Truck bling was very much to the fore at last month'sTMC Trailers Trucking Industry Show in Christchurch.

The biennial, two-day event, hosted by the New Zealand Trucking Association, attracted a big crowd on the Saturday public open day – with more than 23,000 visitors attending over the two days, according to the association.

It says that the show – this year held at the Canterbury A&P Showgrounds – also boasted more than 70 trade exhibitors and had 350 trucks on display. Around 250 of them were vying for awards in the Show & Shine contest, which attracted units from as far away as Rotorua.

The Show & Shine trucks are the stars of the show, says NZ Trucking Association CEO David Boyce: "The effort the drivers go to in preparing them is greatly appreciated and they truly make the event."

A feature of the Saturday was the TR Trucking Relay competition, which put four-person teams through a variety of challenges, including truck manoeuvring, loading pallets with a Crown forklift, tarping a load and – the big finale – the team truck pull.

The contest attracted seven teams from various regions, with Team Auckland taking the big prize – a trip for four to the 2019 Brisbane Truck Show. It offered a great spectacle for the public and the teams' supporters, with the grandstand full all day.

The much quieter Friday trade day gave exhibitors the opportunity to meet and host clients. The day also focused on showing off the potential for careers in the trucking industry – with around 200 senior pupils from Canterbury high schools in attendance.

The kids had all expressed an interest in the industry and were given a behind-the-scenes look. Interest from the young people was high, and exhibitors were impressed by the level of their questions, says Boyce: "We were talking with one who told us he had been planning to leave school but had now changed his mind and wanted to pursue a career in mechanics."

The students were treated to a barbecue lunch and truck rides, and they had plenty of free time to explore the rest of the show. Feedback from teachers was very positive, says the association, and several schools have already shown interest in booking more pupils for the 2020 show.

The kids' activities on Saturday were all free and monitored by volunteers from Child Cancer Foundation Canterbury and Ronald McDonald House SI. These included the Heavy Trucks 14-metre bouncy castle, a giant sandpit, kids' colouring tent, CablePrice kids' digger, RC Haulers radio control trucks and truck photo boards.

The show shop was also very popular and completely sold out its stock of around 400 toy trucks that were brought in especially for the event.

Industry volunteers manning the Safety MAN Road Safety Truck were kept busy all day, sharing safety tips on how to share the road safely with big trucks, as well as giving drivers an insight into how they can stay healthy on the road.

The weekend was rounded off with a celebration dinner for 400 people, held at show sponsor TMC Trailers' workshop. The workshop was decorated in a vintage theme, with truck centrepieces, LED truck brand signs and one-off, specially designed tyre bar leaners – the latter thanks to Carters Tyres. All items were auctioned on the night with the Kenworth LED sign going for $1100! All the proceeds went to the two participating charities.