Indoor convention-style trucking trade shows are becoming rare these days. There used to be a bunch of them, but now, other than the Mid-America Trucking Show in Louisville in spring, there are only a handful, including shows in Houston, TX and Ontario, CA. The organization that runs these last two shows mentioned recently started having one in Florida, too, but we have not been to that one yet. But we have attended the California Trucking Show at the Ontario Convention Center in Ontario, CA since the beginning (2016), and this show is consistently one of the busiest events we participate in each year.
Held this year on October 5-6, 2024, this show had about 250 vendors inside and 40 trucks outside, along with a few vendors outside, as well. Show hours were 10AM to 5PM both days, and as usual, the crowds were great, and the aisles were packed. Thanks to Oscar for once again hosting a fantastic event and treating us very well. With temperatures in the upper 90s both days and more humidity than usual, the weather was unseasonably hot and uncomfortable for that time of the year down in Southern California, making going outside to see the trucks a little less inviting (it was tough to leave the comfort of the air conditioned convention center).
Helping us out in the booth this year (Dan and Shannon) were Polly Kasper (Shannon’s mom), our son Parker, and our daughter Paige and her boyfriend Kenan. Between handing out magazines and rolling posters, talking to attendees and fellow vendors, taking pictures both inside and out, and selling swag, we were very busy all weekend. Bringing out our brand new “Legendary II” shirt, which features Ron Kelsey’s orange Peterbilt 359 which he has been driving for over 30 years and has been on our cover twice, this shirt was a big hit. We also handed out hundreds of free copies of 10-4 Magazine, along with centerfolds and posters, and ran out of everything on Sunday afternoon – even after bringing in some extras on Sunday.
On Sunday, we promoted our then upcoming rodeo event hard, and even brought some of the blow-up “Betsy” cows, which were a surprisingly large attention-getter (everyone wanted to buy a cow)! But they were not for sale. We also wore special rodeo shirts on Sunday, and some of us in the booth even wore cowboy hats, too! We talked to hundreds of people about the upcoming event, and handed out tons of fliers, as well.
Advertisers and friends we enjoyed seeing and visiting with included Gio, Jennifer and Avery at Toys 4 Trucks, Phil and Larry at Mobile Smoke Check, everyone at DTIS, A-Rod and Jessica at West Coast Foam, John Murray, Ron at Quick Pressure, our old friends Paul Clodio and trucker Enrique Vanegas, Laura at Truck Club (who organized the truck beauty contest outside), Stay Loaded Apparel, and our new friends Laura and Freddie at Till Death Apparel. Our neighbor just down the aisle was TCI Logistics, and it was a pleasure to meet Diana Espinoza, who expressed a big desire to be part of our next charity TFK truck show this coming May. We look forward to working with their team. Our friends at Axle Surgeons and Diesel Plates & Permits were there, too, but we did not get a chance to talk to them.
Outside in the heat, our friend and past cover trucker (January 2007) Frank Alarid was tasked with being the sole judge at the show – and he did a thorough job of analyzing these rigs. Doing it by himself was not easy, but he was a good and fair judge, and he did great! Once again, we sponsored the People’s Choice award, and once again, Carl Carstens at Rockwood Products built us an amazing trophy to hand out. Before heading out to the awards, our friend Brandon Chase and his father came by the booth to talk, hang out, and take pictures with us. This “kid” is the biggest truck fan you will ever meet, and his dad is a really special human, too. Thanks to Brandon’s dad for taking the picture of a bunch of us with Brandon in our booth and then sending it to me after the show.
With about 40 bobtail trucks out in the parking lot, there were a few that stood out. Some of these included Mark Tarascou’s two trucks (a dark green 2-axle Peterbilt 389 and a maroon International Lonestar dump truck), NRT’s two super clean black beauties (a Freightliner and a Kenworth), two blue and black KWs owned by TMT, and two W900L Kenworths owned by CG Soza of Soza Trucking. CGs KWs truly cleaned house, taking home several awards each, including Best of Show for his green and black truck.
Two other big winners and standout rigs were a brown metallic Peterbilt 389 from Virk Trans Carrier, which earned Best Peterbilt, and a black Peterbilt 389 with purple stripes from 22G Trucking, which earned our People’s Choice trophy. The brown Peterbilt had a really nice matching interior that featured a unique “marbled” floor that really caught my eye. The cool things these guys come up with for their trucks never ceases to amaze me. Congratulations to all the winners this year!
Next year’s show is scheduled for October 4-5, 2025. If you are in or around Southern California on that weekend, we highly recommend you swing by and check it out. And if you are from the local area (or not) and have a trucking-related business, this is a great event you will want to be a vendor at. Just make sure to bring a lot of whatever you are selling or giving away, because this show always has a huge crowd, and it will keep you busy all weekend. We hope to see you there. The 2024 winners were:
BEST INTERNATIONAL: Tarascou Trucking.
BEST FREIGHTLINER: National Retail Transportation.
BEST KENWORTH: Soza Trucking.
BEST PETERBILT: Virk Trans Carrier.
BEST CONSTRUCTION: Montes & Sons.
BEST METAL SHINE: Soza Trucking.
BEST PAINT: Soza Trucking.
BEST INTERIOR: Fonseca & Sons Trucking.
BEST GRAPHICS: Soza Trucking.
PEOPLE’S CHOICE: 22G Trucking.
BEST OF SHOW: Soza Trucking.
