10-4 Magazine - For Today's Trucker

VEGAS BABY!
THE TRUCK SHOW LAS VEGAS – ALWAYS A GOOD BET
(Click here to see the photos!)

The 2006 edition of The Truck Show Las Vegas was, again, a great bet. Held at the Las Vegas Convention Center on June 15-17, the show featured plenty of exhibitors, lots of attendees, over fifty beautiful trucks competing in the Stars & Stripes Truck Beauty Competition, seminars and workshops, and everything else that you’d expect at a top-notch trucking show. The only thing this show was missing was OEM’s.

Since the ugly break-up between the show’s management company and the California Trucking Association (CTA) three or four years ago, these two organizations have fought for the OEM’s (original equipment manufacturers) to support their show. Unfortunately, The Truck Show Las Vegas has not been winning this fight, so most of the OEM’s have not been on display - and that is a shame, because this is still a good show. Just imagine how much bigger and better it could be if companies like Peterbilt, Kenworth, Freightliner, International, Volvo, Cummins, Cat, Detroit, etc. were exhibiting. Wow!

But despite this on-going struggle, the folks at Independent Trade Show Management were still able to produce a great show that yielded terrific business leads and product sales. Speaking to other exhibitors out on the floor, most were very pleased with the show and the amount of business generated from it. Roger Sherrard, Sue Fena and the rest of their crew (including Sue’s son Joey) should be very proud of the event that they put together, and we are sure that this show will continue to grow and get better and better every year.

Out on the floor, a few members of the Chrome Shop Mafia were on hand to sell t-shirts and other stuff out of their newly-built display trailer. Pulled by CSM’s famed “Inferno” KW, the new trailer is painted to match and features a slide-up side door that reveals a vast display of CSM gear (photo 2). Look for this rolling store at most of the major truck shows this year. Just down the aisle from CSM was RJ Taylor’s Ol’ Blue USA Safety Center, offering free hourly seminars from the Nevada Highway Patrol and Nebraska State Patrol. These law enforcement officials answered questions regarding safety, hours of service, pre-trip and post-trip inspections and the latest laws.

Also out on the floor, Panelite featured one of the largest displays, complete with several purple trucks “done up” with Panelite decorative chrome and stainless steel accessories. Another neat display was a Freightliner flatbed with a 9’ Steinway Concert Grand Piano and a full sound system mounted on the bed. Complete with cool vinyl graphics and lots of chrome, the “Piano Rig” was built by World Champion Pianist Ryan Ahern and is the only fully dedicated piano performance vehicle in the world. Throughout the show, Ryan performed world-class piano arrangements and award-winning Boogie-Woogie tunes.

Over at the 10-4 booth, caricature artist Greg Dohlen was on-hand to draw his amazing caricatures and Jean and Shannon handed out plenty of free magazines and posters. Late Thursday afternoon, our editor, Dan Linss, got a 39th birthday surprise. Complete with about 40 friends, cake, champagne and singing, Dan was truly surprised and thankful for all the folks who came by to celebrate with him.
With over 50 rigs in the truck beauty contest, the competition was fierce. Oddly enough, for a West Coast show, most of the big awards went to trucks from faraway places like Florida, Minnesota, New York and Connecticut. Big winners included Pat Eilen (photo 1) for his white and lime green “Iron Outlaw” rig, Clint Dicks and his crew (photo 6) with their white and orange “Freshly Squeezed” truck, and Paul Stanchio’s blue Pete car hauler with orange flames called “Hot Wheels” (photo 3). Other notable winners included Sandvik Trucking’s “Kaotic” and Ronnie Johnson’s “Centsless” Pete (photo 5).

Next year’s dates are scheduled for June 7-9, 2007. Let’s hope the OEM’s make the right decision and decide to be there next year. But whether they are there or not, this show will still be one of best bets Las Vegas has to offer - and we know that we won’t miss it! The following is a list of all the winners:

BOBTAIL (2003 & OLDER): 1st Darlene Swift of Taylor Ridge, IL (Free Spirit); 2nd Sergio Gonzalez/SG & Sons Trucking of San Diego, CA; 3rd Joe Tartaglia of Thomaston, CT (Evil).

BOBTAIL (2004 & NEWER): 1st LeRoy McRoberts of Homer, NE; 2nd Ed McRoberts of Homer, NE (Sunglasses Optional); 3rd Bobby Vaz/Michael Dusi Trucking of Paso Robles, CA.

BOBTAIL (COMPANY TRUCK): 1st Ronnie Johnson/Witte Bros. Exchange of Troy, MO (Centsless); 2nd Chris Hammen/W.H. Fuller Transport of Chipley, FL (Peanut Shell); 3rd Michael Most/Most Trucking of Phoenix, AZ.

BOBTAIL (SPECIALIZED): 1st Richard Hall/Riddler Trucking of Chula Vista, CA; 2nd Paul Lima, Jr./Lima Towing of Santa Clara, CA.

BOBTAIL (FIRST SHOW): 1st Jim Clark of Troy, MO; 2nd Nick Mitchell/Most Trucking of Phoenix, AZ; 3rd Isidro Escalera/Newland & Family Trucking of Grayland, WA.

COMBO (2000 & OLDER): 1st Billy Hopkins of Kaufman, TX; 2nd Anthony Amescua/Rivera Trucking of Stockton, CA; 3rd Mike Penrod of Fargo, ND (Running Wild).

COMBO (2001 & NEWER): 1st Cary Bess/MCK Express of West Jordan, UT (Pure Punishment); 2nd Wayne Baker of Taylor Ridge, IL; 3rd Dale Johnson/DNR Transport of Hemingway, SC.

COMBO (COMPANY TRUCK): 1st Dave Hinz/Blue Leasing Corp. of West Bend, WI (photo 7); 2nd Kathy DeLucry/W.T.I. of Henderson, NV; 3rd John Jenkins/SEI Transport of Millville, NJ.

COMBO (SPECIALIZED): 1st Pat Eilen of Hampton, MN (Iron Outlaw); 2nd Paul Stanchio/PMP Trucking, Inc. of Port Washington, NY (Hot Wheels); 3rd Chris Williams of Glen Cove, NY.

COMBO (FIRST SHOW): 1st Richard Jimenez/Sandvik Trucking of Valley Center, CA; 2nd Newland & Family Trucking of Grayland, WA; 3rd Bob Newhouse/Western Distributing of Denver, CO (Old Shack).

INTERIOR (CAB ONLY): 1st Wayne Baker of Taylor Ridge, IL; 2nd Dave Hinz/Blue Leasing Corp. of West Bend, WI (Slow Ride); 3rd Ronnie Johnson/Witte Bros. Exchange of Troy, MO (Centsless).

INTERIOR (OEM SLPR): 1st Darlene Swift of Taylor Ridge, IL (Free Spirit); 2nd Michael Most/Most Trucking of Phoenix, AZ; 3rd Ed McRoberts of Homer, NE (Sunglasses Optional).

PAINT/GRAPHICS (BOBTAIL): 1st Chris Hammen/W.H. Fuller Transport of Chipley, FL (Peanut Shell); 2nd Mike Miller/Prizm of Jerome, ID; 3rd Justin Reed of West Valley, UT (Old Glory).

PAINT/MURAL (BOBTAIL): 1st Joe Tartaglia of Thomaston, CT (Evil) (photo 4); 2nd Darlene Swift of Taylor Ridge, IL (Free Spirit); 3rd Paul Lima, Jr./Lima Towing of Santa Clara, CA.

PAINT/GRAPHICS OR MURAL (COMBO): 1st Pat Eilen of Hampton, MN (Iron Outlaw); 2nd Mike Penrod of Fargo, ND (Running Wild); 3rd Paul Stanchio/PMP Trucking, Inc. of Port Washington, NY (Hot Wheels).

ENGINE: 1st Ronnie Johnson/Witte Bros. Exchange of Troy, MO (Centsless); 2nd Wayne Baker of Taylor Ridge, IL; 3rd LeRoy McRoberts of Homer, NE.

MOST HEAD-TURNING USE OF CHROME: Paul Stanchio/PMP Trucking, Inc. of Port Washington, NY – 2005 Blue Peterbilt 379 & 2005 Boydstun Car Carrier (Hot Wheels).

BEST THEME: Pat Eilen of Hampton, MN – 2006 White & Lime Green Peterbilt 379 & 2006 Mac End Dump (Iron Outlaw).

LIMITED MILEAGE (BOBTAIL): 1st Chuck Prigge/Sandvik Trucking of Valley Center, CA (Kaotic); 2nd Truett Novosad/Novosad Enterprises of Caldwell, TX (High Cotton); 3rd Bill Pierce of Poway, CA (Boss Hog); 4th Ray Myer/Speed Demon Truk Worx.

LIMITED MILEAGE (COMBO): 1st Clint Dicks/TDT Trucking of Lake City, FL (Freshly Squeezed); 2nd Bill Sandvik/Sandvik Trucking of Valley Center, CA; 3rd Mike Maggini/Maggini & Son Trucking of Riverdale, CA; 4th Dino Guadagni/Western Distributing of Denver, CO (Miss Behavin’).

BEST OF SHOW (BOBTAIL): Ronnie Johnson/Witte Bros. Exchange of Troy, MO – 2007 Mocha & Green Peterbilt 379 (Centsless).

BEST OF SHOW (COMBO): Pat Eilen of Hampton, MN – 2006 White & Lime Green Peterbilt 379 & 2006 Mac End Dump (Iron Outlaw).