I think this is a problem with ME. You'll probably notice that ME is chewing up 99% CPU while it's sitting at the loading screen. I had the same problem except on my system ME was using so much CPU that freedrive would appear to 'stall' during loading.
I read on here somewhere that there is a similar problem with one of the other GPS apps (iGuidance?). Details here:
http://www.mp3car.com/vbulletin/media-engine/77836-embedded-gps-problem-help.html
The next release should have a fix for iGuidance which will hopefully fix it for FreeDrive as well.