Guilty By Association Truck Show

4 State Trucks, home of the Chrome Shop Mafia hosted an open house in October of 2007. We had John and Ashley Force with the Castrol Race Team, tours of our facility, giveaways, and a great cookout. The one-day event was well attended and people had a great time.

Two years later Chrome Shop Mafia is again hosting an event at 4 State Trucks.  Will this year be the same as the last open house?  We. Think. Not.   This year we have moved WAY past an ‘open house’ and launched a full-blown ‘Truck Show’.  The event is coming up October 9^th & 10^th, 2009 and is called the “Guilty By Association Truck Show”.

We are very busy getting the store, the shops and the grounds ready for the onslaught of customers, fans, vendors and press who will start arriving early next week.   So what is happening at this event?  We’re glad you asked!  Below is list of some of the activities we have going on.

Truck Show

With almost 100 trucks already registered for the truck show, we are excited to see what the final turnout will be!  The registration will officially close at 10am on Friday October 9^th with “rags down” at noon for the judging of the trucks.  There will be a stereo contest and a light show on Friday as well.  Winners will be announced on Saturday evening.  There will also be great prizes for registered contestants. 

Bossman Bryan Martin talked about what makes the truck show portion of this event different from other shows. 

Bryan: "We’ve been to enough shows and got enough feedback and witnessed a lot of things ourselves, firsthand, and kinda heard from truckers what they’d like to see in a show.  We’re making this low stress where they can come in and enjoy a couple of days with us.  There’s not going to be any judges sliding up under their truck looking for dirt up on the frame rail or getting in the cab and finding dust on their seat bases.  It’s not a cleaning contest.  They got pride in their trucks.  We want them to come in here and show them off and enjoy a good time here at 4 State Trucks."

(the full interview is available in its entirety on Facebook)

Calendar Shoot

All twelve trucks for the 2010 Chrome Shop Mafia Outlaw Calendar will be selected at this event.  The announcement of the 2010 calendar trucks will be made at 7pm on Saturday, October 10.

Storewide Sale

In addition to the blowout deals on returns and overstocks, 4 State Trucks will be taking 10% off of almost every item in our store.  Bryan talked a little about the sale.

Bryan:  "Everything in the store is 10% off  so if you’re contemplating buying a big ticket item, say a set of full-fenders, a set of 8” pipes or a cab guard, you’re literally gonna save hundreds of dollars by getting it over the course of those two days here at the show."

Concerts

We will have Matt Coleman playing on Friday night at 8pm.    Headlining on Saturday night will be The Road Hammers, also beginning at 8pm.  These are two very talented acts and we are honored to have them!

The US92 Airtime Truck will be here to serve as the stage for our concerts!  For those of you who aren’t familiar with the unique Chrome Shop Mafia creation, it is a 1992 International Eagle with a hydraulic 16'x24' stage that the CSM Boyz built for US92 in Norfolk, VA.

Facility Tours

We will be running tours on Friday and Saturday.  On this tour, you will go behind closed doors to see the fab shop where we custom fabricate everything from tank straps to beds for the Chrome Shop Mafia's All American Hauler.  You will also see the warehouse, our salvage yard and catalog call center.

Vendor Representatives

We will have numerous vendors here to show you their new products and answer your questions.  Among the vendors you will see United Pacific, Rockwood, Valley Chrome, Merritt, Hogebuilt, Trux, Bawer, Thunder Grafix, Wild Wes Paint Works, Accuride, Bostrom, Lincoln Industries, Details, Truck Vac Pro, Lacks Enterprises, Continental Tires, Jones Performance and more.  Freightliner will be here as well debuting one of their 2010 models that they let the Boyz of Chrome Shop Mafia 'makeover' for them.

We will also have some of the industries best known magazines here.  Custom Rigs Magazine, 10-4 Magazine, Large Car Mag, Movin Out and Land Line Magazine will all be here at the Guilty By Association Truck Show!

Food

There will be great food available at our show.  This won’t be limited to corn dogs and potato chips.  We have quality food vendors lined up for this event including Red Hot & Blue to serve up Joplin's best barbecue!

What Else?

We’ve covered a lot of what is happening at the Guilty By Association Truck Show.   We have general information including special rates on lodging on the Chrome Shop Mafia website.  There is also a detailed daily schedule.  Please come on down to 4 State Trucks for a great weekend with us!  We hope to see you there!

Pride and the Trucking Industry

My name is Will James and I wanted to introduce myself as a member of the 4 State Trucks and Chrome Shop Mafia family.  I came to work here almost a year ago.  In that year I have learned many things about the heavy duty trucking industry.  That being said, what I don’t know could fill a football stadium and overflow into the parking lots.

If I had to tell you what I thought the most important thing that I have learned in this past year, I would say, “Pride”. 

Some people work solely for a paycheck.  Other people work because they love what they do.  Most people tend to fall somewhere in the middle of those two groups.   I doubt that the trucking industry is fundamentally different in that respect than any other industry.  But here is the difference: the people I see walk in the front doors of 4 State Trucks love what they do.  They take pride in their truck and they take pride in their profession.  We get the opportunity to be a part of that pride.

I see a level of excitement on our customer’s faces when they are here that creates excitement in me.  I hear kids asking for autographs and adults calling their friends and saying, “Guess where I am…. 4 State Trucks!!!”.  That is just not something I have seen at many places I have worked.

Our time doing the television show “Trick My Truck” on CMT was well spent.  We did 41 episodes over 3 seasons and we showed America what we do.  More importantly it showed America who we do it for.  While we are not currently participating in any television shows, we continue to attend truck shows all over the United States.

As I said earlier, there is a lot I don’t know about this industry.  Fortunately, I am surrounded by fellow employees who are experts in the heavy duty trucking industry.  I look to these teammates to educate me.  One of these mentors is Cy King, our New Parts Sales Manager.  He was kind enough to answer some of my questions about our role in truck shows.

Here are two excerpts from our conversation:

Will:  What do you enjoy about attending a truck show?

Cy: I enjoy meeting people, getting the chance to talk to them, getting their ideas, and getting their input.  They always want to know what’s going on, what’s new, what’s happening in the trucking world.  It’s just a great opportunity to sit and actually get to know some of the truckers and see what’s going on with them.  As a sales manager I don’t always get to look at all the trucks out here on the lot.  A truck show gives me an opportunity to go and look at some of the trucks a little closer and become a little more knowledgeable of what the trucker actually wants from us.

Will:  What can someone who is not a trucker gain by going to a truck show?

Cy: They get a little more insight into what a trucker goes through…see what a trucker’s life looks like.  It gives them an opportunity to see how these truckers are proud of their vehicles.  They want them as nice as their houses because that is their house on wheels.  They spend more hours in that truck traveling around than most people spend in their house so they want it to look nice.  The general public can see that these truckers are not just guys pushing iron down the highway.  They are guys who are proud of what they do, they take pride in what they do and they deliver the goods to keep America moving.

---

I want to come back to the word I mentioned earlier: “Pride”.  Truckers don’t just go to truck shows to exhibit their truck.  They take their pride to the show and their truck is physical proof of that pride.   Someone who isn’t immersed in the trucking industry will have a hard time walking away from a truck show without feeling a connection to the incredible machines shown there.  I think they will have a much harder time walking away without feeling the pride and fellowship of the men and women who are the heavy duty trucking industry.

Will James

DPF and the Heavy Duty Trucking Industry

Overview

Emissions standards are becoming more and more strict and the commercial trucking industry is paying a high price. All 2007 and newer trucks are required to come with a Diesel Particulate Filter, or DPF, which is designed to greatly decrease the carbon released through the exhaust system. The DPF does greatly decrease the soot and smoke emitted from a trucks' exhaust stacks. This is a result that is plain to see.

Costs

What is more difficult to see are the costs that the trucking industry is paying. From large fleets to the Owner/Operator, DPF can be costly in both direct expenses as well as time spent at a service center and not on the road. Let's look at some of those expenses. Fuel mileage is a concern to every trucker out there. Rising fuel costs are painful. Rising fuel costs mixed with lower mileage can be deadly to the profitability of people in the heavy duty trucking industry.

Downtime is another enormous concern regarding DPF equipped trucks. Even when repair costs are covered under warranty, time spent having repairs and maintenance equals loss of income. Owning one type of engine may not provide any significant advantage. Different manufacturers have different methods of servicing DPF's. Caterpillar engines need one type of cleaning service whereas Detroit engines require a different method of cleaning. Whether you own a Freightliner, Kenworth, Mack, Peterbilt or Volvo, you are required to have a DPF. No one is immune!

The Coming Year

Next year holds another obstacle for us: even stricter standards. 2010 promises more costly changes to the industry. California will require retrofits to existing trucks.

Diesel Particulate Filters do provide a benefit to the environment. But DPF requirements have a direct and troubling cost to the people in the trucking industry. Everyone from fleet operators to owner/operators has to ask themselves, "Do I keep my 2002 model rig that gets 7mpg versus owning a new clean truck?" or "How much more will these new emissions standards hurt our bottom line?"

It is difficult to see these trends and hear our customers telling us that they feel like the deck is stacked against them.

Welcome!

4 State Trucks, home of the Chrome Shop Mafia, is always looking for the best ways to interact with our customers and our fans.

We have recently launched our Facebook page to give you access to great pictures and movies of our truck builds and our team here in Joplin, Missouri.

The purpose of this Blog is to keep working truckers out there informed about news we think you will find interesting and informative. We realize this industry is your livelihood and we're here to help.

Subscribe to our feed or keep checking back right here to read our latest posts about what is happening in the trucking world!