For very good reason, the Brisbane Truck Show is renowned as the place to be for a preview of the latest offerings from Australia’s wide array of truck and trailer manufacturers and distributors.
There are many iconic images that capture what makes the Brisbane Truck Show so special. If you ask any attendee about the things that bring them back to the biennial event, however, you’ll find a range of answers that pretty much all come from the same list.
While it can lay claim to being the Southern Hemisphere’s largest automotive business event, the Brisbane Truck Show is also the industry’s biggest networking event – filled with beaming smiles as old friends, peers and colleagues reacquaint.
Of course, the big brands are on display with all their latest gear and without exception, they all go out of their way to add something special into the mix.
That something special ranges from limited-edition models to long-anticipated unveilings, and to showpieces brought in from overseas.
BP, Bauer Media return as partners for 2019 Brisbane Truck Show. Read more, here
In 2017, for instance, Paccar unveiled the Kenworth Legend 900 alongside the revolutionary T610 and T610SAR and DAF’s new CF85; Freightliner showed off the twin-stack Coronado, competing for the limelight with a stunningly restored 1950 A64-800 ‘Bubblenose’. Scania brought out a new S500, fresh from its International Truck of the Year award win in Hannover.
Iveco had an extraordinary range, all dressed up to show off their adaptability; Mercedes revealed its much-touted rigid Actros range; Offroad Trucks showed us the incredibly versatile Tatra T817; and the Mack stand drew folks in with their imposing big, black SuperLiner.
Hino had its new 4×4 300 series crew cab; Isuzu showcased the tradie ‘ready to work’ range; and UD launched the Quon.
It goes on and on, and we’ve only touched on the truck manufacturers.
The trailer guys had innovation in spades. There were new ways to tip them, new ways to buckle them, new ways to load them, new ways to gate them and new ways to open and close them.
There were aluminium stock crates, stainless-steel tankers and high-tech materials lining reefer vans; there were skels, low-loaders, flat-decks sitting on flat-decks, dogs, pigs, drop decks, mezzanines, cranes, ramps, dollies and anything else you could ask for.
Then you get into the components, the engines, the technology and equipment. Don’t get me started.
Many visitors to the show highlight the amount of time it takes to explore every corner of the venue. Apart from stopping every 10 metres to say “g’day” to another old mate, that time is only further stretched out by the endless array of compelling displays.
Some 300 exhibitors are, of course, delighted by curious onlookers – asking about the background of some clever innovation, or just dying to get an insider’s view of how something works.
You’ll see everything that you’ve always loved but with improved safety features, greater fuel efficiency, better comfort, more intuitive controls and still just as much grunt as you could wish for.
Don’t forget the other things going on at and around the show. For instance, the 2019 show features the KPMG Insights Centre, with seminars, presentations and forums all designed to add to your business smarts.
The content differs each day of the show and features numerous short and sweet sessions covering useful topics ranging from better business, compliance, sustainability, innovation, and more.
Next door is the Jobs Centre with a whole bunch of opportunities to talk about upskilling, career development and even new job opportunities. We’ll tell you more about that over the next couple of months.
Adjacent to all that is everyone’s favourite meeting place – the Plaza Terrace BBQ Bar. If you’re planning on catching up with an old mate, this is where it’s most likely to happen – under an umbrella or in the sunshine, regaled by endless tales recounted over an ale around the tables up there.
Of an evening there are functions going on all over Brisbane with exhibitors and their customers getting together for dinners big and small.
At the end of it, the social hub is amongst the restaurants and bars of South Bank. Time to enjoy one more beverage, chill with friends old and new, and prepare for another day getting up close and personal with the very latest and best product available at the 2019 Brisbane Truck Show.
The Brisbane Truck Show returns to the Brisbane Convention & Exhibition Centre from Thursday, May 16 to Sunday, May 19, 2019. For information and tickets visit: www.brisbanetruckshow.com.au