We have been to plenty of “hot” truck shows over the years, but some are just hotter than others. Such was the case at the 32nd Annual Brooks Truck Show, held on August 22-23, 2025, at Powerland Heritage Park in Brooks, OR. With temps in the 100s and a bit more humidity than usual, it was just plain uncomfortable to be outside during the event. But, since it is an “outside” show, there wasn’t much we could do about it. Thankfully, the show provided us with a covered golf cart so that did offer us some shade, at the very least. This event, as always, was presented by the Oregon Trail Chapter of the ATHS along with the Pacific Northwest Truck Museum.
With 384 trucks in attendance, it was not a record-breaking year, but that is still a very large number of trucks that most show promoters would give an arm and a leg to have at theirs, me included. Of those 384 trucks, 225 were antiques and 159 were considered working trucks. It is hard to believe, but a 2000 model year truck is now considered to be an antique! The show is typically laid out with the antiques in one area (under the trees), the working trucks in another (across the tracks), and then the featured manufacturer of that year in a grassy lot up front near the vendors. Since that grass lot was not completely filled with the featured brand of trucks, a lot of various brands of working trucks were parked in that area, as well.
This year’s featured brand was Freightliner, and there were a bunch of cool old ones there to represent the marquee, including a white 1951 cabover, a silver and blue Powerliner, and a red and black 2-axle 1988 FLC 120 hooked to a short Utility van. A gold-colored 1969 White Freightliner 8164T cabover owned by Josh Youngman was turning heads, too. Of course, no Brooks show would be complete without the late Frank Merrill’s OSU themed black and orange 1982 Freightliner cabover on full display. We sure miss you, Frank!
Another thing they do at this show is collect teddy bears – something Frank was also passionate about doing. These teddy bears are then distributed at Christmas to children’s hospitals and other organizations that help kids. This year they collected 193 teddy bears, just shy of the 203 they got last year. Frank Merrill, for those who do not know, was the longtime producer of this event, who tragically and suddenly passed away shortly after the 2023 show.
We flew into Portland on Friday morning and then drove down to the show. Unfortunately, by the time we waited in a very long line to rent a car, stopped to have lunch at Buffalo Wild Wings, went to Office Depot in Salem to pick up some fliers we had printed, and stopped at the store to stock up on snacks and drinks for the weekend, it was time to check into our hotel. So, after doing that, by the time we actually got to the show it was 4:00 PM. We typically go out to a great dinner with our friends at Schott Parts & Accessories, along with about 15 other friends and fellow vendors, but when we got to the show, they were already leaving for dinner. Needing to do some work at the show, we opted out of dinner, which was very disappointing, but necessary.
Friday night featured the amazing “Night Glow” light show – and, as usual, it did not disappoint (there was even a customized golf cart made to look like a giant Radio Flyer wagon with glowing red lights). We spent several hours taking pictures and talking to people, as once the sun went down, the weather was finally pleasant enough to be outside and not be miserable. Although this is a non-competitive show, there are a few awards handed out. Cory from Schott Parts & Accessories worked tirelessly that night to see all the lit-up trucks and choose the winners. Once they were all selected, Cory personally went to each of the winners to present their trophies and take a few pictures. 1st Place went to Warfield Industries of Toledo, OR, and 2nd Place was awarded to Grant Cribbs Trucking of Dallas, OR. Everything wound down at about 10:00 PM that evening, which is when we headed back to the hotel to get some rest.
Saturday morning saw much more pleasant temperatures – it was still hot, but not as hot as Friday! Driving around the show in our golf cart, we took lots of pictures and had great conversations with friends, old and new. The working truck lot, which is actually a farmer’s field across the tracks – literally – was filled with tons of awesome iron. I am not sure if I have ever seen this lot so full (there were even some antiques out there). This area has become “the place to be” at the show, and for this reason, many folks choose to park their trucks out there. Not having a booth this year allowed us the freedom to just hang out, cruise around, and look at the trucks.
Some of the notable fleets and folks at the show that had multiple trucks in attendance included George Van Dyke, Troy Charboneau, John Kooy, Oldland, Tyler Picknell, Josh Roberts, Mallorie’s, Gus Hulstein, Ram Trucking and many more. Josh Roberts’ silver and black 2004 Peterbilt 379 caught our eye, so we scheduled a photo shoot for the next day. Driving around the area on Saturday, we found a great spot nearby to shoot, but immediately after arriving on Sunday morning at the place, we were run out by an overzealous ranger (insert eyeroll here). Back to the show grounds we went to take the pictures – so much for keeping it a secret! But, as you probably already know, it showed up on our cover last month (October 2025).
Some of my personal favorites this year included a red and white 1966 Kenworth W923 wrecker owned by Gene’s Towing out of Lakeland, WA, along with an old Freightliner cabover wrecker, complete with a Holmes unit, parked behind it, presumably from the same company. There’s just something about old tow trucks that gets me excited. Another one of my favorites was a yellow 2-axle 1984 Peterbilt 359 with red and orange stripes owned by Joe Kroon. This little hobby truck was also fitted with a small flatbed, and it was super cool. But my absolute favorite truck this year was probably Dave Blake’s cream and red 2024 Peterbilt 389 daycab from Auburn, WA – it was stunning in the sun, and looked great at night, too!
A few other standout rigs included a turquoise and white 2024 Kenworth W990 and matching tanker owned by Perseverance Transfer, a tan and brown 1997 Peterbilt 378 service truck from West Span Hauling, and a blue and white (along with a little rust) 1974 Peterbilt 359 and livestock trailer owned by Steve Marciel. It was also cool to see past cover trucker Steve Vermeer (February 2010) and his stellar 1979 Peterbilt 352 cabover, along with his son Travis, parked side-by-side (Travis was just eight years old when we met him and now he has own truck – a dark blue Peterbilt 389). There was also a nice magenta-colored 379 Peterbilt with violet stripes, pulling a matching stepdeck loaded with hay, brought out by Zweifel Custom Farming (ZCF).
As mentioned before, this is a non-competitive show, but there are three People’s Choice awards handed out, in addition to the two Night Glow trophies on Friday night. Schott Parts & Accessories has a raffle and also sells the People’s Choice tickets to raise money for Liberty House, an organization in Salem, OR that provides assistance and support to children who have been the victim of abuse or neglect. This year they raised over $3,500 for the cause. The People’s Choice winners were: 1st Wade Matson; 2nd Colton Wold; and 3rd Troy Charboneau. After the trophies were handed out, the show came to a quick end at about 3:30 PM on Saturday. Sadly, by then, half of the trucks were already gone, as folks began their “slow roll” out of the event as early as noon that day. We truly believe the excessive heat on Friday just wore everyone out.
In addition to hanging out at the show with some great people like Bryan Welsh and his entire family, including his dad Bill, who brought his blue 1989 Peterbilt 379 out to the show (which he hadn’t done in years), we also finally got to meet our newest (and one of the youngest) contributors, Ryan Rosetta (15) in person. This kid is cool, and he is definitely going places, so keep an eye out for more of his work in upcoming editions of 10-4. I also had the honor of taking a picture of Bryan with his kids, next to his truck, that replicated a photo he and his siblings took with their dad when they were kids. Thanks for letting me do that, Bryan. It was special.
After our photo shoot on Sunday, we headed back to Portland for the night and then flew home on Monday morning. Big thanks go out to Jerry Crume and his entire crew for not only getting us a golf cart, but for always taking great care of us while at the show. Since Frank’s passing, they have taken on the daunting task of organizing and running this event, and they are doing a very good job. Frank would be proud! We may have been “Boiling in Brooks” during the show this year, but we still had a great time and look forward to next year, because some of the coolest rides (and people) reside in the PNW.