The popular South Bank Truck Festival will again light up Little Stanley Street with some of the best innovations the industry has to offer on show
An extension of the Brisbane Truck Show, the South Bank Truck Festival will give locals along Brisbane’s South Bank an up-close and personal experience with the best innovations the industry has to offer.
From the latest EV trucks to specialised transporters and revolutionary high-productivity trailers, the South Bank Truck Festival is the biggest one yet.
The impressive display will be complemented by the free Rock on Riverside family concerts on the Friday and Saturday nights, the build of a full-scale Mack Anthem from LEGO, and South Bank’s amazing array of cafes, bars and restaurants.
Here is some of the best trucks and trailers on display down at the Little Stanley Street that you’d be mad not to check out!
Healthy Heads Road Show Truck
Healthy Heads in Trucks & Sheds’ striking Road Show truck will be proudly on display at this year’s Little Stanley Street display.
Provided by foundation partner Paccar, the DAF LF Road Show truck travels around the country promoting the prevention and understanding of mental health issues in the road transport and logistics sector.
The truck’s onboard facilities include a boardroom and consulting space which is available during the week to offer free medical checks as well as sharing information about how to support your own well-being and create workplaces that are psychologically safe.
“Healthy Heads in Trucks & Sheds is proud to be this year’s Official Charity Partner of Brisbane Truck Show,” CEO Naomi Frauenfelder says.
“Having our Road Show industry activation vehicle on site is such a fantastic opportunity to showcase the work we do to support transport, warehousing, and logistics workers across Australia.
“Healthy Heads encourages everyone to download our Healthy Heads App so that they can start their journey in improving their mental health and well-being.
“A critical first step to supporting mental health is awareness of the issue and knowing that you don’t have to be an expert to make a difference in the lives of your workmates, friends, and families.
“Healthy Heads understands how critical connecting with others is to our ongoing mental health and wellbeing. The Brisbane Truck Show is a great opportunity for those from across the industry to come together, share a friendly chat and refuel our wellbeing.”
Heart of Australia’s HEART 4 Truck
You can rest assured that you haven’t seen a truck like HEART 4 before. What looks like your regular Kenworth K200 towing a trailer, HEART 4 is much more.
In fact, it’s one of five specialist medical trucks from Heart of Australia that travels across Queensland delivering specialist healthcare to rural communities.
The brainchild of renowned cardiologist Dr Rolf Gomes, Heart of Australia and its team will have HEART 4 – the program’s specialist mobile cardiac clinic – open and operating on the Little Stanley Street display during the South Bank Truck Festival.
Heart of Australia says the natural connection it has to the transport sector and the bush made the decision to attend an easy one.
“The trucking industry has always been a strong supporter of Heart of Australia’s mission to deliver specialist medical care to rural and regional communities,” Heart of Australia says.
“PACCAR Australia was one of the first partners to come on board and has been with us every kilometre of the way, donating two Kenworth K200 prime movers for HEART 1 and HEART 2 and then more recently providing 2 DAF prime movers to be the driving engines for our fourth and fifth Heart Trucks.
“We needed to deliver excellent specialists to the bush, but we also needed to transport the state-of-the-art medical equipment that the specialists needed to diagnose and treat patients. We wanted them to have their entire toolbox, not a mini or travel version, and we needed all that equipment to be protected and well-calibrated as they travelled through regional Queensland.
“We wanted patients to be treated in a modern, state-of-the-art medical clinic, despite being thousands of kilometres away from the city, the only vehicle that was going to be able to deliver on these demanding requirements was a custom-designed, oversized truck.
“The commitment that the trucking industry has shown for reducing health inequity for people living in the Australian bush continues to impress and inspire us to continue to do the work we do.
“It’s been clear since the very beginning that the trucking industry is with us on this journey to deliver specialist medical services to the bush.
“Every kilometre we travel – they’re supporting us to be there. Every time we step up to do more, expand the service, help more people, the trucking industry steps up with us – just as PACCAR Australia has done by donating the prime movers for both HEART 4 and HEART 5.”
NTI Black Betty Ford Jailbar
National Transport Insurance has a knack for finding old bangers and doing them up to their former glory.
Remember at the 2019 Brisbane Truck Show when NTI found an owner for its previously restored 1946 Ford Jailbar and then again with an electric blue Jailbar at the 2021 Truck Show?
This time, NTI will have the wickedly painted mat black 1946 Ford Jailbar known as ‘Black Betty’ on display on Little Stanley Street.
A much more intimidating restoration than previous NTI Jailbar projects, ‘Black Betty’ will certainly have the pundits flocking around it.
The Ford Jailbar pick-up is an iconic old truck from years gone past and will be a constant reminder of the progress of the industry as it sits alongside the next generation of trucks on display at the South Bank Truck Festival.
Previous NTI Jailbar projects have raised over half a million dollars in proceeds for MND research.
O-Phee Double Stack Super B Double
One of the key requirements to be a part of the Little Stanley display is to showcase innovation. Innovation doesn’t get much more impressive than a 32-metre ‘first of its-kind trailer’.
When down on Little Stanley, you’ll find it hard to miss the behemoth that is the O’Phee ‘London’ double stack container Super B-double SKEL trailer combination (say that five times quickly).
Built here in Brisbane at the Drake/O’Phee manufacturing facility for transport company Qube, the massive double stack combination will open a new door for productivity when it runs around the Port of Brisbane shifting shipping containers.
“This combination stacks up as a great innovation. You are seeing creative thinking at its best. It’s doubly good,” Drake Group owner John Drake says.
“Double-stacked containers, with a fully Australian-compliant load restraint system, that’s a first,” he adds.
“Safe, efficient, saves time and energy, that really is leading the way. This is Australian manufacturing delivering on innovation while improving sustainability.”
Electric Avenue Lights Up
The Little Stanley Street display will be buzzing with electric truck developments.
Aussie truck manufacturer SEA Electric will be one of them, showcasing its home-grown EV truck capabilities with its impressive SEA 300 rigid truck.
Developed and assembled from their Dandenong factory, the SEA line-up of trucks is one of Australia’s biggest drivers of electric-powered trucks.
Sitting alongside it will be the Fuso eCanter, the first production full OEM electric truck available in Australia.
Designed for inner-city and urban environments, this ultra-quiet truck produces no local emissions and is adaptable to any type of operation and charging facility, equipped with both normal (AC) and quick (DC) charging ports.
A full battery can be achieved in less than 90 minutes using quick charge technology.
The eCanter boasts class-leading active safety features, including advanced emergency braking system with pedestrian detection, lane departure warning system, ESP as well as dual airbags.
Classic Conventionals On Show
On the more conventional front Western Star will showcase the 48X tipper, part of the new X-Series range of trucks which also include the 47X and 49X.
It’s a long time coming for Western Star, and the rollout of the new generation of Western Star trucks will continue come Truck Show week, with its new 48X tipper glistening on display down at Little Stanley Street.
Stars always draw a crowd, so don’t be surprised if you see crowds flocking around it for photo opportunities.
Meanwhile, the Freightliner Cascadia will also be on display. The Cascadia is one of the safest, most fuel-efficient and technologically advanced trucks on the market, and its sleek design will also be heading down to Little Stanley Street.
The brand’s launch of the Cascadia was bang in the middle of COVID, so no doubt Freightliner will enjoy the fresh air the 2023 Brisbane Truck Show brings.
The Cascadia is the best-selling truck in the USA, can Freightliner win over the Aussie market?
Last but not least, Volvo Group Australia will display two pioneering trucks.
The 2023 UD Quon CG 30 360 8×4 is a cutting-edge long wheelbase truck designed for increased productivity and safety.
Skilled engineers from Australia and Japan crafted this truck, making it perfect for businesses aiming to upgrade their fleet.
The Quon boasts a lightweight chassis and long wheelbase design capable of handling up to 16 pallets and larger payloads. It also offers class-leading fuel economy and alternative fuel options, like HVO.
The truck includes advanced safety features such as Traffic Eye Brake System, Traffic Eye Cruise Control, Lane Departure Warning System, and UD Stability Control, ensuring both driver and cargo are protected.
Volvo Gives Stanley Street ‘Buzz’
Stablemate Volvo will showcase ‘Buzz’, an FL Electric 42 R E 16 model which was released in 2021.
‘Buzz’ was designed with sustainability at its core. This zero-emissions vehicle aimed to improve driver comfort through reduced noise and vibrations, ultimately helping retain drivers.
Some key features of ‘Buzz’ include the Volvo Active Safety Platform, which incorporates adaptive cruise control, advanced emergency brakes, lane departure warning, and ABS/EBS stability control.
The truck is equipped with a single motor and a two-speed transmission, delivering 130kW (174hp) of continuous power. With its four-battery configuration, ‘Buzz’ offers up to 300km of range and supports AC 22kW and DC 150kW charging capabilities.
