Trucker’s Day: Our Report from the Festival of the Most Beautiful Trucks

Heat. Scorching heat. A massive asphalt field filled with hundreds of the most beautiful trucks, gathered from every corner of the country. Bass thumping from subwoofers, locomotive-like horns, smoke billowing from vertical stacks, and garlands of evening lights shimmering across the tractors… This is TruckDay, a festival held for the second time in Yakhroma, near Moscow.

Last year, I missed TruckDay. I had caught a cold, but still hoped to go — until Wagner’s march on Moscow forced organizers to cancel the event. This time, I called one of the organizers, my old friend and Belarusian trucker Konstantin Bulatsky: “Count me in — I’ll be there!”

Events like this have long been a tradition in Europe and America. Back in 1994 — thirty years ago! — I attended such a festival in Hannover, Germany. I marveled at the custom-painted tractors, unheard of in Russia at the time, and even met a colorful couple, Heike and Marion Wunsch, who showed up in a Soviet blue KrAZ styled to look like an American rig. Indeed, American influence is strong at European truck festivals: drivers and their partners in coonskin hats and leather boots, with country and rock music blasting from the stage.

Similar vibes can be found at the annual trucker festival at the Nürburgring, coinciding with truck racing in mid-July. I’ve been there multiple times: beer and schnapps flow freely, dozens of tents sell souvenirs, trucks light up the night, and everything ends with a grand fireworks show. I’ve also attended truck shows in Louisville, Kentucky, featuring America’s most beautiful tractors. Though smaller, the sight of long-nose trucks glowing with thousands of lights at night is unforgettable.

And now, we finally have a true festival of beautiful trucks here in Russia. TruckFest events were held before, but on a smaller scale. When organizers switched to paid participation, truckers revolted — and as we know from the cult American film Convoy, angry truckers are a force to reckon with. So they created their own non-commercial festival: TruckDay. They found a huge asphalt lot near Yakhroma, attracted sponsors, charged participants nothing, and visitors just 500 rubles if over 14. This year, sponsor support was so strong that two pallets of kvass were distributed for free — take two bottles, or even five!

The event offered food courts, souvenir tents (you could even buy roof-mounted “chandelier” spotlights for a truck), showers (bring your own water), a children’s play area (kids got to paint two real trucks with water-based paints), and a stage where Max Vertigo performed songs dear to drivers’ hearts:

Heavy truck 40 RUS —I’m never afraid of work,If needed, I’ll explain,Why I stick to the roadside…

Unlike in Germany, where truck manufacturers like Mercedes sponsor entire pavilions with beer, sausages, and merch, no OEMs supported this festival. But companies like RMG (Russian World of Trucks), which imports European trucks via parallel channels, showed up. A new Volvo FH costs 19.5 million rubles, though lightly used models under three years old are more popular — they’re cheaper and have lower recycling fees.

The event also hosted the debut of Brenor, a new semi-trailer brand from Domodedovo. With European trailer makers gone from the market, this niche needed filling. Trailer #001 was displayed — with SAF axles and landing legs, Russian plywood flooring, and aluminum rails. Price: around 6 million rubles. Sales begin this fall.

Naturally, there were model trucks for sale too — and not Chinese, but Russian-made 1:43 scale models from Yuri and Vadim of Arkhangelsk. Some were fully original, with 3D-printed cabs, others reworked from donor models. The upgrade lists read like real truck shops: “equipped with a YaMZ-238 engine, opening hood, working rear suspension, and steerable front axle.” For Yuri and Vadim, this is a hobby — one builds ships, the other drives an Iveco Stralis.

As for participants, last year 190 trucks registered; this year, 370, spread across ten categories: Titan (Volvo), Super (Scania), PACCAR (DAF), Besser & Büssing (Mercedes and MAN), AmericanTruck, Original (other brands), Oldskool (over 20 years old), Power (tow trucks and special equipment), Goinstyle (harmonized tractor-trailer rigs), and MKT (light commercial vehicles, mostly tuned GAZelle Next vans with booming subwoofers). Cups and prizes were awarded across all categories.

Walking through rows of trucks was dazzling: custom paint jobs, endless details, luxury interiors, lighting, sound systems, and multi-tone horns. Technically, much of this isn’t road-legal, but as long as owners don’t blind oncoming drivers with their “chandeliers” or blast “La Cucaracha” at traffic police, inspectors usually look the other way. These owners don’t just love their trucks — they cherish and maintain them. Often, traffic cops stop just to admire and ask, “How much did it cost?”

A lot. A prize-winner from Klimovsk, who took home four cups — Titan, Best European, Best Custom Shop, and Best Sound — spent 4.5 million rubles on modifications by a small workshop in Krasnodar. Such truck tuning shops are slowly appearing in Russia.

One Volvo FH rig from Barnaul drew a young boy’s question: “Do you really work with this truck?” When told yes, he turned to his mother: “See, working on a truck like this is a pleasure!” Carriers sigh: “Sadly, clients don’t care what truck delivers their cargo. But we still invest, customize, order parts…” And it’s worth it. On the highway, beautiful rigs are rare; here, they’re everywhere.

Of course, tuning sometimes veers into kitsch, but even those trucks have fans. Participants joked about one Yaroslavl owner who loaded his aging Freightliner Columbia with every accessory imaginable, belching black smoke and blaring a meowing multi-tone siren. At night, his truck glowed like a carnival ride. Kitsch or not, he won the audience choice award.

The ultimate supercup, voted by fellow winners, went to Lev Levchenko from Barnaul. His Freightliner Century, once a wreck with no bumper and a smashed hood.

Was transformed: front axle moved forward, new bodywork, polished parts, fully redone interior, and a towering gear lever topped with a grinning piston knob, glowing red eyes, and a “cigarette sleeve.” The result: a true cowboy truck in Western style, worthy of American truck shows. Lev’s mission is to bring the culture of beautiful American tractors to Russia.

Other American rigs appeared too, alongside a few Chinese ones. But what struck me most: surrounded by fleets of beautiful European trucks, it felt like the highways had no Chinese dominance at all — a heartwarming sight!

A blue-metallic MAZ with a custom-painted cab stood out, as did several restyled KAMAZ K4 and K5 rigs. From St. Petersburg came two white showpieces: a Mercedes Actros and a KAMAZ K4 with modified cabins and unique steering wheels (the Actros even had a ZIL-130 wheel!). Two ZIL trucks — a lifted dump truck on a 130 base and a trial rig with all-wheel steering — were among the oldest vehicles there.

Another standout was a 1994 Mercedes SK from Sergiev Posad, equipped with EPS electro-pneumatic gear shifting — the forerunner of modern automated manuals. I once drove such a Mercedes across the Alps myself.

But the true showstopper was a tractor — literally. Alexander Malyar arrived from Yekaterinburg with a fully rebuilt 1997 MTZ Belarus tractor, modified for Bison Track Show races. The engine and gearbox were tuned, a new independent front suspension and brakes fitted (stock MTZs have no front brakes). Top speed rose from 34 km/h to 147 km/h! Fuel consumption? Around 12 l/100 km. He even towed a homemade trailer with tools and spares. Sadly, at a later tractor race near Saratov, Malyar rolled over at speed — he was unharmed, but the machine needs major repairs. Yet the “trucker-tractor driver” remains optimistic.

Among the most inspiring participants were Svetlana and Vladimir Petrukhin from Tula, who built their own motorhome on a GAZ Sadko Next. Bought in 2021 for 2.3 million rubles, they invested another 1.5 million to create a rolling home with torsion-flexing subframe, hot water heating, solar power, washing machine, and dishwasher. Fuel-saving mods reduced consumption to 18–20 l/100 km.

The festival wasn’t without incident: one tuned GAZelle accidentally rolled off its handbrake, hitting another vehicle. The owner was expelled and stripped of his first-place audio award. Otherwise, the atmosphere was cooperative: recovery crews let me cool off in their 600-hp Volvo FH cab, and I hitched a ride with Khachatur from Krasnodar, who came with his son and grandson, showcasing three custom trucks.

A dynasty of carriers from Krasnodar Krai: Khachatur, Robert, little Tamerlan — and one of their trucks, a Volvo FH

Meanwhile, in St. Petersburg, an “American Truck Fest” was announced, but only five tractors showed up (two of them European Volvos), plus a dump truck — hardly a festival, more of a meet-up.

As I finished this piece, Kostya Bulatsky called from abroad. He’d just attended Truckstar in the Netherlands with 2,200 participants and was now heading to Finland’s Power Truck Show, driving the Scania S530 Super that appeared in Yakhroma. So despite the challenges, our convoy made it to an international truck festival.

Thirty years ago in Germany, I was gifted a red blinking pin. That evening, someone asked — pointing at the light — “Is this your heartbeat?” I nodded: “Of course.” And I’d say the same today.

Because in “a world where the winds never rest,” this is an island of joy and friendship. It was touching to hear Autoreview readers at the festival ask when my report would be published, and beg: “Please don’t stop printing the paper edition.” And also because — believe me, as a longtime follower of the trucking scene — our festivals are now no worse than those at the Nürburgring or Louisville. And they’ll only get better.

Photo: Fedor Lapshin

This is a translation. You can read the original article here: День дальнобойщика: наш репортаж с фестиваля самых красивых грузовиковртаж с «Шелкового пути»