Good Fun, Good Business

Among the show’s attractions are a concert by country group Sawyer Brown, an autograph session with Patty Loveless and the Overdrive Partners in Business seminar.

A free concert, celebrity autograph sessions and continuing education seminars will be featured at the 2005 Mid-America Trucking Show, March 31-April 2 in Louisville, Ky.

Expected are more than 1,000 companies from 13 countries, including leading truck and engine makers, component and parts makers and fleet recruiters. The show will cover more than a million square feet of the Kentucky Fair and Exposition Center.

“We are filling up every wing of the center – South, West and East – plus the pavilion to create a good show,” says Toby Young, MATS vice president of operations.

The popular country group Sawyer Brown will headline the free Kenworth-sponsored Trucker Appreciation Concert at 7:30 p.m. Friday, April 1 Sawyer Brown’s new single “Mission Temple Fireworks Stand” made the Billboard country chart soon after its release. The band’s hits include “Leona,” “Betty’s Bein’ Bad,” “Step That Step,” “The Dirt Road,” “Thank God for You,” “Wantin’ and Havin’ It All” and covers of “The Race Is On” and the truckers’ anthem “Six Days on the Road.”

Sawyer Brown’s opening act is newcomer Amy Dalley, whose songs include “Men Don’t Change” and “I Would Cry.”

Complimentary concert tickets will be available only to CDL holders, with a limit of two tickets per person. Tickets will be distributed while supplies last at the South Hall Lobby Booth #2 on Thursday, March 31, starting at 1 p.m., and again Friday, April 1, starting at 10 a.m.

Overdrive and American Truck Business Services will present the Partners in Business seminar, aimed at current and prospective owner-operators.

The seminar is from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. on Saturday, April 2. Jeff Amen and Richard DeForest of ATBS will present “How To Make More Money and Keep It.” The discussion will focus on improving revenue and lowering costs, but it will also cover how to evaluate the best load and the importance of attitude.

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The show will offer other free seminars daily. Topics will include hours of service, idle reduction technologies, roadside inspections, expedited hauling and getting your own authority.

Country star Patty Loveless, a Kentucky native, will sign autographs at the Midnight Trucking Radio Network booth from 1 p.m. to 4 p.m. on Thursday, March 31. Loveless will join Midnight Trucking host Eric Harley from midnight to 5 a.m. Friday, April 1, for a live broadcast from the lobby of the Executive West Hotel.

Harley will broadcast from the hotel at the same time every night during the show, with co-host Joe Kelley joining him on the air from the studio. Attendees can also register at the Midnight Trucking booth for $1,000 in cash to be given away at the end of the convention.

NASCAR driver Kyle Petty will be in the Freightliner booth from 1 p.m. to 3 p.m. March 31. His legendary dad, Richard Petty, will be in the booth the next day at the same time.

The Kentucky Fair and Exposition Center is at the junction of I-65 and I-264, a mile south of downtown Louisville. The center has more than 26 acres of parking with RV hookups.

Free shuttle rides from throughout the parking lots to the doors will be provided by the Midnight Trucking Radio Network. Sponsors include Arvin Meritor, Bridgestone Firestone, Motel 6 and Swift Transportation.