This year’s 37th Midwest Truck Show sponsored by the Mid-West Truckers Association was held at the Prairie Capital Convention Center Feb. 17-19, 2000. The show theme this year was “Shaping Your Future.” Displays were packed back-to-back, taking up two floors of the convention center. Vendors from a variety of groups such as tractors, trailers, engines, parts, accessories, communication and computer equipment, tires, lubricants and even the U.S. Department of Transportation ITS/CVO Technology Truck were on hand for this year’s show.

Last year, the association reported that the show broke a record with attendance at 7,000. Robert Jasmon, executive vice president of the Midwest Truckers Association said, “The attendance this year’s show was equivalent to last year’s, although, weather reports did make a difference in attendance.”

Jasmon added that there were those registered that did not show due to the heavy snowfall in northern Illinois and predictions of ice in the central Illinois area. If not for weather, this millennium show may have broken the 1999 attendance record.

The Annual Mid-West Truck Shows targets the truck industry, but draws many from the construction equipment industry. “The thing about the construction and truck industry is the close bond. Items and terms associated with equipment are universal and the parts and supplies and technology is important to everyone. We have members in both the trucking and construction industry. A lot of members are in the asphalt, ready-mix business,” said Jasmon.