But the Utah Office of Tourism opted instead to display the iconic nature images of its "Utah - Life Elevated" campaign for a fee on C.R. England's much larger fleet because many of its semitrailers travel to cities targeted in the state's tourism promotion campaigns.

Undaunted, Bagley went ahead on his own. He has covered three of his 50 vehicles with unofficial but still pretty pictures of Utah by noted photographer John Telford.

"I'm proud enough of my state that I wanted to do it anyway," said Bagley, noting that his vehicles venture from Logan to Nephi, Vernal to Wendover. "There's a different photo on each side so you don't get tired of them. I think they look dang spectacular."

He thinks the Utah Office of Tourism was "nuts" for not taking him up on his free offer. "Why are they paying someone else to do it? That's too much for this 61-year-old to comprehend."

It was a nice offer, conceded Michael Deaver, the Tourism Office's deputy director. But the state had to take into account a few different considerations.

For one, it was important for the Tourism Office to have a consistent application of its "Utah - Life Elevated" brand images and associated slogans. Those parameters did not include Bagley's desire to have his trucks say "Utah, a moving experience as beautiful as . . . " whatever photogenic image was displayed.

More importantly, Deaver added, "England had dedicated routes in the markets we're interested in - Orange County, Los Angeles and Las Vegas."

In addition, its trucks deliver specific products, such as Coca-Cola, Gap clothing and Albertson's' foodstuffs, that take them to locations in constant eyeshot of the urban masses.

"When you look at these trucks being out on the highway five days a week and ending up in metropolitan areas making stops - hopefully, getting stuck in L.A. traffic - that's thousands of [visual] impressions a day. That's an idea we liked," Deaver said. "It's pretty awe-inspiring to stand next to one of these trucks when it's wrapped, and if you're 100 yards away, it has the same effect."

He said the state is spending upward of $400,000 to wrap 24 England trucks for a year with Utah images. Nine semitrailers already are on the road. The rest should be making their rounds by mid-January.

Bagley said it cost him $6,000 to wrap a smaller truck, $8,000 for the larger ones, expenses he's simply writing off.

"I don't know how you recoup any advertising. You hope you do it through goodwill," he said. "My reward is I have the prettiest dang fleet in Utah. Hey, we have to make the world a little place with what we do, and that's what we've done."

Deaver hopes Bagley's example inspires others to follow suit.

"I'm glad he has that kind of passion," he said. "If every company got that passionate and tried to promote the state like that, who knows what we could do. I certainly would like to see a day where we could partner with people in and out of the state."

mikeg@sltrib.com