This week’s Great American Trucking Show to feature show trucks, live music, business seminars, more

Updated Aug 19, 2018
The annual Pride & Polish at the Great American Trucking Show is just one of many events happening during the show.The annual Pride & Polish at the Great American Trucking Show is just one of many events happening during the show.

The Great American Trucking Show will be held next week in downtown Dallas, Texas, and will feature Pride & Polish show trucks, live music and entertainment, business seminars, driver recruiting, health screenings and more.

The show will be held Thursday, Aug. 23 through Saturday, Aug. 25 at the Kay Bailey Hutchison Convention Center. Register online for the show for free here.

Need to get your career on a better track? In addition to offering seminars on trucking business and regulatory matters, GATS for the first time will offer a recruiting service that matches attendees’ experience and interests with fleets looking for drivers having the same criteria.

Or just looking to have a good trucking time? GATS attendees are invited to a free Rewarding Your Drive with Uber Freight Plus and GATS party on Friday, Aug. 24. It will include live music and free food and drink provided by Uber Freight. Trucker and recording artist Tony Justice will headline the concert, with Texas-based artist Jesse Raub Jr. opening.

The winner and two other finalists from the Overdrive-Red Eye Radio Trucker Talent Search competition, which concludes right before the party, also will perform at the event, which will be held at Eddie Deen’s Ranch adjacent to the convention center.

Red Eye Radio also will be hosting live entertainment at its booth throughout GATS. That’s where you’ll find famed country music duo The Bellamy Brothers for a meet-and-greet. Other artists including Justice, Curtis Grimes, David Adam Byrnes, Tyler Jordan, Bill Weaver, Taylor Barker and Cowboy Matt will perform at the booth.

Dozens of show trucks entered in Overdrive’s Pride & Polish will be available for viewing indoors. The competition is sponsored by Lincoln Chrome, Mac Trailer and ProMiles. Winners will be named in five categories: working bobtail, working combo, limited-mileage bobtail, limited-mileage combo and builders class. Winners will also be named in categories related to paint, engine work, interior and more. A Trucker’s Choice winner will also be named.

Partner Insights
Information to advance your business from industry suppliers

The recruiting matchup will use information furnished by attendees during registration about their experience, home location and preferences. They will be matched with fleets that are looking for drivers that fit their criteria. If the driver is interested in changing fleets, a meeting will be set at the booth of one or more fleets.

Attendees looking to begin or develop an owner-operator business will have the opportunity to learn about those career paths during Partners in Business seminars Aug. 24 and Aug. 25. The nation’s largest trucking business services provider, ATBS, will present two seminars Friday. Trucking radio host and former owner-operator Kevin Rutherford will present two Saturday. Partners in Business is sponsored by TBS Factoring.

A Health Pavilion will offer health screenings and a stage for demonstrations about nutrition, fitness and other topics. The National Kidney Foundation will offer kidney screenings, OnRamp to Health will host a blood drive, Accuscreen will provide discounted U.S. Department of Transportation physicals, and Dr. John’s Medical Solutions will be offering prostate screenings, A1C tests, blood sugar tests, vein evaluations, sleep apnea screenings and blood pressure tests.

Other stages will host major events, such as Partners in Business, the Aug. 25 Pride & Polish awards ceremony and Truckers News’ Trucking’s Top Rookie contest Aug. 24; in that contest, the 10 finalists will receive sponsor prizes, and the winner will receive $10,000 in cash.

Free truck parking will be available at the TA-Petro Truck Parking Community at the Cotton Bowl’s Fair Park, with free shuttles to and from the show and nightly live entertainment. A live auction and silent auction at the site will benefit the St. Christopher Truckers Relief Fund. TA-Petro will provide a shower trailer for drivers, as well as basic truck maintenance. Pet grooming will be provided by All Paws and Claws.

The GATS mobile app available for iPhone and Android will include an exhibitor list, a show floor map, stage schedules and more. The app is sponsored by Carrier 360 by J.B. Hunt.

Showcase your workhorse
Add a photo of your rig to our Reader Rigs collection to share it with your peers and the world. Tell us the story behind the truck and your business to help build its story.
Submit Your Rig
Reader Rig Submission