I met Overdrive contributor Gary Buchs at the 2025 Mid-America Trucking Show, and he knew I was gearing up to retire and sell my 1995 Kenworth. He suggested I talk to Gary Schloo, who was Overdrive's April 2024 Trucker of the Month honoree and who'd just sold his own truck.
Gary Schloo was very helpful in giving me guidance on what needed to be done to sell my truck. Two weeks after I posted my truck for sale online at Truck Paper, it was sold. When I shared the news with Schloo, he gave me a call, we talked about the sale, and he asked me if I had ever been to a convention of the American Truck Historical Society. "It’s in Madison, Wisconsin, this year," he said, asking if I'd be willing to join him at the convention.
We met up on Thursday, June 5, at the show, and in the video below you can take a bit of a visual tour through some of what we saw.
The 2025 ATHS National Convention was held the Alliant Energy Center in Madison. I’m sure it’s not the biggest venue for a show like this, but it’s still plenty sizable. There was a local company that rented out golf carts to get around.
They sold out fast.
Gary had enough foresight to reserve one ahead of time. It sure made getting around a lot easier. ATHS estimated 850 trucks showed up all told. The record for one of these conventions is more than 1,300. As you'll see in the video, some of the trucks were indoors, but the majority were outside -- the weather was great.
Gary Schloo (pictured) found this delivery truck -- near identical to the one he drove as a young man delivering ice cream.Alan Kitzhaber
I learned quite a lot from Gary about some of those old trucks, especially the Macks.
Looking at one of them, I was marveling over how old it looked. Yet when I checked the show registration card and found it was a 1990 model, I was a little taken aback. I started driving in 1991. I guess I forgot what trucks looked like 35 years ago.
[Related: Every smart mod to Trucker of the Year's 4M-mile 1995 Kenworth T600]
There were trucks of all ages at the show, but mostly older trucks, which mostly caught my interest. The older, the better. There were fire trucks, concrete trucks, jail trucks, heavy-haul trucks, trucks for specialty applications of all types. The list goes on.
I didn’t know that trucks 100 years ago were chain-driven. They had solid rubber tires and wooden-spoke wheels. One truck had (T.P. Hard) printed on the fender above the tire. I could appreciate the sense of humor.
The simplicity of the older trucks is amazing. Some had no doors. I wonder what year the first heaters were installed? One truck had a large V-belt going between the drive axle and tag axle. One truck had a V16 engine. Many of the trucks' owners were available to answer questions.
The one truck that probably sticks most in my mind is a 1923 Mack delivery truck for the Olympia Fruit Market.
It was beautifully restored and fully loaded with cargo. It tells a story, takes you back more than 100 years.Alan Kitzhaber
Alan Kitzhaber
The next time the show comes to Madison I'll probably be back. When you attend one of these shows you are taking a walk or a golf cart ride through the history of trucking. I'd recommend attending the ATHS convention at least once in your lifetime. It's typically held in June. Hope you enjoy the visit with some of this year's event in the video.
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