For the past four years, trucks and truckers have gathered in Junction City, Oregon, for a laid-back truck display followed by an evening cruise through town, and every year, it has been a blast. This year’s event, which featured sunny skies and comfortable temperatures, was held on July 15, 2017. With no judging, this “show” is more of a truck display and parking lot party than a competitive truck show, which is always a nice change of pace from the typical hustle-and-bustle of a white-glove contest. And, when the sun set and the cruise began, the mood became electrifying – literally!
By 6:00 a.m. on Saturday morning, the trucks were already lining-up in front of Junction City High School, the location of the event, to get registered and parked. A handful of vendors and sponsors, including DSU Peterbilt, Pape Kenworth, Schott Parts & Accessories, TEC Equipment, McCoy Freightliner and a few others, set-up their booths and displays, providing interesting things to check out, for those in attendance. And, speaking of attendance, this year the event didn’t break records but it stayed strong at about 100 trucks for both the show and shine and the truck cruise. It’s easy to say that the Truck Function in Junction is becoming an annual mainstay for the area residents, as well as the event’s participants and sponsors.
Many standout trucks made this year’s event outstanding, including the white Pete cabover owned by Richard Neyens, along with a sweet little black 359 owned by Richard’s son, Matt. T2 Trucking from Sweet Home, OR made an appearance with their charcoal gray Kenworth B-model, along with DTL Transport from Winlock, WA, sporting their champagne and blue Peterbilt 386 with an extra-large sleeper. Lain and Christy Richmond of Stingray Express also made it down all the way from Alberta, Canada, with their great-looking blue 379 Peterbilt.
Some other rigs that were looking especially good included a few owned by Roger and Rick Nelson, who again brought out a few of their trucks this year, including two sharp new baby blue aero Kenworths. TR Points Trucking from Salem, OR, almost took up an entire row, showing up with several of their beautiful Peterbilts, capping off their stunning line-up with a very cool purple Pete 379. MAT Transportation from Junction City also made sure not to disappoint with their classy dark blue 389 Peterbilt, along with Ryan Van Dyke and his amazing white and green Pete.
The cruise began around 6:00 p.m., and the crowds were noticeably larger than in past years. We watched the sun go down as the trucks slowly rolled up and down old Highway 99 through the center of downtown Junction City to the delight of everyone standing along the sides of the street. The trucks “cruised” for quite some time, until a low-hanging power line mishap caused it to end a little early. Oops!
Needless to say, this year’s fourth annual Truck Function in Junction was another great time. We here at 10-4 Magazine would also like to recognize all the hard-working volunteers and staff members that make this whole thing happen, including Brian and Teresa Austin, Dennis Rowe, Randy and Debbie Chizek, Jeff Jenks and, of course, Dan and Cindy Alley. Without these folks, this show and cruise just wouldn’t be the same. Let’s hope this event continues to get more electrifying each year, but not in the way it did this year!