Heavy Traffic

They came. They saw. They connected.

That was very much the story from this year’s Brisbane Truck Show, especially on the Thursday when media, decision-makers and industry gathered as part of the crowd of 13,865 people who descended on the South Bank site.

All up 54,790 attendees surpassed the previous record of 42,855 set in 2023 at the four-day biennial now in its 58th year.

With the latest trucks, trailers, parts and accessories and related technologies spread across 35,000m², the Brisbane Truck Show remains the only event to fill up all three levels of the Brisbane Convention and Exhibition Centre. Programs related to the show were, what’s more, not immediately confined here.

There was a Depot careers hub at TAFE Queensland’s South Bank Campus, a Heritage Truck Show at Rocklea Showgrounds, boxing bouts at South Bank Piazza, and the Heavy Equipment and Machinery Show at the Brisbane Showgrounds.

Another popular sidebar held offsite was the National Show ‘N’ Shine in Little Stanley Street where fleets like Auswide Transport Solutions and KS Easter, among others, presented blinged up prime movers.

Back inside the exhibitor hall, the upsurge in interest around sustainability, driver safety and telematics, has not diminished in standing or relevance to judge by the prevalence of companies now producing solutions across these categories among exhibitors.

There were 300 in total with 22 truck and engine displays and another 30 devoted to trailer manufacturing. New trucks, including electric and zero-emission vehicles and refrigerated transport, from a range of manufacturers, such as DAF, Scania, Fuso, Isuzu, Kenworth and Eurocold provided talking points. Hyundai’s hydrogen fuel cell XCIENT truck certainly one among them.

Close to 400 transport and government stakeholders and representatives attended the BTS official launch ceremony.

The Fuso display included an upgraded Canter range and the Shogun 530 featuring a new cab design and more powerful 13-litre engine.

The twin turbo six-cylinder delivers 530hp, making it the most potent Japanese truck in the local market. Freightliner provided a sneak peak of the next generation Cascadia prime mover from the United States and reinforced the compelling business case of the brand owing, in part, to its low running costs in an economy of increasing uncertainty for operators.

“We continue to pioneer safety with fully integrated safety features across our entire range designed not only to protect drivers plus vulnerable road users through active assist systems,” said Andrew Assimo, Daimler Truck Australia Pacific Sales, Marketing and Operations Vice President.

“We’re taking a strong position in terms of leading sustainability. For us at DT leading sustainability is not just about e-vehicles, it’s also about the diesel portfolio that we offer today.”

Part of that portfolio is the Mercedes-Benz Actros which launched a new ProCabin variant that promises, after continual upgrades, increased aerodynamics with an estimated 3 per cent improvement in fuel consumption.

BTS has increasingly been a must for international OEMs with a foothold in the market. In truck sales there is no bigger name at present than Isuzu.

“One critical aspect that OEMs like Isuzu can influence is continually developing a safe, comfortable and professional workspace for drivers to be able to pursue their trade, and more importantly, attract a younger generation to join the transport industry,” says Matt Sakhaie, Isuzu Australia Limited Chief of Product.

Variants representing every Isuzu model across the light, medium and heavy-duty segments were formally introduced to the public in Brisbane.

No product had carried over from the brand’s previous showcase in 2023. A staged rollout of Isuzu’s heavy-duty FX and light-duty NQR models has immediately followed the show.

Ongoing commercial viability, if not an official theme, was a thread truckmakers had, by unspoken consensus, picked up and returned to in making the case for their wares.

As external forces produced by a faltering economy informs the logic that underlays purchasing decisions, it’s not for nothing that total cost of ownership remains front of mind for most everyone who came in contact with a truck display barring the cleaning staff after hours.

Scania Australia Managing Director Manfred Streit appeared unflustered by the present moment.

“Let me just say that we are clear eyed about the road ahead in this country,” he says.

“Scania has done all the R&D work to create functioning viable range of battery electric vehicles. But there must be a viable eco-system of charging and electricity which is affordable [and] is very necessary in order to make commercial sense for operators.”

Supply chains since the last event in 2023, which Scania did not attend, have been forced continually to adapt to fast-changing markets.

For a powertrain supplier like Eaton, in which sourcing raw materials and components was already a complex and multifaceted task, solutions to foreign trade policies are being sought seemingly on the fly.

“The whole tariff situation has become a little difficult to figure out, so I’ve been travelling around the globe trying to find alternatives for business,” said Mike Meleck, Eaton Global Channel, Inside Sales and Application Engineering Manager.

“Australia seems to be a good place to start to see how the interest is.”

The power management company, best known in the heavy truck sector for producing leading transmissions, clutches and brakes, found the opportune time to unveil its latest 12-speed Endurant HD-V automated transmission and their low voltage electrical range.

Designed predominantly for on-highway applications, the refined transmission offers smart features like a fluid pressure sensor to help protect the transmission from damage.

It’s first home will likely be inside new product from Kenworth. The best-selling heavy-duty brand, for its part, unveiled a new generation of wide cab models.

Nomenclature aligns to the model numbers T320, T420, T620, and T620SAR – all part of the popular PACCAR Australia stand – to indicate product evolution.

The T420SAR houses the latest ADR 80/04 compliant PACCAR MX-13 engine while the PACCAR TX-12 and TX-18 12- and 18-speed transmissions reportedly deliver more torque at low engine speeds and high performance over a wide rev range.

Stablemate DAF is no longer the runt in the litter. A blacked out DAF XG 15L 660hp proved to be a major attraction. And for the latest in sustainable inner-city and regional distribution, the 19-tonne rated DAF XB Electric, currently in Australia for evaluation, impressed as the OEM’s latest contribution to its zero-emissions portfolio.

As part of the festivities,UD Trucks launched the Condor, a new range of trucks for Australia. Previously available in Asia, the UD Condor is aimed at the medium-duty sector and will be available in 6×4, 6×2 and 4×2 configurations later in the year.

No stranger to spectacle, the Drake Group vertically suspended a 4.9-tonne rotating flat top skel on its tip as part of its expansive trailer range.

The Wacol, Brisbane company also displayed a swing wide extendable 5×8 trailer, known as the ‘King of Bling’, painted in sleek black and gold livery and complete with glitter on the deck, gold-plated number plates and gold trimmings.

“We we’re always looking at different innovations and different ways to skin a cat, so to speak,” notes Drake Director and Business Unit Manager (New Trailers), Sam Drake.

Another company with a key presence in Brisbane is Penske Australia, whose dealer network and prime mover offering has been greatly improved in recent years.

“We’re continually trying to expand our network through company owned stores and independent dealers like Tas Trucks,” said Hamish Christie-Johnson, Penske Australia Managing Director.

“Penske has 73,000 people around the world including the 1500 we have working here in Australia and New Zealand… With the three Porsche dealerships acquired last year we’ll be up to $2 billion in revenue in 2025.”

A maroon 640hp MAN Lion S prime mover, one of the prominent features at the Penske Australia stand this year, was handed over to Queensland fleet TNS Logistics as part of ceremonies during the show.

“We’re thrilled to have the first MAN Lion S in Australia,” says Craig Lee.

“It’s the premium product out of Munich. To be able to have a European cab-over unit that presents in a way that this does is something that we are really proud of.”