Many lineworkers and their families look forward to the annual Trade Night year-round and spend months perfecting their T-shirt designs. 

For 2026, the International Lineman's Rodeo Association set up long tables in a meeting room on the ground floor of the Overland Park Convention Center. Lineworkers carried in duffel bags of items to trade and then carefully displayed them. Then the trading began. 

As I walked around the room, I snapped photos of lineworkers with their shirt designs as well as of the designs themselves. I spotted skeletons, skulls, lightning bolts, bucket trucks, power poles, American flags and more. Each shirt had its own story to tell with its color, design and illustrations. 

I even met a journeyman lineworker who also worked as a tattoo artist who designed his team's shirts for Lubbock Power & Light in Texas. I also met a woman who transformed Klein bags into purses and made line trade-themed jewelry for the line wives. 

If you have a photo of your team and your shirt you want to add to this gallery, please email it to me. I'd love to put you in the spotlight!