road test
TECHNOLOGY ON T L
ET’S FLICK BACK to the good ol’ days. Like, last year’s Brisbane Truck Show. It already seems a lifetime ago, but back in May 2019, when people stood shoulder-to-shoulder as the truck industry presented its latest and greatest hardware in all its glittering glory, it’s doubtful anyone had heard the term ‘social distancing’. If they had, it was probably in reference to inmates and introverts rather than the general population. Likewise, in most minds ‘Corona’ was just another beer and ‘virus’ was an annoying bug that seemed to affect computers more than people. But as we now all know only too well, there’s nothing flippant or frivolous about a pandemic. The changes in
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society and industry over a very short time have been breathtaking. Literally! Yet, without downplaying the seriousness of current conditions, there’s no escaping the fact that change is a constant theme in every aspect of modern life and that includes the technological changes seeping into every brand of truck, everywhere in the world. Ultimately, Covid-19 will be nothing more than a speed hump in the path of inexorable progress. Meanwhile, back in Brisbane last year, there was arguably no greater example of emerging trends in truck technology than a sparkling blue Mercedes-Benz 2663 model sporting a few features never before seen in Australia. Sure, many of the features in the Benz show truck
remain specific to Daimler family brands – Freightliner, Fuso, Mercedes-Benz – but equally, there’s no question most leading makes around the world are well advanced with their own unique versions of similar themes. What’s more, as technology continues to evolve, the feasibility and acceptance of the many varied systems that may today appear futuristic and even impractical will only escalate as global corporations continue to push the technological envelope. Right now though, and despite the difficulties of current circumstances, Mercedes-Benz – or rather, Daimler Truck & Bus Australia – is proving beyond any doubt that its upmarket presentations in Brisbane were the real deal and far more than simply ‘show specials’. They are, in fact, the platform for a progressive
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1/09/2020 8:50:49 PM
