For the past seven years, 10-4 Magazine has been “going live” from the Mid-America Trucking Show, doing live remotes directly from the event, and streaming them on our social media channels. Since then, we have “streamed” from other events, as well, throughout the year, and it is always a big hit. Hosted and produced by our digital media guru John “JT” Testa since the beginning, John also runs our social media channels and hosts and produces our weekly webcast called “Studio 10-4 LIVE!” on each and every Wednesday night.
It all started back in 2017 at MATS after Facebook introduced its “go live” feature. That was the first ever livestream experience for our audience and the first ever from the show in Louisville (we have always been pioneers). With a simple mic and a smart phone, John was “Live From Louisville” and walking around, talking to people, and doing impromptu interviews. Being a former truck driver who once graced our cover in 2003, John understands trucking more than most social media people, for sure. During that first event, he walked the floor inside the show, as well, and did live interviews with some of our friends and advertisers.
Every year since that first one in 2017, Team 10-4, along with John Testa, has returned to MATS (except for 2020 and 2021 when covid canceled those shows), and each year these livestreams have grown to be bigger and better. In 2018, using a professional mic and a micro mobile studio set up, John began offering some sponsorship opportunities for these live remotes. He also brought along his friend Adam Frick as a production assistant, and the well-produced live remotes and sponsored segments were a big hit all weekend. The cool thing about these live remotes is that it allows people who can’t make it out to the show to still feel like they were there, and that’s pretty cool!
In 2019, with help from Adam once again, they not only did the live remotes from the show floor and outside on the truck show lot, but they also set up a green screen in the 10-4 booth and converted half of the space into “Studio 10-4” where they did live interviews with some of our advertisers, contributors, various trucking celebrities and truck show winners. By now, we had a solid group of partners and supporters that included Minimizer, Lifetime Nut Covers, 4 State Trucks, Lincoln Chrome and Rockwood Products… and the list kept growing.
After the 2020 and 2021 cancellations due to the pandemic, it was “on like Donkey Kong” for 2022. Doing live remotes from Wednesday (the day before the show starts) until the end of the show on Saturday night, John was back on his own. Running around for four days, capturing all the best MATS had to offer and sharing it with our readers and fans, once again it was a huge hit. The following year (2023), John was assisted by our contributor Frank Strohmyer and his friend Paul Kittle. Our media partners and sponsors grew to include Evan’s Detailing and Polishing, Dickerson Custom Trucks, NAST, Berry Trucking, Pittsburgh Power, Carpenter Custom Truck & Trailer, Hood Skinz and Renegade Products.
Last year (2024) John added a few more helpers, and one even took the mic! Our friend Jacob Gunderson helped with some camera work, while young 14-year-old Kyndal Dickerson did some live interviews. This girl has a lot of energy, is smart as a whip, and is just a natural on screen. In addition to most of the sponsors mentioned before, because most stay on board year after year, we added AMCAN, M&J Truck Sales & Service, NTA, VDZ Customs, Valley Chrome, Time 2 Shine, and HD Equipment.
We have come a long way since 2017, and 2025 is shaping up to be the best MATS ever. In addition to these live remotes at shows and events, in 2020, during covid, we created the whole studio format and our weekly webcast “Studio 10-4 LIVE!” was born. Our “Weekly Update” that currently airs on Wednesday nights (5:00 PM PST), features guests, information, entertainment, and fun – whatever is going on in the world of trucking and 10-4 that week. We are currently in the process of expanding this “network” of live programming to include more shows, on different days, and with various hosts. Presently, we stream to Facebook, Instagram, X, and YouTube. It is all very exciting!
With all that in mind, if you would like to be a sponsor at MATS, please get in touch with John (john@tenfourmagazine.com). Spots are filling up fast, so don’t wait. Studio 10-4 LIVE! is also looking for additional on-air talent to bring on board to increase programing, so if you think you might be the best person for the job or you have a good idea for a show theme, reach out to us, as well. With all the changes to social media every day, we will soon have a page on our 10-4 website dedicated just to “Studio 10-4 LIVE!” and will begin livestreaming there, as well as all the other channels, too.
We hope to see you all at MATS, but if you can’t be there, be sure to tune in and watch all our live remotes (if you are there, come visit with Team 10-4 in booth #11268 in the North Wing). Just like everything at 10-4 Magazine, we will be bringing you “The Best of the Best” from Louisville and having a lot of fun in the process. Thank you to everyone who has supported us over the years – we look forward to working with you again in 2025 – at MATS and beyond. And now, without further ado, let’s go “Live From Louisville!” See you there!!
