Hey, Little Truckers! I was lucky enough to head across the Tasman to Brisbane with the New Zealand Trucking team, to attend the 2023 Brisbane Truck Show. The event was held at the Brisbane Convention Centre and covered two separate floors, where over 40,000 people of all ages attended. Many major truck brands including Kenworth, Volvo, Iveco and Daimler (who represent Freightliner and Mercedes-Benz) had exhibits with their best-looking trucks on show. Not only did they have these trucks on display, but there was the opportunity to get inside trucks and have a good look around at the inside of the cabs. While there were SO many amazing things at the show, here are my top 5 highlights!

1 Family-Friendly
One of the biggest highlights of the show was seeing all the families with young people just like you walking around, looking at the exhibits and spending time together. Little Trucker Down Under had a photo booth – where kids had the option to get dressed up and get a photo taken behind a mock- magazine background that made them look like they were on the cover! How cool. It is always so great to see how many young people have an interest in the transport industry.

2 Favourite Truck
My favourite truck of the show would have to be the Lawrence Transport Kenworth Legend Series SAR. With hand-painted details, it was one of the most stunning trucks I had ever seen. It was parked on South Bank (a popular shopping and eating district in Brisbane), where it attracted plenty of attention as many stopped by to take pictures. I was lucky enough to get a picture beside it in the evening where the city lights made it look even more impressive.

3 Lego Truck
The best feature of the truck show in my opinion would have to be the Lego Truck. To celebrate Mack’s 60th anniversary, they commissioned a brick builder to build an entire life-sized Mack Anthem out of Lego! The truck took eight weeks to complete, and the model is made with more than 800,000 Lego bricks – wow! Mack is hoping to break the Guinness World Record for the largest truck model made out of Lego bricks. The Lego Mack was incredibly detailed – equipped with all of the usual truck parts such as a fuel tank, detailed mud flaps and steering wheel, sleeper cab as well as fully working doors.

4 Different Exhibitions
The exhibits themselves were incredible. It was a very cool experience to walk around the two separate floors and view all of the stands, whether it be the largest exhibitions for popular truck manufacturers, or equipment and products equally important to the trucking industry such as trailers, workshop equipment or even essentials such as oil or workshop supplies. There were also exhibitions specifically catered for little truckers like the BP and Castrol stand that offered a turn at changing a car tyre with virtual reality. There was always something new at every turn, however, most noticeable would be the range of stunning trucks that were showcased all over the show, in all different colours, shapes and sizes.

5 Favourite Event
As well as attending the truck show I also had an opportunity to meet some very cool people within the transport industry. I got to sit down and have dinner with Charlene Clarke, who is the editorial director of Focus Transport Magazine from South Africa, and Martin Dammann, who is the customer success manager for TruckScience, a truck software company. It was a privilege to be able to meet both Charleen and Martin and hear all about their work in the sector. It was eye-opening to meet these people involved with transport, and it reminded me just how many diverse options for work there are within this industry.