet buyers scour the floor looking for what they need to outfit their business for the next year. Unlike big auto shows like Detroit or Los Angeles, where we show up to just look at shiny new vehicles, the people attending the Work Truck Show are people who actually buy trucks by the dozens.
The size of the trucks at the show can certainly be overwhelming, but that didn’t stop us from compiling a 10 list of the coolest trucks from the 2018 NTEA Work Truck Show for your viewing pleasure.
BOSS Snowplows Ford F-250 Super Duty
Many aftermarket suppliers build trucks to showcase their wares. A leader in snow removal, BOSS Snowplows, had a new Super Duty on hand with a new toy for their customers. In addition to the front plow, there’s a rear drag plow to help make the job easier.
T880S MX-13 Jerr-Dan Wrecker
The biggest truck on the whole show floor had to be the Jerr-Dan wrecker designed for the heaviest of recovery operations. The PACCAR MX-13 510 engine makes an astonishing 1850 lb-ft of torque.
Capable of 50,000 lbs of towing in the retracted mode, it’s what the pros call when the pros get stuck.
OLSON Trailer and Body Dump Truck
Most of the trucks at Work Truck Show are dumpers. While out on the job site you won’t see them with special paint jobs, the truck on display for OLSON Trailer and Body is painted in a gorgeous blue body with some slick accent decals on the sides.
Who says a dump truck can’t have a little flair?
International HX620
International introduced a new line of trucks at the Work Truck Show, and the biggest was the new NX620. A Cummins Performance X15 handles the grunt work, making 1650 lb-ft of torque. With a GVWR of 66,000 lbs, there’s no job too big.
Chevrolet Silverado 6500 HD
Chevrolet surprised the Work Truck Show crowd by introducing a new Class 6 truck along with its other chassis-cab commercial trucks. Frame improvements and new configuration options mean this new truck can do more than ever before, including compete with the competition’s Class 7 offerings.
It was busy throughout the day. If that’s any indication of future success, then Chevrolet might be a player in this segment once again.
Ram 1500 Tradesman
While not large and in charge, the new Tradesman trim of the Ram 1500 is significant. It’s also cool. Work trucks don’t necessarily scream cool, but the crew cab configuration on the floor at Work Truck Show looked nice in white, while not looking like a cheap work truck.
Now, where’s that regular cab Tradesman?
Nissan Titan Snow Plow Prep
Sitting at the corner of the Nissan display was a regular cab Titan rocking a BOSS snowplow and salt spreader. Aside from dump trucks, snow plows are the next biggest thing at the Work Truck Show. It makes sense, since it snows in the Midwest a lot.
What’s cool is that the Titan packs the punch of the competition while carrying a five-year bumper-to-bumper warranty, far superior than the other truck brands. When you’re an owner-operator of a small business, those savings could be huge.
General Motors SURUS
Fully autonomous and powered by hydrogen, the SURUS is GM’s look into the future of trucking. The unique design allows for the truck to take a variety of different configurations, all built atop the same flat-deck platform.
It’s a concept, but autonomy is coming to commercial trucking sooner or later, and GM isn’t going to wait around.
UPS Grumman Olson Kurb Side
One of the coolest trucks on the floor was this 1950s Grumman Olson Kurb Side finished to look like a UPS delivery truck of the time.
Unfortunately, the lighting inside the convention center doesn’t do it justice, but the color-matched paint and intricate fine details take us back to a time when even receiving a parcel was cool.
Nissan Smokin’ Titan
Have you ever seen a Titan with the bed removed? Now you have. The Smokin’ Titan is a functioning concept where the bed was removed and replaced to make it easier to haul what a BBQ chef needs.
The bed was then converted into a trailer to carry the smokers needed to make the perfect ‘cue. The convention center wouldn’t let them fire it up – silly fire hazard rules – but rest-assured that like the Death Star, the Smokin’ Titan is a fully-operational battle station.
A full-functioning refrigerator and ample storage bring new meaning to meals on wheels.
A version of this story originally appeared on Off-Road.com
The post Top 10 Coolest Trucks We Saw at the 2018 Work Truck Show appeared first on AutoGuide.com.
