Truck Shows Deliver
Each year, there are a number of truck beauty shows put on at venues across the United States. They include the Stars & Stripes truck beauty events, Shell's annual SuperRigs competition, the Super Truck beauty contest at the Walcott Truckers' Jamboree and several shows put on by the National Assn. of Show Trucks.
All of these shows contribute to trucking's image by highlighting the best-looking rigs on the road. Most are open to the general public, who ooh and aah over these beauties and get to meet some real-life truckers. These shows have the added bonus of inspiring other truckers who attend to spiff up their own rigs.
One show, however, stands out in the image department because of its commitment to charity.
This is the 16th year for the Great Salt Lake Truck Show, founded in part by Jeff England, owner of Pride Transport in Salt Lake City. The goal of the show is to promote a positive image of the trucking industry to the public, while promoting and providing funds for the Truck Show Kidney Kamp. Each year, the show raises enough money for more than 200 children who have kidney failure, are on dialysis, or are awaiting a transplant, to attend a camping experience in the Utah mountains along with their families.
The idea of raising money for the National Kidney Foundation came about after a driver lost a child to kidney failure, according to Natalie Alberico with Pride Transport, who is on the board of directors for the event.
"We have a really good response from the media and the public," Alberico says. "I think this is a huge way of being able to promote a really positive image of the trucking industry. It allows people to see that they really have a friend on the road."
The show draws about 100 big rigs each year, about 50 autos for the car show, and an estimated 5,000 to 10,000 visitors who enjoy not only the truck and car show events, but also games and other special attractions such as monster trucks, antique trucks, dragsters, and booths from local trucking suppliers.
Return to main story
