Trucker Life · Louisiana · October 26, 2026

Longtime Truck Driver's Louisiana Truck Show Set Out to Raise Money for a Wheelchair-Accessible Playground

Polished show semi trucks lined up in a row outside a pavilion on a sunny Louisiana afternoon — Illustration for this story. Not a photo of a specific location.

Louisiana's truck show in Rayne was built around a bigger purpose than chrome. The fourth annual Louisiana Truck Show, started by longtime professional truck driver Barry Trahan, set out to raise money for a wheelchair-accessible playground, according to a pre-show post from ReadingWithKids.org.

The show was scheduled for Friday and Saturday, Oct. 23 and 24, at the Civic Center and Pavilion in Rayne. Results from the weekend had not been reported as of Monday morning.

Why a truck driver started it

"I do this because of the love I have had for the trucking industry over the past 32 years," Trahan said in the post. "I can't drive anymore, so this is a way to still be a part of the industry."

Where the money goes

The Louisiana Truck Show is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit that puts its money into Acadia Parish charities, Trahan said.

Its biggest goal is an ADA-compliant, wheelchair-accessible playground for CASH, Crowley Accessibility Support for the Handicapped. Organizers estimated the cost at $360,000 and said they had raised close to $50,000 before the show, according to the post.

The show also supports:

The Way Training Center, which helps young people struggling with addiction.
Ms Helen's Soup Kitchen in Crowley.
The Crowley Learning Center, which offers tutoring for adults.

A message on the back of a trailer

This year, the show gave a vendor space to ReadingWithKids.org, a reading nonprofit, which planned to hand out large 24 by 36 inch signs to CDL holders, to put a reading message on the back of 18-wheelers.

"18-wheelers cross the country every day, and if we can get these stickers on the backs of trucks, we can spread this message immensely in the next year, and beyond that," Trahan said.

Truck shows and other events are listed on The Truck Show List. Truck stops across the state are on the Louisiana truck stop and weigh station map.