The crowd was anxious as they shuffled into the Brisbane Convention and Exhibition Centre for the first day of the bi-annual Brisbane Truck Show. Everyone I spoke with leading up to the event was excited because it’s the first proper truck show since 2019.
I caught up with Todd Hacking, CEO at Heavy Vehicle Industry Australia, at the end of the day to get his reaction to the massive crowds and the smiling exhibitors.
“It’s been magnificent,” Hacking said. “We’ve broken every record that we’ve ever had on a Thursday. The crowd was amazing. The feedback has been incredible and everyone’s leaving happy and we’ll do it all again tomorrow.”
My day started with a welcome by Ampol CEO Matt Halliday to the assembled media. He talked about their plans for bio-fuels and hydrogen to support the zero emission transition for heavy duty transport. He also mentioned the 300 EV charging sites for light fleet vehicles they were planning to rollout in 2023/24.
PACCAR displayed all of their brands over a huge area at one end of the hall. The highlight for me was the hydrogen fuel cell trucks that are being trialled locally and a comment that confirmed there is no clear winner when you talk about future fuels. PACCAR are unbiased towards the future powertrain options and are planning to offer a range of options to suit customer requirements.
And a surprise for the crowd was the announcement that the Kenworth K220 was awarded the Truck of the Year Australasia for 2023.
UD are celebrating 50 years in Australia. On the display was a concrete agitator featuring all of their new safety technology. And outside was a world first 16 pallet curtain truck that will allow fleets to be more efficient and contribute to sustainability goals.
IVECO lifted the cover on the new S WAY truck and the unexpected surprise was the electric Daly cab chassis which will begin local testing after the truck show and is being supported with funded from one of the many government grants available to support fleet electrification.
Isuzu launched the first EV on the all new next generation N Series platform. The new platform will be available in ICE and BEV variants with local testing for the electric platform to start in 2023, and sales expected to start in late 2024. It’s a big moment for the market leader, to signalling that they’re ready to help transition their customers towards zero emissions.
Hino is back in 2023 after suffering a few disruption on 2022. The focus is on the hybrid electric 300 Series which can offer fleets significant savings in fuel and maintenance. One new feature being rolled out in all Hino models is the 10,1″ infotainment screen. One of the biggest screens found in any truck, the larger size will allow customers to leverage the connectivity of the telematics systems and safety cameras.
Daimler launched the heavy duty electric eActros300 as the model celebrated 25 years in the Australian market. And the next generation ECANTER was on display with multiple models to suit different applications.
On the Foton Mobility stand, Bill Gillespie presented their range of light duty electric trucks to the Brisbane Truck Show audience for the first time.
As the public poured into show the media tour was arrived at the last stop of the day – the Hyundai stand. One of the first manufactures to offer electric cars to fleet buyers in significant volumes with the IONIQ, Hyundai will be launching their electric truck in July with an estimated range of 200km which has been proven after local testing of over 5,000km while carrying a load.
