Freeway Of Love

Knew you'd be a vision in white
How'd you get your pants so tight?
Don't know what you're doin'
But you must be livin' right, yeah

We got some places to see
I brought all the maps with me
So jump in, it ain't no sin
Take a ride in my machine

City traffic's movin' way too slow
Drop the pedal and go, go, go

We goin' ridin' on the freeway of love
Wind's against our back
We goin' ridin' on the freeway of love
In my pink Cadillac

We goin' ridin' on the freeway of love
Wind's against our back
Ain't we ridin' on the freeway of love
In my pink Cadillac?

Never you mind the exit signs
We got lots of time
We can't quit till we get
To the other side

With the radio playin' our song
We keep rollin' on
Who knows how far a car can get
Before you think about slowin', slowin' down, yeah

City traffic's movin' way too slow
Drop the pedal and go, go
Come on now, go

We goin' ridin' on the freeway of love
Wind's against our back
We goin' ridin' on the freeway of love
In my pink Cadillac


We goin' ridin' on the freeway of love
Wind's against our back
Ain't we ridin' on the freeway of love
In my pink Cadillac?

Here we go, one more time

With the wind and your fingers in my hand
Kind of think we are going for an extended throw down
So drop the top, baby, and let's cruise on into
This better than ever street

City traffic movin' way too slow
Drop the pedal and go, go
Come on baby, go, do it for me now

We goin' ridin' on the freeway of love
Wind's against my back
We goin' ridin' on the freeway of love
In my pink Cadillac

We goin' ridin' on the freeway of love
Wind's against my back
Ain't we ridin' on the freeway of love
In my pink Cadillac

And what I want you to do, baby
Get over in the left lane
And let's merge with peace, oh, yeah
Take the love exit, and then make a right turn
Go on over to love and satisfaction and joy
Well, ain't we ridin' baby
Ain't we cruisin' down?
Free, free, free, freeway
Go on out to, ow
Let's be good to each other, scream
Freeway! Well
See that little landmark over there
A whole lot of kisses and sweet stuff
We'll be just about ow, ow, ow!
And satisfaction roll down
Satisfaction, yeah!

Aretha Franklin, song by Jeffrey Cohen & Narada Michael Walden

Not another motor show. It's the Brisbane Truck Show.

Yesterday I visited the Brisbane Truck Show 2013 at the Brisbane Convention and Exhibition Centre. I have visited several trade fairs in the past, starting from my early childhood when the yearly visit to Thessaloniki International Trade Fair was something I was looking forward to. I remember vividly the big foreign national pavilions with all the exhibitors and equipment.

As a kid I had a big interest in all shorts of vehicles and especially fast cars. A few years ago I had the chance to visit the Paris motor show which is probably one of the three largest car shows in Europe along Geneva and Frankfurt. Very impressive show with some car manufacturers showing prototypes and racing models.

 

But Brisbane Truck Show was something quite different. Being my first truck show and not having too much detail on what to expect I entered the show from the Grey Street entrance. I browsed through the stands of truck accessories and I thought that this would be a boring afternoon and a total waste of time. At least the National Heavy Vehicle Regulator seminar that I had registered to attend, would make up for that. 

And then while I continued browsing through the halls and corridors I ended up at the main hall and had my first glimpse of the huge prime movers. "All right, here we are..." I thought and decided this time to find the correct first point of entrance to the main hall so I could see the exhibition without missing anything.

First stand was Australian made Kenworth trucks with the flagship T909 that is often used as a prime mover for road trains in Australia. Kenworth was one of the companies that allowed truck enthusiasts and of course potential buyers to climb inside and sit behind the steering wheel of their trucks. Once again that reminded me of my childhood when I wanted to become a truck driver.

 

 

And then it was all the other big players in the truck industry. DAF and MAN and Mercedes and Freightliner with the Coronado.

Of course Volvo could not be missing from such an event, as they are probably the best manufacturer of heavy vehicles in the world. As always the emphasis was on road safety for the driver.

 

Volvo also presented very useful and well designed software for the transport operators.

Western Star's 4900 FXC, Aussie 1, was named truck of the show. 

 

 Mack's stand was also very interesting with a touch of history added to the usual impressive trucks. From the 1980 the R797RS named Penny Ann probably reminded a lot of people of their past. 

Three hours later I left the exhibition center enthusiastic with a feeling of certainty. Similar to the car industry, that pushes the limit for road safety but also amenity for drivers, truck and heavy vehicle industry does the same but at the same time enhancing productivity and saving cost for an industry where energy consumption is so critical.