It's the greatest event in trucking, and while I can't be there, you should

The 37th annual Mid-America Trucking Show will be held March 27-29 at Louisville, Ky.

By MEGAN CULLINGFORD
Truckers Connection

3/3/2008

I can hardly let the March issue go to print without writing about the most dominant affair in the industry going on this month.

The 37th Mid-America Trucking Show takes place the March 27-29 in Louisville, Ky. And as always, it will be the crème de la crème of trucking shows. Every imaginable trucking-related product and service company will be there, along with some non-trucking specific companies as well. There’s great food to eat, trucks to test drive/ride, a technology center to see the latest in gadgets, the truck beauty championship, daily entertainment and much more.

One of the most notable among the very cool things to see and do during this trucking extravaganza is Kenworth’s 20th annual customer appreciation concert, which is featuring super country music duo Sugarland on Friday at 7:30 p.m.. How huge is that?

And if seeing a super star is your thing, be sure you stop by the WBAP Midnight Trucking Radio Network’s lobby booth to check out several well-known faces.

Among them, the “Queen of Bluegrass” herself, Rhonda Vincent, will be signing autographs and taking pictures on Thursday from 1-4 p.m. Be sure to come back to the same spot on Friday to say a Howdy-do to Grammy winner Suzy Bogguss, also from 1-4 p.m. And on Saturday (that’s right—there’s someone cool each day of the show), don’t miss seeing and shaking hands with The Chrome Shop Mafia—the original cast members from Trick My Truck. They’ll be waiting for you from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. so don’t be late. In fact, if you’ve ever seen the crowds who turn out to see the fabulous folks WBAP always brings with them, you know to show up early. While there, register to win $1,000 cash and some other great prizes as well.

Who doesn’t love to get cool, free stuff? You’ll find it not just at the WBAP booth, but throughout the show. It’s where I do all my birthday and Christmas gift shopping for the year. Just think: yard sticks and light up balls, squeeze-ball stress relievers and flashing pins. And the stickers…oh, the stickers. Two words: Stocking Stuffers. LOL. Seriously, there are many good items that you’ll pick up here — it’s a trucker’s dream: log book holders and notebooks, rulers, key chains, pens, letter openers, all handy for your job and easy to keep in the truck. It’s a bevy of trucking goodies so extensive your head will swim.

But you know what you will not find at the Mid-America Trucking Show this year? Me. For the first time in my 14-year trucking career (good grief! How old am I?!) I will miss the infamous MATS. I had a conflict in my schedule that simply could not be resolved and have to miss the three-day affair. Is it that big a deal, really? Actually, it is.

Each March, it’s like coming home for me — the hustle and bustle, the jostling in the aisles to fight my way from one booth to another clear across the hall, the pork BBQ sandwiches I love, the electric energy that buzzes through the place making the atmosphere seem alive. But the best part of MATS is seeing the people. Familiar faces and new ones, it’s very cool to connect in person. There are friends and colleagues I’ve known for eons that I would see again; there are phone friends I feel I know but have never seen; then there are readers who know me from these pages who come by for first time smiles, hand-shaking and hugs. Every year without fail, I’ve met a few new truck drivers who come up and ask about my son by name, or tell me how the words written after my beloved Sheltie passed away helped them through a similar situation or laugh about my utter fear of spiders. That is the best part of the MATS and what I’m sad to be missing this year.

If you plan to attend the show, good for you. You will love it! If you happen to be a driver who planned to stop to say hello, I hate that I’ll miss you. Feel free to cruise on by and give my co-workers a hard time. Oh, and eat a BBQ sandwich for me, would you?