CVSA to Resume In-Person Events with Its Annual Conference and Exhibition in August-September

The Commercial Vehicle Safety Alliance (CVSA) is pleased to announce that the 2021 CVSA Annual Conference and Exhibition will be held in person, Aug. 29-Sept. 2, in Wilmington, Delaware.

Due to the pandemic, CVSA has not held an in-person conference since its Cooperative Hazardous Materials Enforcement Development (COHMED) Conference in January 2020. The 2021 CVSA Annual Conference and Exhibition will be the Alliance’s first in-person conference in 20 months.

“I’d like to thank my CVSA colleagues who quickly adapted, without hesitation, to working and collaborating virtually – something most of us were unfamiliar with at that time,” said CVSA President Sgt. John Samis with the Delaware State Police. “I’d also like to thank the hundreds of individuals who participated in our virtual events; some of those participants were joining us for the first time.”

Sgt. Samis added, “However, as grateful as I am for everything we accomplished during this difficult time, I’m looking forward to finally meeting in person again and I hope everyone else is too. I’m honored to welcome everyone back to in-person events and to my home state of Delaware.”

The annual conference will be held in Delaware, following CVSA’s tradition of hosting that event in the home jurisdiction of the outgoing president. CVSA President Sgt. Samis has served two years as president due to the pandemic, as have all CVSA leadership members. His presidency will end on Sept. 30. In turn, Capt. John Broers, with the South Dakota Highway Patrol, will become president and Maj. Chris Nordloh, with the Texas Department of Public Safety, will become vice president. The election for the vacated secretary position will take place at the annual conference. Col. Russ Christoferson with the Montana Department of Transportation is running unopposed for the position.

The annual conference will feature program, committee, membership and region meetings, along with updates from federal partners in Canada, Mexico and the U.S., the president’s networking reception, an association roundtable session, two board meetings and much more. The full schedule is posted online.

Annual conference attendees will also experience an expansive exhibit hall where they may visit booths, talk to company and association representatives, witness demonstrations, network with the law enforcement community and the motor carrier industry, and much more. The welcome networking reception and networking and refreshment breaks will be held in the exhibit hall, along with raffle drawings. Every year, the CVSA president selects a charity to receive the proceeds from the raffle. This year, Sgt. Samis selected Special Olympics Delaware, an organization that provides year-round sports training and athletic competition through Olympic-type sports for children and adults with intellectual disabilities.

There will also be a brand-new awards luncheon where this year’s college scholarship recipients will be recognized; Truckers Against Trafficking (TAT) will present its TAT Champion Award; the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration will announce its Motor Carrier Safety Assistance Program Awards; CVSA President Sgt. Samis will announce the President’s Award recipients; this year’s International Driver Excellence Award winner will receive his award; outgoing CVSA leadership will receive their plaques; and we’ll officially announce the incoming CVSA secretary.

Annual conference event registrationevent sponsorships and exhibit hall applications are open.

View photos from the last in-person annual conference, which took place in Biloxi, Mississippi, in 2019.

For more information about the 2021 CVSA Annual Conference and Exhibition, contact CVSA Event Coordinator Natasha Bunch via email or at 301-830-6144.