SAN FRANCISCO - Each year, UMA Motorcoach Expo is the No. 1 industry venue for finding the newest and most-innovative bus maintenance products and services.

And while the San Francisco convention center that's hosting Expo 2008 in January will be filled with the latest equipment and services, it also will be the site of the industry's most popular forum for bus maintenance personnel to meet, network, share information and find solutions for real problems they confront every day.

The name of the forum is the Maintenance Interchange and it will be Jan. 17, lasting all day.

The interchange is a vendor-free forum where mechanics, technicians, maintenance supervisors and those with maintenance responsibilities can exchange ideas in a noncompetitive atmosphere, discuss products and services, and provide suggestions for the most pressing and prevalent maintenance issues in the industry.

It also allows attendees to air grievances about vendor products, services and business practices.

"The interchange is a welcoming environment for honest discourse and a great opportunity to create solutions for the most pressing maintenance issues in the industry," says UMA President and CEO Victor Parra.

Debuted at Motorcoach Expo 2007 in New Orleans, the newest component of the Maintenance Interchange is the Maintenance Competition.

Attendees will have an opportunity to engage in a trouble-shooting competition that will take place in the facilities of Coach America/San Francisco Gray Line.

In a competition against the clock and other mechanics, attendees can expect anything from transmission problems, to a broken water pump, to onboard computer issues.

Competitors will diagnose, locate and eliminate problems, and will be judged by a panel of industry experts. Attendees earn prizes, as well as bragging rights.

To learn more about the Maintenance Interchange and the Maintenance Competition, watch for material that is being sent by mail, fax or e-mail, published in Bus and Motorcoach News, or posted at www.motorcoachexpo.com.