The Deniliquin Truck Show and Industry Expo, proudly supported by the Rotary Club of Deniliquin is back for 2024, bigger and better than ever with a new location to boot.
Last year saw the first running of the show for three years, after it was delayed due to a combination of the COVID pandemic and flooding.
Now this time around, it’s going even bigger with a move to the Deniliquin Festival Site, which show founder and vice-president John Creenaune says should be particularly exciting for showgoers.
“We think we’ve found a fairly good site at the Deniliquin Festival Site, the home of the famous Deni Ute Muster,” he says.
“Having it out at the Festival Site will bring more people in. It gives us more space to work with.
“Weather-wise we’re hoping we get a good rollup of trucks with plenty of trade sites on hand. We’ve got Kenworth and CMV Shepparton on board, PACCAR as well.
“We’ll have some trailer makers there as well. There’ll be plenty of food sites and a bar. There’s a big auction will have on the day too.
“It should be a similar turnout to the 1500 last year.”
For hopefuls showing off their rigs, there will be 13 awards handed out across a number of categories including:
- Truck of the Show and Runner Up
- Best Truck Age Categories (0-3 years, 4-9 years, 10-25 years, 26-39 years, 40 years+)
- Best Rigid Truck
- Best Local Truck
- Best Small Fleet (minimum three trucks)
- Best Non-American
- Muscles Gray Memorial Trophy
Last year’s Truck of the Show winner Kyle Nichol made the drive up from Victoria, showing off his recently restored 1990 Kenworth K100E cabover.
John says the organising team has been working hard to secure sponsors and sites to make sure people can come from all over the country to enjoy the show.
He is particularly proud of the contributions the Deniliquin Truck Show has made to get funds back into the local community, particularly in the wake of the floods in 2022.
“We’ve been going on preparation for a few months, gathering trade sites and sponsors for the whole event,” John says.
“It’s been a tough job, it’s tough out there in the industry at the moment. But we do it to bring everyone together and enjoy ourselves for a weekend. It brings the community together every year.
“We’re a non-for-profit group, and since we started in 2015 we’ve donated $90,000 back into the community. All that money goes back through the community.”
One of the most important parts of the Truck Show is the Wall of Fame, which receives new nominees that are honoured each year.
The ceremony takes place on the Friday night of the show weekend, with four new members to join the wall this year.
Last year’s inductees were Herbert Gladstone Grimison, David Mahon and Kenneth Maher.
“The pool of nominations has grown from 31 to 41,” John says.
“Our guest speakers for the night will be Donna Vawdrey, the daughter of the well-known ‘Toots’. She’s coming down.
“Alongside her will be Paul Fellows from NatRoad and Trucksafe. He’ll be saying a few words then Evan Whitbourne and myself will be handling the rest of the night.”
Other highlights for the show will include the various trade sites scattered across the Festival Site and the auction, which will feature jackets and other transport memorabilia, weekend trips, tyres, mini fridges and more.
The young ones will also have a site to play to their hearts’ content.
If you’re interested in entering your truck for the show, the entry fee is $15 per truck, payable at the Truck Show Office at the Festival Site.
Entries close at 12pm sharp of October 26, with the judging to start immediately afterwards.
Entry for the show $15 per person, with kids going free. For more information, check out the Deniliquin Truck Show website or Facebook page.
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