No Shortage of Chrome at Joplin, Mo., Truck Show
Hundreds of truckers are assembled in south Joplin for a weekend of group therapy, and everyone seems to have received the same prescription: chrome.
The brilliant metal glinted from bumpers, extra-noisy exhaust pipes and custom light fixtures worth thousands of dollars.
“I like the red and chrome,” said Lori Franklin, 57, surveying her custom-everything Peterbilt.
In the noon heat on Sept. 22, the effect was blinding, but no one seemed to mind as they wandered among the tractor-trailer rigs, inspecting polished bumpers and interiors decked out with leather, TVs, custom seats and, of course, more chrome.
“You look good, you feel good, you drive good,” said Chris Boren, owner of a Kentucky-based truck company. He said he brought two rigs and several employees to the Guilty by Association Truck Show and Customer Expo.
He spent over $30,000 to put green paint and custom fixtures on each of the two tractor trailers. Painting the hood alone cost $3,000, he said.
Other truckers said their custom paint jobs cost $25,000.
A more mobile bunch than most, truckers come from around the continent to show off their rigs. License plates on the assembled trucks pointed to Michigan, Minnesota, Maine and Manitoba, Canada, just to name the M’s.
It is a feel-good sort of place. Country music blares, there’s plenty of food and vendors sell still more chrome from tents. People bring their kids. There’s a trailer lined with hay-bale benches that takes passengers between parking lots if they want to see more trucks or catch one of several planned “Big Rig Burnouts.”
Jon Osburn, who attends truck shows across the U.S. representing the Owner-Operator Independent Drivers’ Association, says the Joplin show, perhaps the nation’s fourth largest, is notable for drawing more working trucks than “show trucks,” heavily customized rigs built exclusively for show.
Still, a best in show will be named in two categories: bobtail (no trailer), and combined (with a trailer).
Bling isn’t the only game in town. A new award this year will go to the best “Rat Rod,” trucker slang for a rig that has been carefully designed to look like it was recently pulled from a junkyard. A memorial award honoring truckers who have shown dedication to the profession is named for Larry Martin, the founder of 4 State Trucks, which hosts the show.
The award goes to people like Al Keinecke, who drove his 1975 Peterbilt roughly 2.5 million miles, crisscrossing the Midwest. In 50 years, Keinecke had only one accident (the Peterbilt slid off a snowy road while trying to avoid a vehicle that spun out). He never changed trucks but changed out several engines.
His son, Doug Keinecke, restored the tractor-trailer, and he brings it to shows now as a showpiece and a piece of history. The truck may not have much chrome, but it looks like it did when Al drove it.
The truck show is a festival, a contest and a charity event. Last year’s convoy through Joplin raised $102,000 for the Special Olympics. Registration is up this year, the ninth annual show, and organizers hoped they would boost their fundraising and surpass last year’s mark of 403 trucks.
4 State Trucks has come a long way since its days as a used-parts store.
The shop’s reputation has spread, and shipping custom truck parts as far as the Netherlands is now a substantial part of the business.
While it still sells functional truck parts, much of its local sales come from cosmetics — the fenders and light fixtures that appeared on virtually every rig at the show. A workshop out back is capable of modifying truck bodies and even manufacturing custom parts.
Is this where Linda Stone, 73, who was married to Larry Martin until he died in 2005, imagined the business going?
“Never in my wildest dreams,” she said. “I often wonder what Larry would think.”
By Monday, most of the trucks at the show will be back on the road, smacking mosquitoes and other insects.
Keeping chrome bright is a constant task for working truckers. Franklin says she gives her “baby” a “bath” twice a week, then dries the 18-wheeler by hand.
In part, it’s just housekeeping. As she shuttles auto parts between Lincoln, Nebraska, and Kokomo, Indiana, Franklin spends many nights in the sleeping area of her truck, which is outfitted with a shower and DirecTV.
But a standout truck can also ease the loneliness of endless hours on the road.
“When people pass by and give a thumbs up or take pictures, that makes me feel good,” she said.
