Truck Show Report: By Ryan Rosetta If you run up and down Interstate 5 in Washington State or live in the Rochester, WA area, there’s one exit that truckers with shiny rides know well and like to do some “showin’ off” at – Exit 88. Home to the I-5 Chrome Shop, KT Charboneau Trucking, and S&W Truck Wash, there is always a lot of “cool” happening around Exit 88 – especially once a year when a show and customer appreciation event is held there. Even on a normal day, when you stop by the wash or chrome shop, there are typically a few shiny rigs parked and showin’ off in the parking lot – it’s a truck show unto itself. But, once a year, the folks at KT Charboneau celebrate with their customers and those of us who love big rigs by hosting a truck show. Known as the Exit 88 Truck Show, the 5th annual event, held August 2, 2025, attracted 45 beautiful trucks from the surrounding area. This year saw a bit of a drop in trucks, probably because it rained that morning (the year before they had a record turnout of 100 trucks). This location is only 40 minutes from Montesano (where I live), so my dad and I hopped in the car and drove over to the show to check it out. Initially a little overcast, it became a beautiful day, with temperatures in the mid to high 70s. Eventually, the sky cleared up and the sun came out, allowing all that fancy paint, polished aluminum, chrome and stainless-steel to shine. As I’m new to truck shows (I just turned 15 years old), I wasn’t sure what to expect, but was welcomed by many of the participants as I explored the show and all the trucks, several of which caught my eye. One truck that got my attention was a beautiful bright green Peterbilt 389X from Steve Finneman Trucking out of Milltown, Montana. Everything about the truck was amazing, from the long wheelbase to the big, polished Herd Texas bull bar up front. Anything on the truck that could be polished was, and color matching all around the truck really made it pop nicely, too. Another truck that looked good was a 2001 Peterbilt model 379 log truck. This type of truck is common in this part of the country, and this one was owned by Bryce Ballinger. Something I liked about the truck was the paint scheme, with blue-ish green fenders and a blue stripe along the side of the truck. It also had old style 359 headlights, which gave it a classic old school Peterbilt look, which I thought was really neat. One of the older trucks I saw was a 1976 Peterbilt model 289 owned by Don Gum. Painted in a beautiful blue paint scheme, you can tell Don takes pride in his ride. With polished stainless fenders, big straight pipes, and lots of polished aluminum such as his wheels and fuel tank, this truck had lots of shine and personality. Sadly, I didn’t get a chance to talk to Don. But, with it being my first time ever seeing one of these older Peterbilt trucks, I thought it was really interesting to see this model 289 up close and in person. In the back of the chrome shop near the truck wash, there were two cool 54 10-4 Magazine / October 2025 SHOWIN OFF AT EXIT 88
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