10-4 Magazine - For Today's Trucker

BIG RIGS
RAISE BIG BUCKS
TRUCKERS UNITE NATIONWIDE FOR SPECIAL OLYMPICS
(Click here to see the photos!)

Saturday, September 18th was a special day this year as charity truck convoys were held across the nation to raise money and awareness for Special Olympics. This year, the fourth World's Largest Truck Convoy hosted 21 events in 17 states (and one in Canada) and raised almost $200,000. Three more convoys in hurricane-ravaged Florida, Louisiana and Georgia had to be postponed, so the numbers could (and should) go up significantly after those events occur (the Florida convoy alone had 248 trucks in 2002). We at 10-4 Magazine helped promote and attended the Northern California convoy.

At our convoy in Ripon, California, trucks began staging at the Flying J Travel Plaza off Highway 99 at Jack Tone Road well before the 7:30 a.m. staging time officially began. As the morning passed, more and more trucks gathered. At about 10:00 a.m. there was a brief driver's meeting and then at 10:30 the convoy began (right on schedule).
With a police escort in the front and other officers blocking on/off ramps as the trucks headed north on Highway 99, the convoy was a real spectacle and crowd-pleaser. Surprisingly, no one seemed too annoyed that they had to stop and wait for the entire convoy to pass before they could proceed. They patiently waited and enjoyed the rigs as they went by. The lead truck was Ed Rocha's incredible blue and white 1954 Kenworth 825 truck and trailer. I was lucky enough to get a ride in Kyle Van Hulzen's red and black Pete (10-4's September 2004 Cover Truck) and experience the convoy from behind the windshield (thanks Kyle).

As the 64 trucks worked their way toward the San Joaquin Fairgrounds in Stockton under cloudy skies, they passed many groups of people standing on the side of the road, cheering them on and snapping pictures. As the trucks entered the Fairgrounds, they were greeted with a row of sign-bearing Special Olympic Athletes and their families. It was very touching and brought the reason for this event clearly into focus.

Once inside the Fairgrounds, the drivers parked their trucks and then enjoyed lunch, live music, vendor booths and a dunk tank, which gave folks the opportunity to "Dunk-A-Cop" if they dared. There was also a short awards ceremony honoring some of the event's major supporters, volunteers and sponsors. Mike Maggini's yellow and green flamed Peterbilt was named Best of Show.

The Northern California convoy was organized by CHP Officer Rich Near out of King City, CA with lots of help from representatives of the Special Olympics, including Jaime Tosio. The Special Olympics organization is especially important to Officer Near as his son Richard is a Special Olympic Athlete. Richard Jr. not only introduced his dad to the after-convoy-party crowd, but helped him hand out the awards as well. Thanks were also given to the CTA for their help and support. This event, although not as large as it could have been, still raised $22,343 dollars (second only to Dallas, Texas which raised $23,848). Tennessee, with 91 participating trucks, was the largest convoy in 2004 (so far). We hope this event continues to grow every year, because the cause is worthy.

Other states that held convoys included Nevada, Oklahoma, Arizona, Washington, Missouri, Kansas, Arkansas, Nebraska, South Dakota, Delaware, Indiana, Colorado, Iowa and Idaho. For details about the Iowa convoy, read Trucker Talk on pages 56 & 57. The nationwide totals (so far) are 950 trucks and $187,000. The postponed Louisiana convoy was held on October 23rd (the numbers were not in yet at press time) and the Florida event was rescheduled for November 13th. The Georgia convoy (at the time of this writing) had not yet determined their rescheduled date or location.

If you missed the September 18th or October 23rd convoys, we urge you to participate in one of the two remaining events. The Tampa, Florida convoy is the grand-daddy of them all, and should have several hundred trucks. For more details, contact Norm Schneiderhan at (407) 719-3147. For more details about the Atlanta, Georgia convoy, contact Deputy Nakia Brooks at (678) 386-1896. For more general information about all of the convoys and Special Olympics, visit www.worldslargesttruckconvoy.com today. The date has not yet been set for next year, but we will keep you posted as information develops. Our thanks go out to everyone who participated in not only the Northern California convoy, but all of them across the country as well.