Western Australia truck show shines

[kscarbel2]

Owner/Driver  /  September 27, 2016

Western Australia has had its first truck show and shine for years. To mark the occasion we headed to the Perth Motorplex for the BP Truck Show and Shine for a look

It turns out that I’m not as good as I once thought I was. The first ever BP Show and Shine held at the Perth Motorplex in WA had plenty on offer for those who wanted to look at shiny and not so shiny trucks both old and new.

And as there was a tarp tying competition I figured I had to put the camera down and give it a go. And I got my butt kicked by a big fella from Wise Haulage. You had to tie 7 tarp ropes in 1 and a half minutes. I fumbled my way through 5 before the buzzer sounded.

I therefore decided that the competition was stupid and stalked off to look at trucks and sulk a little.

There was a big turn out despite the grey skies, 17 fleets were represented and 146 trucks turned up on the day.

The show was organised by Julie Gavin who some may recognize by her distinctive pink Western Star prime mover. And judging by the turn out she was understandably chuffed with the event.

The Pilbara Heavy Haulage Girls had their rigs on display as well as a few familiar faces from Outback Truckers. Scattered amongst the bling there were also some historic bangers as well as some very original looking hard working big rigs. The West is after all big truck country.

It wasn’t just a static show. All trucks were inspected by a panel of judges and awards were handed out in 11 categories. But if you wanted to be a little more hands-on you could try your hand at reversing a double road train for 30 bucks. The proceeds of which went to the McGrath Foundation.

In fact other than covering the costs of the event all other proceeds went to the McGrath Foundation with resulted in over $15,000.00 being raised for the charity.

If you wanted you could also try your hand at the tarp tying comp as I did or compete in the truck pull which saw plenty of sweaty red faces as the teams hauled a Mack Superliner down the course against the clock. All of which seemed like a lot of hard work to me, I would’ve tried something a little more sedate but the bloke running the jumping castle told me to bugger off.

A bloke called Yogi won the tarp competition, while Matt Henderson took out the road train reversing gong with a very impressive 69 metres. The team from Wise Haulage proved they had some muscle and won the truck pulling competition.

Winners

Truck of the Show: Ryan Demasi

Best Rigid: Tony Leete

Best Tow Truck: Daynite Towing

Best Truck 1997-2006: Perry Black

Best Truck 2007-2012: Glenn Salamone

Best Truck 2013-2016: Danny Matic

Best Truck 1987-1996: All-Over Haulage- Chris Peterson

Best Truck 1976-1986: Kim Gilbert

Best Vintage: Greg Stampalia

Best Fleet: Lee’s Transport

People’s Choice Award: Jason Klingsporn

Photo gallery - https://www.ownerdriver.com.au/events-news/1609/wa-truck-show-shines