10-4 Magazine December 2024

Truck Show Report: By Tim Sieben CVT, the lot was filled with many of the popular west coast fleets such as North Coast Wine, Silva Trucking, Robert Vaz Trucking, Commodity Transport, and Double E Trucking. Not to be outdone, Hildebrand Trucking brought about 10 beautiful Peterbilts to the show. A few of the smaller outfits that also stood out included Prime Towing, Supreme Auto Carriers, Coxe Trucking, American Crane, and Carballo Transport, who, if you remember, took Best of Show at the first Soza show held in Merced, CA. Many returning vendors and a few new ones included Mid-Valley BBQ, EL Comalon, Crush It Lemonade, Shaved It’s so nice when a truck show goes off without a hitch – at least not any we could see! On September 27-29, 2024, the 4th annual truck show hosted by CG and Ashleigh Soza and held, once again, at the Stanislaus County Fairgrounds in Turlock, CA for the second time. And it now looks like this will be the permanent home of the Soza Memorial Truck Show and Tractor Pulls. The weather this year was amazing, with cool and comfortable temperatures, a few large clouds off and on, and not a drop of rain in sight. In case you are not familiar with CG and his story that created this show, back in 2016, CG’s wife and son AJ were killed in an auto accident while on their way to a tutoring class to treat his son’s dyslexia in the next county. CG himself had dyslexia and has worked hard to overcome it after being diagnosed in his teen years. Establishing the AJ Soza Dyslexia Foundation, this non-profit organization assists parents who can’t afford the travel and costs of dyslexia programs in Merced County in Central California, and this truck show raises money to support that cause. Friday the trucks started pulling in and getting parked after entering under the 15-foot-long American flag being held up by two Cal Coast Crane rigs. You had to be there early to get the prime spots, but almost every one of the 115 total trucks got to park on the grass. Our full 10-4 setup, featuring the bright yellow 1962 Peterbilt show truck owned by Maggini & Son Trucking and piloted by our friends and supporters Roger and Annette Ghidelli, hooked to our TFK show trailer, found a nice home in the corner of the main grass lot. The “10-4 Lounge” area became a popular hangout for many at the show, and our blow-up “Betsy” cows, which we brought to help promote our upcoming Trucker Rodeo event, really stole the show! Just outside the main parking area, in a paved area, Central Valley Transport kept all their rigs lined up together, which included three bright red tankers and six heavy haul transporters. Besides 34 10-4 Magazine / December 2024 WI THOUT A HI TCH