Truckers are getting their rigs ready for next week's International Trucking Show and the Show & Shine Truck Beauty Show, presented by Newport Communications and ITS as part of the 2001 Stars and Stripes Competition.

The show, held in Las Vegas June 27-29, will offer cash, trophies and bragging rights.
Stainless steel fabricators throughout the country have been working overtime to turn up the shine factor on clients’ rides before their wheels roll west.
We found one of those rigs at Pro-Fab Associates in Mannheim, Pa., a mega-metal mecca where more than a half dozen trucks have already made a pitstop in preparation for the Las Vegas contest.
Parked outside Pro-Fab’s 7,500-square-foot workshop the day we stopped by was a spectacular 2000 Kenworth W900L and 53-foot 2000 Kentucky furniture van resplendent in rainbow metallic flake paint, air-brush designs and custom graphics. Showpiece of Plycon Van Lines, Long Island, New York, the combo is owned by the Pliaconis brothers — Chris, Dean and Dave. The company specializes in hauling fine furniture, art, antiques and households.
They have shown the truck at East Coast events; the Las Vegas show will be its first western competition. The brothers will wheel around the desert show in a 1/10th scale replica of a Plycon moving van powered by a 5-horsepower engine and trimmed in Pro-Fab stainless steel accessories and LED lights.
We found Pro-Fab’s co-owners Randy Kaylor and Jesse Edwards outside, dressing up the 475-horsepower 3406E Caterpillar 2WS under Plycon’s hood. This engine is so new, Kaylor explained, there are no chrome parts available for it yet, so the parts were being fabricated at Pro-Fab in stainless steel.
Pro-Fab also made the filter wraps, heat shield, and covers for the factory wiring harness and engine mounts, as well as covers for the cam gear and auxiliary drive.
One of its standout pieces is the lighted shroud panel that overlooks the engine compartment.
Kaylor will personally present the rig in Las Vegas. The truck will stand on a new style of presentation flooring. It is formed from click-together resin-composite tiles with a border pattern and tapered edges.
“Everyone has been using rolled-out carpet at the shows,” he said. “This is first time anyone has attempted tiles.”
A staff of 10 employees, one Kaylor’s 70-year-old grandfather, Edward Young, together offer their clients more than 75 years of fabrication experience as well as an extensive background in customizing and presenting show trucks. Client Jeff Boyd was a finalist in Newport’s Stars & Stripes Show Truck Series last year.
Started in 1994, Pro-Fab Inc. also fabricates custom light bars, exhausts, turbo wings, deck plate, and bumpers. In addition, the company also designs and installs interior truck items such as steering wheels, gauge covers, switch extensions, and creative lighting.
For more information, call (717) 664-4216 or visit www.profabassoc.com.