Circus life isn’t for everyone, and neither is trucking. Truckers and circus performers are nomadic in nature, so it’s no wonder that many circuses are transported by semis.
The Kelly Miller Circus of Hugo, Okla., has five red Freightliners and smaller show trucks with the circus logo that moves its equipment. The performers travel in RVs as they move from one town to another. Their shows can be seen in the Midwest, South and Northeast, and in larger cities such as Dallas, Chicago and New York.
A typical day for the Kelly Miller Circus begins when the trucks roll onto the lot at 7 a.m. The lead semi, driven by the general manager is the first to arrive, followed by the generator semi, the pole semi driven by the canvas boss, two animal semis that house three Asian elephants and hoof stock, and the cookhouse truck where meals are prepared for the crew.
The tractor-trailers are parked with the RVs and show trucks. The concessions stand and animal trucks are set up, and the crew starts raising the tent at 9 a.m. But on a cold, rainy March morning, the day wasn’t typical, and the crew was behind.
The truckers for the circus faced the elements as they tried to park their trucks in a soggy field beside Shield Elementary School in Glenn Heights, Texas. Chris Beckett, the show’s 24 Hour Man, arrived first and tested the ground. There was a discussion about whether to move the show six miles down the road to a Wal-Mart parking lot or try the soft, wet ground. Each semi has pull hooks so that Viola, the elephant, can pull them out when they’re stuck in soft ground.
“Always be friendly to the elephant man because he can make you lose a front end,” Beckett says and laughs.
Representatives from Wal-Mart couldn’t be reached in time, and a decision had to be made. After reassurance from the city that the field would be repaired if marred too badly, Beckett directed the trucks into the parking lot.
The truckers helped park the circus vehicles and began working to raise the big top. The crew worked in the pouring rain, and their boots were caked in mud. The ground was too soggy for the work trucks to roll onto the field, so Nina, a 7,000-pound Asian elephant, was harnessed to the stake truck. She pulled the truck in a circle while the crew drove wooden stakes into the ground. If the ground had been dry, steel stakes would have been used.
