Commercial Motor Truckfest attracted record breaking crowds who saw thrilling displays and hundreds of wonderful wagons.
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Commercial Motor Truckfest is the one time in the year the trucking industry really lets its hair down. Gone for two glorious days are the grumbling customers, the interminable traffic jams and the ministry men.
Instead, there is a chance to relax with the family, eat, drink, make merry and show off what the business is truly about: those lovingly kept working trucks that are the bread and butter of British haulage.
This bank holiday weekend's 10th anniversary event was the best yet. Blue skies and some of the best attractions ever at Truckfest made sure the crowds flocked in in their tens of thousands. Among the draws in the arena were the Daily Star all-girl free-fall parachute team; from America, the spectacular twin-engined Full Metal Jacket car-crushing monster truck; and Steve Murty's fire-breathing Pirelli Pro-Jet — surely every congestion blighted trucker's secret fantasy. This vehicle was recently the star of a hilarious stunt in TV's Beadle's About.
Bullseye
Celebrity guests were there too. Zany quiz show host Michael Barrymore dropped in by helicopter to present the prizes for the best trucks and Bullseye presenter Jim Bowen were two of the stars on Commercial Motor's own stand: "Smashing, super!" as Jim would say.
But Truck fest has its seri ous side too. This year, for the first time, we did our best to make it a useful as well as fun event. On CMs stand were four of the country's top transport legal eagles — lawyers Jonathan Lawton, Stephen Kirkbright and Guy Hodgson, and consultant Cohn Ward — giving free legal advice. Each day they were kept busy by a stream of drivers and operators whose queries ranged from tacho laws to disputes with manufacturers.
CMs classified sales team was running Truckmart — a dedicated area for used truck sales — also at Truckfest for the first time. Our 1992 Testers' Choice winners were on show and the testers themselves, Assistant Editor Peter Watt, Vehicles Editor John Kendall and Bodybuilder Editor Bryan Jarvis, were on hand to give some advice on show visitors' next truck purchase.