Even though they carry the payloads that allow truckers to make a living, trailers often don’t pack much mystique for truckers. So mud flaps on these nice-looking lowboys advertise the brands of the tractors they’re hitched to instead of the trailer makers. 
 -  Photos: Tom Berg

Even though they carry the payloads that allow truckers to make a living, trailers often don’t pack much mystique for truckers. So mud flaps on these nice-looking lowboys advertise the brands of the tractors they’re hitched to instead of the trailer makers.

Photos: Tom Berg

Beautiful trucks are plentiful at the Mid-America Trucking Show, now going on in Louisville. New and exceptionally well maintained vehicles are parked inside and outside the huge halls of the Kentucky Fair and Expo Center. Trailers are as shiny as tractors and trucks, and it’s only proper because trailers are where the payloads go. Yet most guys and gals who run big rigs displayed at the annual truck beauty show are preoccupied with their gorgeous power units.

Most but not all. I cruised the outdoor beauty show – a real pleasure on Thursday when skies were sunny and temps went into the mid-70s. I made it a point to look for trailers that had received as much attention from their owners as tractors. And I found some handsome trailers, a few of which I’d not want to soil with cargo. However, most of them work at least once in a while, and some every day, according to their owners. Check these out:

There’s no doubt who made the highly polished grain hopper (left) and the tanker, among the many displayed at the truck beauty contest during the Mid-America Trucking Show in Louisville. 
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There’s no doubt who made the highly polished grain hopper (left) and the tanker, among the many displayed at the truck beauty contest during the Mid-America Trucking Show in Louisville.

Someone with a lot of patience used paint pens to highlight lettering on these tires. Note the Michelin Man! They’re on a Bennett livestock trailer. 
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Someone with a lot of patience used paint pens to highlight lettering on these tires. Note the Michelin Man! They’re on a Bennett livestock trailer.

Long side curtain and mudflaps match the blue paint on the tractor hitched to this soft-sided trailer. They’re common sights in the Midwest, though usually not as pretty as this one. 
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Long side curtain and mudflaps match the blue paint on the tractor hitched to this soft-sided trailer. They’re common sights in the Midwest, though usually not as pretty as this one.

This lowboy sports pearlesque paint that matches the décor on the tractor. Would you want to load a dirty excavator onto this beautiful trailer? And note the bright-metal accents on the auto carrier next door. 
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This lowboy sports pearlesque paint that matches the décor on the tractor. Would you want to load a dirty excavator onto this beautiful trailer? And note the bright-metal accents on the auto carrier next door.

About the author
Tom Berg

Tom Berg

Former Senior Contributing Editor

Journalist since 1965, truck writer and editor since 1978.

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