Every Labor Day weekend, for the past 10 years, A & L Truck Supply has hosted a great show in Fresno, CA and it is always hot – figuratively and literally! Known for its six-digit summer temps, Fresno delivered again, but this time it wasn’t quite as bad. Held once again at the Fresno Fairgrounds on August 31 and September 1, 2019, the Central Valley Commercial Truck Show (CVCTS) featured about 100 trucks, industry vendors, food trucks, prizes and more.
The show, which is held as a benefit for the Fresno 435 Club and Lions Club of Clovis, began on Saturday at 12:00 but we arrived at 10:30 to set up our booth. Having our brand-new September 2019 edition with us, we handed a lot of those out, along with past issues and posters. Some of the other vendors and sponsors with booths at the show included Dynaflex Products, Trux Accessories, Grand General, United Pacific, Detail Garage Fresno, Roll On Customs, Borrachos Apparel, Zephyr Polish, Hogebuilt, Elite Image, California Trucking Association, Valley Chrome Plating, Forever Sharp, El Troquero Newspaper and Z Boys Detail.
With temperatures hovering around 100 degrees, this show is held on a paved (blacktop) parking lot and there are no trees for shade, so relief from the heat only comes from a pop-up or by going inside the building, which is just a little bit cooler. Past shows have seen temperatures as high as 114 degrees, and I wonder if the memory of that misery kept some people from coming, as the number of trucks was down a bit this year. But trucks did continue to roll in throughout the day and into the evening, slowly filling up a good portion of the large parking lot.
An impromptu cruise at dusk through Fresno kicked off the evening’s festivities. Once everyone returned, it was time for the light show, which never disappoints and is always a highlight of this annual event. CARB-compliant aerodynamic California rigs may not be as cool as they once were, but they still know how to light up the night! One company brought in a live band while a DJ played music, as well. This light show is fun and always has a “party” atmosphere. Tired from the day, we left around 10:00 PM but the lot was still jumping.
With the show hours 8:00 AM to 4:00 PM on Sunday, there was a noticeable increase in the temperature – up to 104 degrees (or should I say 10-4 degrees)! It was a bit miserable out there, for sure. More trucks came in that morning, but some from the day before had left. It was weird. Being that it is a long holiday weekend, I think the local folks have just decided to come and go as they please for this show.
Walking around, there were some cool rides to see – some we knew and some we had never seen before. A few of the usual “suspects” included Fred Rivera and his burnt-orange beauties (and one black one, too), Jerry Salinas’ maroon 1963 narrow-nose Peterbilt 281, Phil Miller’s cream-colored 389 with a matching livestock trailer and Rolando Nava’s orange and purple 2005 KW W900L which just screams California cool! Some others we knew that were looking good were Double E and their stable of sweet tankers and flatbeds, Soza Trucking’s red and blue KW (along with a matching motorcycle), John Murray’s flamed Kenworth W900L and Leon Murrillo’s famous yellow Peterbilt 389.
Along with the trucks and people we knew were a handful of new rigs and people we did not know. German Vargas from Bakersfield, CA brought out his maroon and silver 2014 Kenworth W900L, Segovia Trucking had a slick black end dump, and Johnny at J. Delgadillo Trucking in Fresno was showing-off his really unique metallic lime green and white Freightliner Coronado, with a ton of custom fabrication, and a small Peterbilt sleeper. But the one that stood out most was a 1981 Peterbilt 359 built and owned by David Waller of Star Trailers in Sunnyside, WA. This one-owner rig featured cool yellow, brown and white paint, suicide doors, star-shaped lights and electronically controlled side steps that went up and down 12 inches at the push of a button.
The awards ceremony began at about 1:30 and started off with the giving away of almost 80 raffle items donated by the show’s sponsors. Some of these prizes included polishing kits from Zephyr, axle cover and lug nut sets from Trux, light panels from Grand General, bumpers from Valley Chrome and a full exhaust system from Dynaflex, just to mention a few. After all these raffle prizes were given away, which took about an hour, the winners were announced and the trophies were handed out, with the coveted “Best of Show” award going to German Vargas of Vargas Transport and his clean Kenworth.
As soon as the last award was given, trucks started firing up and rolling out. After getting a few last-minute pictures, we packed up our booth and headed home, as well. It was a hot and miserable weekend, but we still had a lot of fun seeing all our old friends and making a few new ones, too. Thanks to everyone at A & L Truck Supply for working hard to make this show a good one that still highlights what California can offer to the cool truck scene, and congratulations for getting this event to its 10th anniversary.
NON-WORKING ANTIQUE (1994 & OLDER):
1st Jerry Salinas of Jerry Salinas Trucking;
2nd Paul Anker of Anker Hay Sales;
3rd Glenn Bailes of Bailes Welding.
WORKING ANTIQUE:
1st David Waller of Star Trailers;
2nd Stan Alles of Stan Alles Transportation;
3rd Edgar De Jager of De Jager Transport.
PETERBILT (1995-2005):
1st Juan Martinez of JR Trucking;
2nd Esteban Moreno of Moreno Transport.
PETERBILT (2006-2011):
1st Jose Ruben Vargas of R & E Trucking;
2nd Lee Ayers of Amaral Trucking;
3rd Ricardo Martinez of JR Trucking.
PETERBILT (2012-2017):
1st (tie) Rodrigo Maravilla of Maravilla Transport AND Richard Ceja of Double E Trucking;
2nd Angel Diaz of Road Angel Express;
3rd Jose Juarez of R & M Transport.
PETERBILT (2018 & NEWER):
1st Rafael Arellano of Watts Hay Co.;
2nd Ray Williams of L3 Enterprises;
3rd Miguel Diaz of Miguel Diaz Trucking.
FREIGHTLINER (1995-2005):
1st Joe Avila of Avila Trucking;
2nd Alfonso Haro of Kershia Trucking;
3rd Ken Sandberg of Sandberg Trucking.
FREIGHTLINER (2006 & NEWER):
1st Charlie Reyes of J. Delgadillo Trucking;
2nd Louie Castro of C. Castro Trucking;
3rd Jose Meza of Aguila Real Transport.
KENWORTH (1995-2008):
1st Fred Rivera of Rivera Trucking.
KENWORTH (2009 & NEWER):
1st Alex Gomez of SS Skikos;
2nd CG Soza of Soza Trucking;
3rd Eduardo of HJ Trucking Inc.
INTERNATIONAL (ALL YEARS):
1st Hector of Pacific Drayage Co.
SPECIALTY:
1st Aaron Gastelum of Double E Trucking;
2nd Pete Lora of Pete’s Auto Transport;
3rd Andrew Renteria of Double E Trucking.
BOTTOM DUMP/END DUMP:
1st Ernesto Segovia of Segovia Disposal;
2nd Hector Hernandez of Hernandez Trucking;
3rd Bert Gonsalves of California Rock.
COMBO (TRACTOR 2014 & NEWER):
1st Phil Miller of Phil Miller Livestock;
2nd Rafa Avalos;
3rd Flint McVey of McVey Hay Co.
COMBO (TRACTOR 2013 & OLDER):
1st Jesse of M & R Transport;
2nd Kershia Trucking;
3rd Jim of Neal Foster Trucking.
LOCAL DELIVERY (MEDIUM DUTY):
1st Jose Ramos of R & B Produce;
2nd Ronnie Bass of RB Welding;
3rd Kevin Bass of RB Welding.
BEST TOW TRUCK:
Miguel Martinez of Today’s Towing.
BEST PRO. SHOW TRUCK (BOBTAIL):
Anthony Amescua of Rivera Trucking.
BEST PRO. SHOW TRUCK (COMBO):
George Ballesteros of Rollin R Enterprises.
BEST LIGHTS (BOBTAIL):
David Waller of Star Trailers.
BEST LIGHTS (COMBO):
Flint McVey of McVey Hay Co.
VENDOR’S CHOICE:
CG Soza of Soza Trucking.
PARTICIPANT’S CHOICE:
Ernesto Segovia of Segovia Disposal.
PEOPLE’S CHOICE:
George Ballesteros of Rollin R Enterprises.
BEST OF SHOW:
German Vargas of Vargas Transport.
