You bring up good points. (But first I've got to give credit to Tom Landmann for setting up this year's treffen here. I simply didn't have the mental capacity this year, and Tom stepped in and did an admirable job. Thanks Tom!!)
He/we tried to get folks' input as to date/s, and ultimately just picked the date that seemed to fit the most people's schedules. They either make it or they don't.
We had hoped that we'd have time to get into some mechanical aspects of the trucks, but there was not enough time this year. That was unfortunate, because a couple guys had some questions on things. Perhaps our next meeting will be more centered on this, and include a drive together as a secondary item. We didn't even have a breakdown or anybody get stuck/tip over to deal with.
Although I think you have a few years on me, my high school power mech classes covered things like carbs and adjusting valves. Unfortunately, I was more centered on girls at that age.
(FWIW, That's another topic that doesn't come across as well on a CRT as it does "hands on". 
)Paul
...If you gather for a ride, noone wants to wade through boring tech things, or mechanicals... unless broken down on the side of the trail ( then you have a captive class 
... and without any toys 