10-4 Magazine - For Today's Trucker

LATINO EXTRAVAGANZA
FIRST ANNUAL “TRUCK SHOW LATINO” DEBUTS
(Click here to see the photos!)

"Extravaganza" may be a bit of an exaggeration, but the first annual Truck Show Latino, held October 13-15 at the Fairplex in Pomona, CA was pretty good for a first-time event. Although the show's promoters (the same group of folks that put on The Truck Show Las Vegas) had tried to fill two buildings, they fell short of the mark and instead filled one. Building #4 at the fairgrounds had about 125 vendors, and some even spoke Spanish!

Promoted as the first-ever event of its kind, Truck Show Latino was created to give Latino's in the trucking industry a place where they could feel "comfortable and welcome" and do some business. Research had shown that other truck shows weren't filling this need, so Independent Trade Show Management, in conjunction with Newport Communications, produced the event. Originally, a Stars & Stripes Truck Beauty Competition was scheduled to be held just outside, but some last-minute concerns about space and a poor turnout, forced the "competition" to become a mere "exhibition" of nine (very nice) trucks.

Bill and Marie Sandvik brought out two of their trucks, as well as Steve Sanchez, whose truck was on our October cover. Curtis Christians showed up with his custom rig and Clint Dicks came out from Florida to display his white and orange Peterbilt called "Freshly Squeezed." Enrique Vanegas of EVR Trucking was in attendance with his neat black Pete with suicide doors and shaved headlights, and Fimbres Industries had their clean teal green Peterbilt parked outside too. Robert House of Rob House Ready Mix showed off his cool red transit mixer with dark blue flames and Nacho Armenta of Westcoast Kustom Rigz was there with his chromed-out, white International daycab (photo 3).

The show floor was a little quiet during much of the event (except Saturday), but there were some exciting things going on. On our end of the building, 10-4's "secret" margarita bar (thanks Jay) was a big hit with fellow vendors and attendees alike, and on the other end of the building, R.J. Taylor and Ol' Blue, with the help of several CHP officers, put on fun and informative safety seminars for huge crowds about logbooks, hours of service and other hot topics. Attendees were allowed to address questions directly to the officers and get the answers they needed to run legal (photo 2). R.J. wanted to thank all of the officers that helped, including Esther Hensen, Luis Parada, Chris Sahagun, Todd Irvin, Frank Sansone Jr, Chris Regan, Dave English and Cullen Sisskind. Nobody puts on a better safety presentation than R.J. Taylor. He's the original and still the best!

Some of our friends (and advertisers) that were at the show included Mark from Dispatch Transportation, Wayne & Ralph from NTA (with a great new booth), Lee and the crew from Swertfeger's Equipment, Frank & Dianna from Truckin' for Kids, Andy, Angel and Jehan from Chrome Barn, the folks from getloaded.com (who came all the way from Virginia), Darrell from The Truck Gazette, Nick of Nick's Tire, as well as Victory Truck Insurance, Drake/Fleet Supply, The Light House, New Alliance Insurance Brokers and Sentinel Truck Insurance. It was great to see you all and spend some time together.

Although it is a good idea to have a show that focuses on the Latin community, there was room for improvement - which show management has already begun to correct for next year. Bottom line: more trucks, more vendors, more Mexican food (and culture) and more than just a strolling mariachi band (photo 1), will make this show a fantastic event in 2006. We look forward to being there next year and hope you will too.