JOPLIN, MO. The “Giants of Joplin”—the tagline Shell Rotella is using for the 2016 SuperRigs truck show—proved that the promotional posters displayed in downtown storefronts weren’t exaggerating the size and beauty of the equipment that took over Main Street Friday night.
The combo units—tankers, dry vans, reefers, grain hoppers, flatbeds, cattle haulers, end dumps—got the honor of traveling the central avenue parade route, while the bobtail tractors were shifted to intersecting side streets (which we note as an explanation for why we don’t feature all of the trucks in this gallery—we couldn’t be in two places at the same time).
Once the trucks were parked, Main Street became a midway, with local families mixing with truckers to admire the rigs. A Tony Justice sundown concert drew the crowd to the town square, and the truck lights drew them back into the street. The evening was capped by a fireworks display.
Perhaps most impressive was the way dozens of rigs returned to the complicated, not truck-friendly parking area at the show venue and the drivers had every truck in its place in a matter of minutes. Polished steel and chrome aside, true professionals working together is an awesome thing to see.
More SuperRigs coverage to come.