An ExpoCam Love Story

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“FWUMP!”

That’s the sound of a driver’s door closing on a showroom-new, mint-condition, truck.

“FWUMP!”

Whenever I hear it, I’m reminded of the time, many years ago, that I first shut the door on a new Mercedes and it didn’t rattle or clank like all the vehicles in my life had up to that point.

It just shut solidly with a big reassuring this-door-is-sealed-closed “FWUMP!”

That distinctive and satisfying sound is just as satisfying to the ears as that new-car smell is to the nose. “FWUMP!” when accompanied by that new-car aroma, gleaming chrome and the joy of settling into a driver’s seat that has not been broken in yet, adds up to an intoxicating experience indeed.

Brand new vehicles are sensuous and thrilling.

Who doesn’t love the sweet aroma of the smooth virgin black tires, especially heavy-duty wheels with deep tread you can run your fingers through?

When I open a hood and gaze at a yet-to-be-started engine that is completely free of any road dirt, lubricants or coolant, I have that same feeling I used to get just before sliding my fingernail through the clear pastic sleeve of a brand new LP.

My sister Charlene once suggested that somebody should invent a woman’s perfume that smells exactly like the inside of a Canadian Tire store on a Saturday afternoon. I think she’s on to something.

I love truck and car shows. I love walking on the clean thick pile and feeling the soft leather interiors.

I get high off the seemingly endless energy of the sales folks at the booths and I never cease to be amazed at the ability of booth hostesses to maintain their poise and smiles. Talk to them and you invariably discover that they’re highly educated over-achievers, besides being hostesses.

I like visiting the show the night before it opens. That’s when the show is still a workshop; all beeping forklifts and bearded workers wearing hard-hats and earrings and florescent vests running wire and assembling last-minute displays. It’s like peeking behind the curtain a few hours before a Vegas revue opens.

At the show? I love the swag; the free key fobs, the bowls of candy, and the YOUR-NAME-HERE pens. The coffee.

The power. I wouldn’t be surprised if at some point in the near future, some clever engineers figure out how to harness show energy and maybe fuel a small metropolis with it.

Truck (and car) shows are that potent.

And that is why I’m so looking forward to my trip to Montreal next month to ExpoCam.

Of course who really needs an excuse to visit Montreal? It’s one of the most beautiful cities in North America. Even when the weather is awful, she adapts and embraces the elements. (Why do I think Montreal is a she? Beats me but I do.)

Then there’s ExpoCam itself. Just read the paragraphs above and you’ll know that I’m a truck-show junkie. Never mind that the company that runs ExpoCam is the same one that publishes the magazine I edit. If there’s a show on, I want to be there.

Finally, at ExpoCam, we man a booth. Basically, I hang around and talk to people. I — and my family will attest to this — am fairly confident that standing around chatting is my favorite thing to do period.

For as long as I am at ExpoCam, I simply meet and swap stories with people like you, surrounded by all that splendor and chrome and excitement.

In Montreal!

And I get paid for it!

What’s not to love?

At the last day of Truck World last year, my wife Helena visited the show. While we were doing a last-minute whiparound, during which I introduced her to as many industry folk as I could, trying to get her excited about the axles, lifts, and bearings, she turned to me and gave me one of those “I know you way better than you realize” looks.

“You,” she said to me, “are in your element.”

Of course she was right. She’s my wife.

So if you’re going to ExpoCam, please come by our booth to see us in our element. And if you’re going to ExpoCam but have not registered, email me at peter@newcom.ca and I’ll fix you up with a free pass.

Not only do I love truck shows, I want everybody else to, too.

ExpoCam runs from April 11 to 13 at Place Bonaventure in Montreal. Check www.expocam.ca for more.

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John G. Smith is Newcom Media's vice-president - editorial, and the editorial director of its trucking publications -- including Today's Trucking, trucknews.com, and Transport Routier. The award-winning journalist has covered the trucking industry since 1995.


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