Motoring Article

Truckfest 2017 - Peterborough

by Gary Malkin. on
Truckfest 2017 - Peterborough - Lincolnshire Magazine - LincsMag.com

The Truckfest season kicked off in style with their biggest event of the year, Truckfest at Peterborough Arena on Sunday 30th April and Monday 1st May. Organised by Live Events of Spalding this year saw some changes to the show but still at the heart were the trucks and this year no less than 3,000 were in attendance. Working trucks were joined by show trucks, classic trucks, American supertrucks, specialist vehicles, demonstration trucks and for the first time a display of American cars and Hot Rods. Amongst those were a good number from Lincolnshire with established haulage companies like Mason Bros, SG Haulage, STD and Proctors along with owner-drivers and American trucks from American Dreams and Clive Shaw with his immaculate pair of Kenworths.

All the major manufacturers were in attendance over the two day event with display stands, each showing the latest versions of their vehicle range. Volvo Trucks are celebrating their 50th Anniversary this year and they used their stand to promote some of their vehicles for the construction industry. Also on the stand they displayed used trucks, the FH16 built for heavy transport and the Iron Knight, a truck built especially by Swedish former European Truck Racing Champion Boije Overbrink to break speed records. Scania were showing their next generation of the R model while also giving balloons, candy-floss and popcorn to children. DAF, Iveco and Renault were showing the latest versions of their vehicles while Mercedes also promoted their driver training courses. Driver recruitment and training had a strong presence at the show with a number of agencies and training companies promoting their businesses.

Always a feature of Truckfest is the operators' showcase where a number of selected companies are featured. This year local companies featured included Robinsons from Upwell just over the border in Cambridgeshire, Alphatrans, Gruber and Humber Port Logistics who have depots in Lincolnshire, and SG Haulage Ltd from Lincoln. One of the largest hauliers in the country, Maritime Transport, had a large presence. With a number of their trucks on display they also had a large marquee promoting their operations and recruiting staff while also providing activities for families and range of their merchandise.

Providing a different display was Hydro-Cleansing who returned for their second visit to Truckfest with their immaculate bright orange specialist trucks. Taking pride of place on their stand were their custom painted Scania trucks 'Megatron' and 'Terminator', their newest truck to the fleet. They were also raising money on their stand for the families of the seven people who lost their lives in the Croydon Tram accident.

Knowles Transport celebrated over 80 years in the industry on their stand. A pair of their latest trucks were displayed alongside one of their classic trucks. They were also another company to use the event to recruit drivers.

New Features

New for this year was the addition of an indoor display of trucks and custom cars. Scottish hauliers Malcolm's had three trucks on display including the famous 'Braveheart' Scania while Pollock had their Peterbilt and Volvo FH16. Another Scottish haulier to display was Alex Anderson who displayed their trio of classic Volvos. Joining them inside were other custom trucks along with a display of American cars and Hot Rods.

A new feature to Truckfest appeared at Peterborough as the Extreme Robots made their debut. They proved a popular addition with their robots fighting live in a purpose built arena. Outside there were more custom painted trucks on display around the showground with themes including films, characters and animals. One special visitor was the first custom Polish truck to visit Truckfest, a Scania R560 with trailer, painted as a tribute to the Polish RAF 303 Squadron that worked during the Battle of Britain and through the Second World War. With the truck they had a junior kart team from Poland with karts also painted to commemorate 303Sqn.

Aside from the trucks on display there was plenty to keep families and children occupied with characters from Paw Patrol, Star Wars and Transformers to meet and on-stage entertainment from Gary Graceland, an Elvis tribute artist, the Birmingham Blues Brothers and the Raven Blues Band.

Special Guests

This year's special guests were Todd Dewey and Lisa Kelly from Ice Road Truckers joined by Jesse McClure from Storage Hunters and British Treasure, American Gold. Along with Scott Wilson they would all be hosting events in the Close Brothers Asset Finance main arena. Making his Peterborough Truckfest debut was stunt driver Terry Grant who has 20 World records to his name. Demonstrating his car control with a pair of Legend cars and a Honda Civic he formed an entertaining and popular partnership with Jesse McClure. This included locking Jesse in the boot of his Civic while taking him for a few high speed spins around the arena. The Jason Smyth Adrenaline Tour was another to make his Truckfest debut, the former motocross and Supermoto rider performing stunts on a quad bike and joined in the arena by Lisa Kelly. Hosted by Todd Dewey Peterborough had a pair of monster trucks, Swamp Thing and Slingshot, who demonstrated their car crushing ability. Also in the main arena were the Mick George cheerleaders and the Chip the Skip competition.

Early on Monday morning the BBC Breakfast weather was hosted from Truckfest presented by Carol Kirkwood. The team broadcast a number of slots from around the showground which saw Carol in the cab of a truck, Swamp Thing monster truck and riding on a quad with Jason Smyth.

As well as being a show for visitors, most of the trucks on display were judged in various competition classes. The awards were presented on Monday afternoon on the main stage. Richardson's Transport won four trophies included best Volvo in show with their FH16 while another company with success were F.G.Bond. They also won four trophies which included 1st & 3rd in Mick George best kept tipper or rigid and 1st in Lubricant Company best kept new truck.

Transport Monthly best kept custom truck went to Malcolm's with their Scania 'Braveheart', Close Brothers best kept fleet went to B.H.Cecil who also won MR Ratcliffe best company owned truck and Truckfest best senior truck. It was a Scottish 1-2 in the Transport Exchange Group best vintage truck as Ian Craig Haulage won with their Scania while Alex Anderson's Volvo took second. Third place went to Guyhurn based Ken Thomas with their Volvo. There was more success for Alex Anderson who also won UK Haulier best kept show truck with their Volvo FH. Taking another win in the Ice Road Truckers best kept super truck was John Coupland with his Peterbilt 'Dilligaf Express'. Finally the Truckfest best kept single owner and Snap best in show went to John Templeton with his superhero Scania.

Despite the adverse weather during the weekend a large crowd still turned out to enjoy Truckfest. Albums containing photos from the event can be found by visiting the Lincsmag Facebook page. Further details of other Truckfest events can be found by visiting www.truckfest.co.uk.

See more photos...

You can see hundreds of our photos from Truckfest 2017 - Peterborough on our Facebook page
» » HERE! ... Truckfest Peterborough 2017 Album 1,
» » HERE! ... Truckfest Peterborough 2017 Album 2 and
» » HERE! ... Truckfest Peterborough Arena Displays 2017.