Fleet Owner - September 2025

THE MOST ADVANCED PETERBILT EVER

The Model 579 is the most advanced Peterbilt ever, combining aerodynamic styling with the integrated PACCAR Powertrain for maximum fuel economy and outstanding performance. Innovative technologies like the 15-inch digital dash and advanced driver assistance systems improve driver productivity and safety, while the spacious cab interior and UltraLoft sleeper surround the driver in unparalleled comfort for a best-in-class working and living environment.

Available in EPA and CARB-compliant configurations, the enhanced 2024 MX-13 delivers new levels of efficiency and uptime. The MX engine is also supported by a wealth of connected truck data enabling a prognostic approach to field support by proactively scheduling a repair to improve customer uptime.

20 Truck parking crisis

Limited safe truck parking has been an ongoing problem. Growing hours-of-service requirements coupled with infrastructure issues are pushing drivers to the shoulders.

28 Full fleet visibility

Any asset that isn’t tracked is a liability for fleets. Asset trackers now do more than just locate assets—they help improve the bottom line and boost e ciency.

Aerodynamic add-ons for fleets

Ford’s F-250 o -road ready work truck

40 Logistics revolution

The way that carriers, brokers, and shippers interact is becoming more automated. Freight tracking and bot-driven rate negotiations are more prevalent today.

Fleetworthy, PCS Software, Aurora, Gatik, Teletrac Navman

Photo: 1933bkk | 1329152888 | Getty Images, Auon | 1325944360 | Adobe Stock

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Photo: Jade Brasher | FleetOwner

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Photo: City of Littleton

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Online

FleetOwner launches new podcast

This summer, EndeavorB2B launched The Fleet Lead podcast, featuring journalists from Endeavor Business Media’s commercial vehicle brands, including FleetOwner, Fleet Maintenance, Bulk Transporter, Refrigerated Transporter, and Trailer Body-Builders. It aims to help fleet managers, trucking professionals, and transportation industry leaders navigate the rapidly changing industry, covering topics like new technologies, e ciency, and regulatory shifts. The podcast features expert analysis and real-world insights from trusted trucking industry editors and industry guests. New episodes will o er information essential for managing fleets, maximizing uptime and e ciency, and understanding the future of trailer design and autonomous trucks. Search for “The Fleet Lead” on your favorite podcast app or find links to episodes at FleetOwner.com/podcast.

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Webinars

Future fleet tech: From cutting-edge inspection protocols to the rise of autonomous vehicles, the industry is experiencing a seismic shift in how safety, compliance, and e ciency are managed. This free webinar dives deep into the innovations shaping the future of fleet operations and enforcement. FleetOwner.com/FutureFleets

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Tari updates

What’s the tari temp? Trump tari s on aluminum and other imports are impacting vehicle manufacturing, freight movement, and the economy. Check out updates and analysis of how to plan amid uncertainty and more at FleetOwner.com/tari s.

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STABILITY IS ON THE HORIZON

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Lane Shift Ahead ]

While the industry is flat and full of uncertainty, this just might be our new normal [

Our ‘FUN’ freight future

By Josh Fisher Editor in Chief

@TrucksAtWork

While a return to that postpandemic boom appears unlikely, fleets need to focus on this new normal’s reality.

COLUMBUS, INDIANA—The future of trucking looks like a forecasting nightmare. Just when it seems like the prolonged freight recession is hitting bottom, it stalls out. Every time the U.S. economy looks like it’s headed for a crash, it holds steady or even grows. Everyone is staring at the same data, but the conclusions are all over the map.

“That’s the world that we live in: You can take the same set of facts and have three different people analyze them and come up with four different opinions or conclusions,” Steve Tam, an ACT Research VP and analyst, said after three industry economists laid out their outlook for the sluggish freight market during ACT’s Market Vitals seminar here.

Longtime industry economist Jim Meil, an ACT Research principal, summed up ACT’s 73rd seminar that wrapped August 21 as the “F.U.N. conference.”

“F is for flat, perhaps the second-most used word the last two days—or for fear, in some senses, for what could happen,” Meil said on stage as he and his colleagues shared their closing thoughts.

“U is for the most used word, which is uncertainty—and unprofitability,” he said. “We’re going to need a change in uncertainty and unprofitability to turn things around.”

N, he said, stands for new normal. He pondered a question he was asked: Why has the trucking industry been calling the past three and a half years a freight recession? “Maybe the oddball was actually what happened in late 2021 and early 2022—that was the outlier,” he said. “Maybe this is the new normal.”

The pandemic-driven freight surge raged into a freight fireball after 2020’s supply chain problems, creating generational freight market opportunities. This led to the formation of many new carriers, which today are among those struggling to keep up with expanded capacity, and sluggish spot rates amid what is probably the most technologically transparent freight market in history. In

comparison to past freight dips that bounced back within quarters, not years, this downturn has been prolonged.

Think of how much easier drivers can find a load anywhere in the country compared to just 10 or 20 years ago. When one lane or region gets hot, every carrier can see it in real time. So as more drivers and small fleets chase those hot zones, they cool quickly.

But all of this is happening as the U.S. economy recalibrates to Trump’s economic policy of tariffs and deregulation, upending many long-term business plans.

“I think the good news is we’re not forecasting a recession,” ACT analyst Carter Vieth said. “We still have economic growth. The bad news is that tariffs sort of put a speed limit on it—or a governor, if you will.”

ACT is forecasting below-replacement level Class 8 builds in 2026. “I think, to some extent, that correction was inevitable, but it got delayed by the growth of private fleets and pent-up demand coming into 2023 as we were coming out of the supply chain issues during the pandemic,” Vieth explained.

While a return to that post-pandemic boom appears unlikely, fleets need to focus on this new normal’s reality. Said Tam: “We’ve got all this data coming at us. We’ve got all these conditions. We simply have to be prepared for whatever the outcome is, whatever is going to hit us. We don’t know what it’s going to be. We don’t know when it’s going to be. We don’t know how quickly it’s going to change, but we have to react. And we will. And we do.”

ACT President Ken Vieth noted it’s hard to see through all the noise from tariffs, and struggling manufacturing and housing markets. “But at some point, low prices are going to take capacity out of the market,” he said. “We are going to get that freight inflection … Everybody’s going to go from standing around to being asked to run very fast in a very short order.” FO

EPA to eliminate all GHG regs

Trump’s EPA could completely reshape U.S. vehicle markets

by Jeremy Wolfe

The Environmental Protection Agency is eliminating its authority to regulate greenhouse gases by proposing to rescind its 2009 Endangerment Finding, EPA Administrator Lee Zeldin said. Revoking the finding will not be easy. EPA will still face a grueling rulemaking process and many challenges in court.

If EPA successfully revokes the Endangerment Finding, it will dethrone all greenhouse gas standards for vehicles and engines, completely altering the market for fleet vehicles and components.

“With this proposal, the Trump EPA is proposing to end 16 years of uncertainty for automakers and American consumers,” Zeldin said. “If finalized, rescinding the Endangerment Finding and resulting regulations would end $1 trillion or more in hidden taxes on American businesses and families.”

EPA said it will soon publish the proposal in the Federal Register, initiating the public comment period.

What is the Endangerment Finding?

The 2009 Endangerment Finding is a landmark document that recognized public health dangers from the effects of global greenhouse gas pollution. The finding laid the groundwork for GHG standards for trucks. The agency deemed six gases a threat to public health: carbon dioxide, methane, nitrous oxide, hydrofluorocarbons, perfluorocarbons, and sulfur hexafluoride. Notably, EPA issued the finding after the Supreme Court ruled in 2007 that EPA can—and must—regulate greenhouse gases from engines under the Clean Air Act.

The finding is essential for all carbon dioxide regulations, including those affecting truck manufacturers and the California Air Resources Board’s waivers. The finding is not essential for other industry emissions standards, such as

NOx or fuel efficiency requirements. However, EPA is also working to revoke other recent emissions standards, including the latest NOx reduction rule.

Zeldin announced his plans to revise the finding in March, when he called the document “the ‘holy grail’ of the climate change religion” and said EPA would reevaluate all dependent regulations.

Trucking industry responds

The American Trucking Associations quickly issued a statement supporting the revocation, focusing on how the change could remove the latest GHG standards for heavy-duty vehicles.

“We thank the Trump Administration for returning us to a path of common sense so that we can keep delivering for the American people as we continue to reduce our environmental impact,” Chris Spear, ATA president and CEO, said.

But CARB, with many of its heavyduty emissions regulations dependent on the Endangerment Finding, denounced the step: “Let’s be clear, this move doesn’t help the trucking industry. It hurts it, it penalizes fleets that have already committed to electric trucks, and it throws a wrench into long-term planning for businesses across the industry,” Craig Segall of CARB, said. “It creates market instability just when we need certainty.”

What happens next?

EPA will issue its proposal in the Federal Register and undergo a lengthy rulemaking process to revoke the standards. Environmental and political groups will challenge the proposal through courts, leaving the ultimate fate of the Endangerment Finding unclear for now.

Revoking the finding is no small feat. Regulatory procedures require EPA to follow a notice-and-comment procedure, which can be a long process. EPA will also need to describe how the revocation would affect all related regs and markets.

“The agency must consider and address adequately all significant comments to avoid the taint of arbitrariness. That is no small feat,” one legal expert said. “A rule that alters a major agency policy, such as the Endangerment Finding, is likely to engender thousands of comments.”

Reviewing courts may require EPA to provide new evidence that greenhouse gases pose no threat to public health.

Emissions regulations are a massive component of vehicle markets and pricing. If the revocation survives this gauntlet, the repercussions could be noticeable across all commercial vehicle fleets in the nation. This year’s tariff and GHG3 uncertainties are already disrupting U.S. commercial vehicle markets. FO

EPA Administrator Lee Zeldin announced the agency’s proposal to cut GHG rules.

Photo: Vitpho | 348613431 | Dreamstime

For once, we’re excited to bring you less

When we set out to rethink what a truck could be, we streamlined the design to minimize wind resistance, for up to a staggering 10% increase in fuel efficiency compared to our legacy model. The all-new Volvo VNL. Designed to change everything.

It’s more than driverless trucks

A shift to AV fleets will require managing computers rather than drivers by

Kevin Jones

PORTLAND, Maine—Self-driving trucks aren’t a business, they’re a tool, albeit a tool that will be “transformative” for the movement of freight. For fleets and the supply chain, the key will be understanding autonomous vehicles—the opportunities and challenges— and shaping operations strategically, as a panel of entrepreneurs explained here at the recent WEX Venture Capital Summit: The Future of Fleet Investment.

The rise of AVs is no longer a futuristic concept but a present reality, reshaping the landscape of fleet management. From Waymo’s increased rides in San Francisco to police departments in Texas practicing how to stop an errant autonomous tractor-trailer, the integration of autonomy into daily operations is underway.

“Autonomous driving trucks is not autonomous trucking. Autonomous driving is a behavior. If I’m a driver, it’s a job, it’s an occupation, it’s not a business,” Paul Lam, CFO for Houston-based Bot Auto, said. “Autonomous trucking is being driverless, seamless, paperless, and, hopefully, relentless. So you’re only doing a quarter of it.”

Bot Auto is a Level 4 autonomous trucking company focused on developing and operating its transportation-as-a-service autonomous truck fleet. As Lam noted, operating an autonomous trucking business requires solving “10,000 different small problems” operationally to make the business model work.

“It’s not just about the 1-to-1 [replacement of the driver] of the technology,” Lam said. “It’s 1-to-1 of the product. Coming back to fleet management, it’s figuring out the right business—to make a profit and to serve your customers.” That technology piece, he said, is “really, really difficult,” but it’s been in development for a while and is finally viable.

“You want to control and guarantee the outcome. And as we run our fleet,

AVs have become a reality, reshaping fleet management in a big

we have to think about several things, apart from the driverless technologies,” he continued. “Think about what a driver actually does when not driving: checking the tires, doing the paperwork, having coffee. How do we mimic that customer service, as we do not have a truck driver?”

Adoption drivers

Autonomy’s most significant adoption has gained a foothold in three key areas: ride-sharing, last-mile delivery, and hubto-hub (middle mile) trucking, noted Gagan Dhillon, CEO and co-founder of Synop, a software platform focused on supporting commercial EV fleets.

Early successes focused on controlled settings like ports. Ride-sharing, for instance, builds upon existing concepts of automated people movers found in airports, now applied to a wider segment.

“You have a pretty good idea of what those vehicles are going to do on their duty cycle every single day,” Dhillon said, adding that data gathered now is being used to build out future AV infrastructure.

Likewise, with more than 2 million vehicles and 5,500 U.S. locations, Enterprise sees opportunities as the AV fleets evolve. “We’re not an OEM. We’re not a tech company. We’re not going to develop our own AV stack,” Mariano Menkes, Enterprise director of corporate

development, said. “But when we think about the operations, we think that’s a very important part of the value chain that we can play in.”

Opportunities and benefits

Panelists agreed that autonomous fleets present enormous opportunities, despite their challenges:

• Enhanced safety: Autonomous technology promises to drastically reduce accidents, especially those caused by human factors, leading to fewer massive payouts for insurance companies.

• Operational efficiencies: AVs enable improved scheduling, vehicle dispatching, and energy management for electric fleets, which can benefit energy grids.

• Increased utilization: Technologies like AI and in-house calibration systems can increase vehicle uptime, ensuring trucks are on the road as much as possible.

• Economic resilience: At a macro level, autonomous trucking can bolster supply chain resilience, bringing manufacturing back and serving as the “backbone of the economy,” leading to re-industrialization.

• Financial innovation: Particularly in middle-mile trucking, increased liquidity without human drivers will necessitate revisions to contracts, changes in risk and transfer points, and create new opportunities in areas like letters of credit and invoice factoring. FO

way. Photo: Bot Auto

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A steady adoption of alt-fuel trucks

NACFE

reflects on the evolution of alternative fuel trucking

by Jeremy Wolfe

The “chicken and egg” problem for alternative fuel trucking has been repeated, loudly and often, for several years: Which comes first, the vehicles or the infrastructure?

It is an analogy that the North American Council for Freight Efficiency encountered countless times in its work to promote more efficient hauls. As NACFE reflected on this year’s Run on Less Bootcamp Series, it highlighted that the industry is solving the problem that haunted alternative powertrains for over a decade.

“We’re at the point now where there’s enough chickens and enough eggs out there that it’s irrelevant to the discussion,” Rick Mihelic, director of emerging technologies for the North American Council for Freight Efficiency, said during NACFE’s latest webinar.

Since February, the group’s Bootcamp Series shared presentations from 35 expert speakers, provided 13 hours of content, and hosted an average of 800 registrants per session. Themed after the abundant choice of alternative fuels, the boot camp sessions highlighted significant growth in the alt-fuel space.

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“We’re not talking about paper projects or some 2017 vision by some rich guy. We’re talking about real trucks being produced by all the traditional manufacturers,” Mihelic said. “It’s no longer theoretical; these things are really happening. The investment is being made, and progress is being seen.”

The tech is growing—despite weaker federal support Though the current federal administration has little enthusiasm for supporting alternative powertrains, NACFE is finding that equipment and infrastructure development continues.

“All these technologies needed some help to take baby steps to get off the ground,” Mihelic said. “What you’re finding is that those baby steps are behind them, and all these technologies are learning to walk now.”

The Trump administration is broadly removing financial incentives for alternative fuels and regulatory requirements for emissions reductions, significantly weakening the trucking industry’s demand for emissions reductions.

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“The role of regulations, and a lot of the grants and incentives, is lessening,” Mihelic said. “You’re going to see all these alternatives have to compete on the same scale—and that’s going to make them more successful in the long run because they’re going to have to get cheaper, get lighter, and get better deployed.”

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Despite the change in regulations and incentives, trucking still has many reasons to pursue emissions reductions. Fleet executives, their shareholders, or their shippers may be committed to reducing emissions; cutting fuel consumption still reduces one of the biggest for-hire operational costs; and many alternative fuels have the potential to outperform diesel in specific applications.

“Emissions reduction was a big driver for all these different alternatives,” Mihelic said. “But what I found in a lot of the interviews out in the field on Run on Less is that many of these

Bosch announced new hydrogen injectors, compact fuel cell power modules, and updated thermal management systems at ACT Expo—part of a long series of new hydrogen-powered truck innovations. Photo: Bosch

companies are finding that it’s a competitive advantage; they’re finding cost reductions in using these new technologies. And that’s what the marketplace really wants.”

Natural gas for long haul is maturing Natural gas powertrains have come a long way for Class 8 tractors.

“In 2010, when the 12 liters came out, they were somewhat underpowered in comparison to the diesels that they were going up against, and it kind of stunted the marketplace,” Mihelic said.

The launch of Cummins’ X15N, a 15-liter natural gas engine for heavy-duty tractors, was a watershed moment for longhaul natural gas powertrains. In addition to Paccar and Daimler Truck, other major manufacturers are including the engine in their trucks. J.B. Hunt and WM are among the major fleets embracing natural gas in their operations.

According to the latest State of Sustainable Fleets report, registrations for Class 8 tractors running natural gas surged 50% in 2024 to 2,317 units. In addition, the production of biofuels is booming and is expected to continue to grow at a rapid pace.

“The growth in the industry that’s producing renewable natural gas is huge,” Mihelic said, pointing out that 98% of freight operations still run on diesel. “They’ve got nothing but

opportunity to expand significantly. The RNG marketplace doubling in the next few years from 400 to 800 facilities is still just a toe in the water; there’s a lot of room to grow.”

Hydrogen still has momentum Mihelic voiced optimism for hydrogen as a future powertrain option for fleets.

Hydrogen production and distribution are still very promising. Seven major hydrogen hubs are likely still being developed across the nation, and the 45V hydrogen production tax credit survived the latest Republican tax bill.

In addition, global hydrogen powertrain technology is improving, with the joint venture between Daimler Truck and Volvo producing a power unit that could overcome long-haul range anxiety.

Hydrogen trucking in the U.S, however, is still on very uncertain ground. Major hydrogen truck pioneers Nikola and Hyzon both filed for bankruptcy earlier this year, and future federal support seems bleak.

“Companies are investing in this technology irrespective of all the noise that’s going on in the political world,” Mihelic said. “It may get harder for some of these technologies to succeed. You may see some vehicle manufacturers stumble, as we saw earlier this last year, but others are stepping in to take their place.” FO

Not enough drivers or too many?

The long-haul CDL population continues to grow despite overcapacity

by Jeremy Wolfe

Excess capacity has helped weaken carriers’ pricing power for years. Despite this hostile environment, the CDL population is growing: the American Transportation Research Institute estimates that there are about 3 million long-haul CDL holders today, up 30% from 2016’s estimate of 2.3 million.

While the driver shortage has remained one of the top fleet concerns for several years, not everyone agrees with the concept of a labor shortage in trucking. In a recent Stifel webinar, analysts with Transportation and Logistics Advisors argued that the market is plagued with too many drivers.

On the other hand, a recent Tech.co survey argued that carriers don’t have enough qualified drivers. So who’s right?

Too many drivers?

An excessive driver population could be the prime reason for excess capacity, suggested analysts with Transportation and Logistics Advisors.

To illustrate their point, analysts compared driver populations during the Great Recession and recovery (20082012) versus the current economic environment (2019-2024). For-hire tonnage grew, while the number of drivers shrank in the recession period. In the current period, the dynamics reversed: Drivers grew 2.2%, while tonnage shrank 0.7%.

In recent years, not only did the number of drivers increase, but their pay spiked dramatically as well, rising over 20% after adjusting for inflation. The American Trucking Associations found that the average truck driver’s salary in 2023 was $76,420.

The issue is compounded by private fleet growth. For several years, private fleets have been growing their driver base, which impedes what might have been a more natural capacity reduction.

While slightly lower than 2019’s record driver population, the overall population of truck drivers has grown steadily despite a long, difficult market trough. Photo: ATRI

In a white paper on the topic, Transportation and Logistics Advisors predicts that trucking overcapacity will still stabilize through the reduction of overall driver counts.

Not enough drivers?

Trucking’s labor problems are never without disagreements. Tech.co’s “Moving Goods with Fewer Hands” report, based on a survey of 521 logistics professionals, concluded that freight demand was abundant, and the real problem was a driver shortage: 69% of respondents said a driver shortage had an impact on their ability to meet freight demand. Nearly the same number of respondents, 63%, said that their ability to recruit and retain drivers either stagnated or worsened over the past year.

When asked about the biggest challenges in maintaining a steady driver workforce, the greatest number of respondents (45%) cited “lack of qualified applicants.” About 34% cited “competition from other employers,” and only 31% cited “high turnover.”

Regardless, the driver population is changing

Overcapacity or not, the only constant in trucking is change. According

to ATRI’s latest report on truck driver demographics, the driver population is growing older and more racially diverse. The report used historical survey data, government datasets, state driver’s license data, and a recent ATRI survey of 1,242 drivers.

The survey found an average driver age of 58 years old, a sharp increase from about 51 years in ATRI’s 2023 survey and 50 in 2013.

Among the major truck driver classifications, the population of owner-operator or independent contractor drivers has grown in recent years. From 2016 to February 2025, the share of CDL holders working for a one-truck fleet grew from 6.2% to 7.1%.

The truck driver population is also becoming more racially diverse. From 2014 to 2023, the truck driver population went from 77% White to 63%.

The number of Hispanic and Black truck drivers grew the most among the overall driver population and remain greater in trucking than in overall U.S. labor demographics.

Despite the increase in racial diversity, women are not entering the cab. Census data from 2023 found that women made up only 4.1% of truck drivers, consistent with previous driver surveys. FO

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TFI’s Bédard: Trump fuels rebound

by Geert De Lombaerde

One of the trucking sector’s more downbeat voices during the freight recession is sounding a lot more chipper in the wake of the recent passage of the One Big Beautiful Bill Act (OBBBA).

Speaking after TFI International reported improved Q2 results, Chairman, President, and CEO Alain Bédard said his teams are hearing positive chatter from industrial customers among the companies most likely to benefit from expense deduction rules (re)instated by the OBBBA. Business confidence is coming back, thanks to the Trump administration’s budget plan, he added.

“We feel way better—that we’re finally going to get out of this freight recession,” said Bédard, who in recent quarters has been more sober even than most of his peers about the prospects of an upturn. “Hopefully, things will start to roll. We haven’t seen anything concrete yet, but all the signs are there.”

Montreal-based TFI stands to benefit

from industrial freight market growth not just via its less-than-truckload business but also because it last year acquired flatbed carrier Daseke for about $1.1 billion. Through the first six months of this year, TFI took in half of its revenues from customers in the manufacturing, building materials, automotive, and metals/mining sectors.

During a conference, Bédard—who said his team was “maybe one year too early” in buying Daseke—and CFO David Saperstein said the tax elements of the OBBBA should quickly flow through to the “real” economy. Saperstein pointed out that the accelerated capital investment depreciation will save TFI itself $20 million this year and another $20 million in 2026.

“Think about that throughout the economy, and this is really going to go toward companies that are doing capex, right?” Saperstein said. “These are the companies that are our customers.” FO

Proficient sees big bump in volume

by Geert De Lombaerde

Auto-hauling venture Proficient Auto Logistics posted a 28% jump in Q2 unit volumes compared to the first three months of the year, thanks both to the acquisition of a Northeast peer and the closure of Jack Cooper Transport.

Jacksonville-based Proficient and its subhaulers delivered a about 631,000 vehicles in Q2, up from nearly 495,000 early this year. Despite the average revenue per unit slipping about 3% from the first quarter, that volume jump helped grow Proficient’s revenue up 21% to more than $115 million. Adjusted for non-cash items related to stock compensation and amortization, operating profits were $3.8 million for the quarter, more than triple Q1’s but about half those of the second quarter of last year. Those numbers and commentary from CEO Rick O’Dell about focusing

on cutting costs and gaining more market share boosted shares of Proficient closer to where it traded in late July, while still down more than 30% over the past six months. Proficient’s market capitalization now stands at nearly $200 million, slightly more than half of the value investors accorded the company in the wake of its initial public offering 15 months ago.

Speaking after reporting those numbers, O’Dell said the former Jack Cooper business Proficient picked up—three months ago, they said they expected that to be worth $60 million annually—has performed according to their expectations. Rice added that the April acquisition of Brothers Auto Transport, which runs terminals in Pennsylvania, New York, Maryland, Ohio, and Virginia, has done better than expected. FO

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TheGrowing hours-of-service requirements coupled with infrastructure issues are pushing drivers to the shoulders.

by Jenna Hume

Photo: grandriver |

Images

Truck parking is one of the top issues for both fleets and drivers, according to the American Transportation Research Institute (ATRI). Limited safe truck parking has been an ongoing problem because of limited infrastructure, hours-of-service (HOS) changes, and more.

There is one parking space for every 11 drivers on the road, noted Doug Marcello, trucking and commercial transportation attorney with the law firm Saxton & Stump. “[When] you couple that with the hours-of-service requirement, that drivers can only drive 11 hours, be on duty 14 hours, it increases not just a demand but a timing for that demand, resulting in a number of them having to park on exit ramp sides of roadways, etc.”

The lack of truck parking is not only problematic but also complicated.

Why truck parking is problematic in the U.S.

Truck drivers deserve to feel safe

Truck drivers don’t typically park in these unsafe places willingly. Usually, it is because they could not find safer parking or have to stop because of HOS. According to Marcello, most of the accident cases he sees in his work occur when a truck driver who parked on the side of the highway is trying to reenter traffic or when another driver loses control and hits them.

Parking under these conditions isn’t just a safety problem; it’s a legal problem. There are some areas right off the highway where truck parking is not permissible, depending on the location. Marcello noted that in some locations where truck drivers may need to park, there are federal requirements put in place by the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA), such as setting up emergency triangles or turning on the truck’s flashers.

always have safety measures—like security cameras, fences, gates, security guards, well-lit areas, etc.—in place to keep drivers, their trucks, and their cargo safe.

Truck drivers deserve to have their needs met

Aside from safety, amenities are also important to truck drivers when looking

for parking, especially for long-haul drivers. Amenities truck drivers prioritize when traveling, other than parking, include clean bathrooms with showers, restaurants or stores with healthy food options, laundry services, stable Wi-Fi, and maintenance services. According to a recent report from Truck Parking Club, a provider of paid truck parking, rest

Gray Manufacturing builds products that meet the “Buy American Act,” ensuring your dollars fuel the domestic economy and guaranteeing that parts and product are always available to you.

Even when a driver does manage to find free parking at a truck stop, rest stop, or elsewhere, that still doesn’t mean they’re safe. Free parking options don’t

areas may provide a few basic amenities but nothing extensive.

Truck drivers deserve ample parking, no matter where they are

The availability of truck parking depends on demand and supply, according to Evan Shelley, CEO and co-founder of Truck Parking Club.

“There are areas like Southern California that do have a lot of supply of truck parking on a per-space basis, but the demand is so high that it outnumbers the supply,” Shelley said. “But if you’re considering it from supply versus demand, not total number of spaces available in a specific market, typically you’re going to see more availability across the Midwest.”

According to a recent ATRI study on public truck parking, the South and Midwest have the most truck parking at public rest areas. The West, Southwest, and Northeast had below-average public truck parking.

How the truck parking shortage affects everyone

A common misconception is that the lack of truck parking only affects truck drivers. In reality, the truck parking shortage has ramifications that affect the rest of the industry and the public.

Effects of the truck parking shortage on drivers

For drivers, especially long-haul drivers, hard-to-find truck parking is a constant source of stress. Instead of focusing on driving safely, drivers must think 10 steps ahead to where they are going to park when their HOS runs out.

“I’ve been here 35 years, and over the last 35 years, the momentum and the pressure on truckers to continue working, with the change to the hours of service, they really don’t have the control over their time like they used to,” said Delia Meier, SVP of the Iowa 80 Group, which owns the world’s largest truck stop. “I feel bad for them that they have that much pressure.”

This stress on drivers to find truck parking, paired with the overall stress of the job and a more sedentary lifestyle, can lead to health issues. A recent FleetOwner article discussed how truck drivers are more at risk for heart disease, diabetes, obesity, and more.

Effects of the truck parking shortage on fleets

Truck parking isn’t just a safety and convenience issue for drivers; it’s also a profit issue for fleets.

“There are actual studies showing that they [fleets] are losing $4,600 a year, on average per driver, because they have to cut their day short to try to find accessible parking,” Marcello said. “And it’s costing about 9,300 miles per driver per truck out there because of this lost time as well.”

Effects of the truck parking shortage on industry, public, and economy

If fleets are losing money because of drivers struggling to find truck parking, then the industry is losing money as well. Especially at a time when fleets are struggling with the heavily debated driver shortage, the truck parking struggle is only making things worse. When drivers are slowed down because of a

lack of truck parking, the supply chain also slows down. This means the public is receiving needed goods more slowly, and the economy is affected.

According to Marcello, truck parking is an issue that has a domino effect. In ATRI’s 20th annual Top Industry Issues report, the economy ranked as the industry’s top concern. Despite struggles regarding freight rates and a freight recession, it’s safe to say the trucking industry isn’t currently thriving; however, fleets remain hopeful that the tides will turn. The last thing the industry needs right now is a truck parking issue causing drivers, the supply chain, and the economy to slow down.

Is there a solution to the truck parking shortage?

Fixing the U.S.’s truck parking shortage is easier said than done. Creating more parking takes time, money, and often government approval. But even while waiting for more parking to be built, there are other avenues fleets and drivers can explore.

Federal and state governments need to take action, not just talk Some proposed federal legislation and regulations promise to expand truck

Fixing the U.S.’s truck parking shortage is more challenging than it seems. Government approval, time, and money are required. Photo: Vitpho | 2167665168 | Getty Images

parking. This includes the Pro-Trucker Package, which would provide more than $275 million to expand truck parking availability and open up additional grant programs and discretionary grants for truck parking projects.

But this package and many others are either still pending approval or have yet to begin construction. Shelley emphasized the importance of advocating for truck parking, and the Truck Parking Club recently did so on Capitol Hill.

Slow government action leads many in the industry to believe the government alone isn’t the answer to the truck parking shortage. For change to occur, some even believe the private sector and government need to team up.

“I think there’s going to have to be some type of governmental, private joint ventures on this,” Marcello said. “It’s great if the government can do it, but we’re limited in terms of the number of provisions out there …” However, he believes that federal and local government incentives could encourage private businesses to open more commercial parking facilities.

Fleets should consider paid truck parking

While waiting for the government to create more free truck parking, fleets can consider whether investing in paid truck parking would be beneficial.

The main benefits of free truck parking are that it’s free and usable for anyone. But paid truck parking has benefits, too, such as guaranteed availability, ease of mind, and sometimes advanced security and amenities.

The Truck Parking Club has nearly 2,500 locations across the U.S. and about 50,000 parking spaces. Fleets or drivers can reserve parking through its app. According to Shelley, the company is adding 8 to 10 new locations every day.

Shelley claims that paid truck parking is something fleets and drivers should consider, especially when drivers are expecting longer wait times while on the road.

“When considering truck parking as a whole, there’s a lot to be discussed, even more than taking a 10-hour break and not having available parking,” Shelley said. “There’s also [the issue] that rest areas and, typically, truck stops do not

How HOS negatively impacts drivers

While there’s no debate that the U.S. is lacking in truck parking, a problem that is often overlooked is how Hours of Service rules negatively affect drivers. Since HOS rule changes earlier this decade, Delia Meier, SVP of the Iowa 80 Group, has noticed a major change in truck driver behavior.

Before the changes, Meier saw drivers take a break at the Iowa 80 Truckstop during prime rush hour times, since many drivers stopped at the truck stop on their way to Chicago. This allowed them to take a break for a meal and avoid rush hour traffic.

Meier, however, claims that truck drivers no longer have this luxury; they don’t get to stop for dinner and instead sit in two- or three-hour-long traffic en route to Chicago. Furthermore, HOS not only forces drivers to waste time in traffic rather than allowing them to make the best decisions

allow for anyone to park there for more than 10 hours. You might be able to get away with 24 hours at those locations. So, what availability is there for multiple-day parking options?”

A drawback of paid truck parking is the cost, but the benefit is providing drivers with more peace of mind.

Drivers should still leverage free parking when able

For many fleets and drivers, free truck parking is ideal. That’s why planning ahead is crucial, according to Meier.

“Truck parking needs to be more important on trip planning, and if they [fleets] put it as a priority, things will change for drivers,” Meier said.”

Trip planning involves routing realistically and determining when and where drivers will need to stop on their route. When selecting options where drivers should park, it may be beneficial to choose a location with the largest number of parking spaces in the area.

“A lot of truck stops no longer offer very much parking,” Meier said. “And that has changed over the last

possible on the road, it also prevents them from eating a healthy meal, which exacerbates health concerns related to truck drivers.

“I think that the government should look at the hours of service because they have pushed most drivers to daytime hours,” Meier said. FO

Photo:

Vitpho 1287408237 Dreamstime

20 years, where part of a truck stop was to have 100 spots, but now it’s not necessary. Drivers will go to places that have 10 spots or 20 spots, and so a lot of those old truck stops that had 100 spots have closed and been replaced with smaller places that only have 20 or 50 spots.”

The Iowa 80 Truckstop is the world’s largest, with 900 truck parking spaces, nine restaurants, a truck wash, a store, 25 private showers, a museum, and many other services.

While not every driver can always park at a truck stop with 900 spaces, every driver does have technology available to them to determine the best place for them to park. In addition to private company apps like Truck Parking Club and Pilot Flying J, fleets can use apps like Trucker Path, AllStays Truck & Travel, and iExit Trucks to find free and paid truck parking with the different amenities important to drivers. FO

For drivers, especially long-haul drivers, hard-to-find truck parking is a constant source of stress, distracting them from driving. Photo: Bim | 1207803734 | Getty Images

by David Heller

Time to dive back into HOS

Let’s help the Trump Administration improve federal driver rules

JUST WHEN YOU thought it was safe to go back in the water...

This summer, “Jaws”—and this tagline—celebrated its golden anniversary. In our industry, however, you might be uttering: “Just when you thought you understood Hours of Service” as it pertains to a driver’s daily schedule and the nuances that seem to always exist for our industry’s much maligned regulations.

Let’s make life easier for those who put food on the table, provide medicine to those who need it, and allow our first responders to respond first—just by doing their job.

This column might seem to be about personal conveyance, electronic logging devices, or emergency exemptions issued for our nation’s trucks when needed. However, I want to deal with the recent Pro-Trucker package the Trump Administration issued to improve the lives of America’s truck drivers.

The order itself suggests that Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy and

President Trump are loyal readers of my monthly columns, given my repeated calls for increased flexibility in the HOS regulations. Just when I thought my request had fallen on deaf ears, the administration said it would study the impact of Hours of Service. Through the launch of two pilot programs, the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration will be exploring the increased flexibility in HOS regulations by reviewing the sleeper berth portion and the possibility of incorporating a pause of up to three hours in the 14-hour clock, a worthwhile effort to improve driver working conditions. I have said for years that if we can extol the virtues of our industry being the most flexible forms of freight delivery in this country, then we must insist that truck driver be afforded ultimate flexibility. We aren’t talking about extending the day either. After all, there is no feasible way we can crank out a 25th hour in a 24-hour day. In fact, in most cases, we average approximately 6.5 to 7 hours of drive time per cycle—not anywhere close to what the current regulations allow for. Knowing that, we don’t need more time, but we do need the luxury of flexibility.

In the professional driver’s world, no two days are ever the same. On a daily basis, traffic, weather, and detention present challenges. In other words, a driver must adapt to the conditions that arise, aware that a ticking clock is the battle they fight to remain compliant. As an industry, we cannot advocate noncompliance. We can, however, argue that our drivers need the wherewithal to adjust their day, and that is what these two pilot programs will seek to do.

Studying the ramifications of a 6/4 or 5/5 split to the sleeper berth portion of the 10 hours off-duty can be paramount to increasing the productivity that our nation needs. Faced with traveling in

an urban area during the heights of rush hour? Split your sleeper berth into a more reasonable option to avoid it altogether. Our nation’s infrastructure challenges almost require a driver to do that.

Here we are, following an announcement in which the administration has recognized the value of our industry and its driving diversity by acknowledging that a strict rule could still allow for changes to an atypical day. In today’s age of deregulation, this is not a case of removing a rule but rather streamlining one and making it better. It is not as if the results can be misconstrued either.

With the introduction of the ELD, we gain valuable insights and accurate data that support the notion of a change. Inaccurate or fraudulent logs could have always reflected the perfect driving day. In our ELD-based world, that rarely exists. Through this pilot program, congestion, detention, and even opportunities to rest can be examined, giving our industry the chance to be more efficient and productive.

At TCA, one of our fundamental core beliefs is to improve the driving job. Let’s make life easier for those who put food on the table, provide medicine to those who need it, and allow our first responders to respond first—just by doing their job. Applauding the administration for supporting America’s truck drivers, we look forward to participating in these pilot programs that will positively impact professional truck drivers.

Looks like it’s time to dive back into the HOS waters after all. FO

David Heller | Dheller@truckload.org

David Heller, CDS, is senior VP of safety and governmental affairs for the Truckload Carriers Association. He is responsible for interpreting and communicating industry-related legislation to TCA members.

Photo: vitpho | 1407216688 | Getty Images

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Full fleet visibility

Asset trackers are no longer devices that simply pinpoint an asset’s location. They can help improve the bottom line, determine accurate asset utilization, and even help set fleets up for a connected future.

by Jade Brasher

Photo: Valentina Shilkina

Any asset that isn’t tracked is a liability for fleets. Rogue assets cut into the cost of operations, safety, and maintenance, according to Frank Schneider, director of product management at Phillips Connect, an asset tracking provider that specializes in Class 8 trailers.

“That’s something that we hear a lot from our clients, and [safety, maintenance, and operations] talk right to the value proposition of our solution,” Schneider told FleetOwner

For Schneider, tracking assets isn’t just about pinpointing an asset’s location— although that’s still an important aspect of the technology. Instead, Schneider said Phillips Connect tracks “the dots on a map” and analyzes how to “improve the performance of those fleets—all of which are tied to a financial component,” he explained.

To boil it down into one term, asset tracking is all about visibility.

The cost of rogue assets

Theft costs fleets thousands. Take construction fleets, for example. A 2019 study from the Associated Schools of Construction analyzed 15,000 reported incidents of theft and found that contractors lost an average of $6,000 per theft incident. When a truck was involved, the average cost of an incident rose to $42,000. What’s more disturbing is that less than 7% of those incidents resulted in equipment recovery.

Underutilized assets also incur high costs. According to the American Transportation Research Institute (ATRI), the average cost of operating a truck is about $90 per hour. Using this data, mobile maintenance provider Torque by Ryder deduced that for each hour a truck spends idle, fleet owners should consider that as $90 lost.

Assets that are overused and require maintenance can be even more costly for fleets. For every vehicle experiencing downtime, light-duty commercial fleets lose an average of $760 per day, Michelin reports. Heavy-duty fleets can

expect even higher costs. The solution comes in one form: an asset tracker.

Asset tracking benefits

While GPS tracking devices aren’t new to the industry, their popularity is growing.

“Demand for asset trackers is accelerating,” said Robert Higdon, director of product for equipment monitoring

at Motive, a fleet management provider. He believes that it stems from companies’ use of vehicle tracking technology, which provides operational visibility down to incremental metrics.

Real-time visibility

Echoing that sentiment, Frank Bussone, VP of technology and data analytics

at Corcentric Fleet Solutions, wrote in a blog for FleetOwner: In eet operations, “it’s impossible to manage what you can’t see.” Therefore, the highest performing eets in the industry all rely on data from telematics and fuel management systems, maintenance systems, and more.

When that data is analyzed, it provides eet operators the “visibility into the actual operating cost of each truck, enabling smarter decisions on maintenance, utilization, routing, and replacement,” Bussone said.

Asset tracking is an extension of that visibility, providing eets with a detailed look into operations beyond the vehicle.

Fleet owners “see the value in having real-time data for vehicles and what that’s brought to the ef ciency of their operations,” Higdon said. “They may say they have the same set of problems for their trailers, for their heavy equipment. [Just as] they don’t want their vehicles to get lost or stolen or ... underutilized when they could have a more productive purpose for them.”

Once eet operators employ asset trackers, the data they receive can lead to multiple bene ts.

Cost savings from utilization

Mathew Long, Verizon Connect’s senior manager of product marketing, believes the core bene ts of asset tracking come down to cost savings tied to

Phillips Connect’s sensors monitor the trailer’s metrics and specific details such as what percentage of the tires are low, how much cargo space is available, whether the trailer is located near a maintenance provider, if the trailer door is closed, and more.

Photo: Phillips Connect

accurately monitoring asset utilization, especially if data determines that assets can be of oaded.

You might think an asset is used one way, but when you look at the asset tracker data, “suddenly you realize that the asset hasn’t been touched in the last three days,” Long told FleetOwner It is through this data that a eet can determine whether an asset should be of oaded or moved where it is needed.

Understanding proper asset utilization can help eets save hundreds and even thousands of dollars.

Higdon provided the example of Motive customer Agmark, a bulk liquid

transport eet. Having clear visibility of its asset utilization allowed the company to cut its asset count by 11% without losing capacity. It also increased asset utilization by 10%. While each eet is different, even if a eet off-loads a single asset, it could save on monthly payments and insurance.

Prevent theft and loss

Additionally, simple location tracking can assist eets with recovery.

Long recalled an instance where a $50,000 backhoe was stolen from a construction eet. Because Verizon Connect allows customers to receive alerts when assets have moved from a geofenced area or when assets are operational during non-working hours, the eet manager was able to relay the exact location to law enforcement within a timely manner and recover the asset.

At its core, asset tracking provides “that quick peace of mind to know that a particular vehicle or, respectively, an asset, is where it’s supposed to be at that moment in time,” Long said.

With asset loss, Motive’s Higdon recalled multiple instances when his customers would spend valuable working hours locating single pieces of equipment to move from one site to another.

Today’s asset trackers not only provide visibility to a variety of assets and vehicles but also provide reports, analytics, insights, and even live locations all in one place, such as this dashboard from Verizon Connect.  Photo: Verizon Connect

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He said one company even made it a common practice to reserve an entire week for asset retrieval or “yard hunts.” The hours wasted cut into the company’s bottom line.

However, those with asset tracking technology can use data to shift that asset retrieval time from weeks to minutes. This results in “assets that are being returned to your inventory to distribute across other jobs,” he explained. For equipment rental companies, “that’s rentable inventory that you can then reassign to the next job and start to secure new revenue.”

Connected trailers

While asset tracking can be a one-sizets-all solution—for both powered and non-powered assets, according to Long—some assets may bene t from more sophisticated tracking.

Phillips Connect’s solution essentially equips trailers with a GPS tracker, a modem, multiple sensors, and sometimes even cameras that communicate with Phillips Connect’s software, which eet operators can access on a digital platform, Schneider said.

Those sensors monitor the trailer’s metrics and speci c details such as what percentage of the tires are low, how much cargo space is available, whether the trailer is located near a maintenance provider, and if the trailer door is closed.

By tracking these metrics, Phillips Connect can help eet operators understand operational aspects, such as a trailer’s location as well as its “preparedness,” including whether the trailer is t to be loaded and hauled across the country, Schneider said.

Phillips Connect’s trailer trackers can help from a maintenance perspective through tire monitoring, including noti cations of hot wheel bearings, open trailer doors, and more. If the maintenance problem could lead to a safety event, eet managers can set automatic maintenance orders to resolve the problem quickly. Improper maintenance or

Motive’s Robert Higdon believes the increased popularity of asset trackers stems from the use of vehicle tracking technology, which provides fleets operational visibility down to incremental metrics.

Motive’s Asset Gateway Mini is available battery-powered or cabled and provides asset metrics and accurate asset location.

overdue maintenance can lead to roadside incidents, which can directly affect the eet’s overall safety.

“These are some of the things that our clients are really concerned about and that we see in the eld,” Schneider said.

Fleet visibility is the future

Fleets’ need for asset tracking technology has grown alongside its popularity, as asset trackers are becoming a competitive advantage.

Early adopters of asset trackers are bene ting from the ef ciency gains and “positive impact to their nancial operations,” Schneider said. He explained that companies that have yet to or have been slow to adopt asset trackers are competing with early adopters that are now nancially better off.

What’s more, asset trackers of today support the industry’s current trend toward “digitization,” Motive’s Higdon said, as many asset trackers send data straight to a eet manager’s dashboard.

Today’s asset trackers not only provide visibility to a variety of assets and vehicles but also provide reports, analytics, insights, and even live locations all in one place, according to Verizon Connect’s Long. And not to mention, these trackers are becoming more rugged and are built to last. (Verizon Connect’s asset tracker comes with a battery life of up to 13 years.)

Additionally, asset trackers from telematics providers such as Motive and Verizon Connect further support digitization efforts by indicating eetwide performance metrics on a single pane of glass. Fleet managers have access to everything from the vehicle to the trailer to on-site generators, all from one dashboard.

Phillips Connect’s trailer tracking solution takes that digitization several steps further, nearly to the future, by ushering in the industry’s “connected trailers.” Using Phillips Connect technology, one eet is even able to load pallets from a warehouse to a speci c location within

Photo: Motive

Photo: Motive

the trailer—all without any human interaction, Schneider said. This is all possible because of the increased visibility trucking technology providers are offering their eet customers.

While their name indicates a single function—simply tracking assets— employing these devices in a eet can boost fleet efficiency and improve the bottom line. Higdon sums it up perfectly: “Ultimately, asset tracking is about getting the most out of the equipment that you already have, making smart investment decisions about what equipment you need in the future, and then keeping that equipment that you already have on the road and on the job,” he said.

Although not every fleet is ready to deploy robots for trailer loading and unloading, all fleets can benefit from asset tracking that offers bene ts comparable to telematics tracking on eet vehicles. FO

Verizon Connect allows customers to receive alerts when assets have moved from a geofenced area or when assets are operational during non-working hours.

Photo: Verizon Connect

by Kevin Rohlwing

Truck tire tightrope uncertainty

Fewer options put even more pressure on industry

SUMMER HAS TRADITIONALLY been the busiest time for commercial truck tire service. Among construction restarts, retailers stocking up for the upcoming holiday season, and the hot weather that leads to an increase in underinflated tire failure, June to August is usually busier. But reports from the field indicate that 2025 is going in a different direction.

F east or famine benefits no one. Tires continue to be a major expense for the trucking industry, and fewer options put even more pressure on maintenance.

Uncertainty is kryptonite for businesses and financial markets. The current state of affairs in the U.S., Canada, and Mexico is chaotic with trade imbalances and reciprocal tariffs. Global markets do not fare any better, with the Port of Los Angeles averaging five ships a day rather than the usual 10-plus, according to Bloomberg. There are numerous headwinds facing the transportation industry. Domestic truck tire manufacturers are also caught in the crosshairs. The major brands are more focused on OEM and national account business, as the smaller

fleets turn to Tier 3 and Tier 4 tires to save money. While large carriers continue to emphasize cost per mile when purchasing tires and retreads, buyers now have a variety of tires to choose from at better price points and quality. If this trend continues, the trucking industry will become even more dependent on offshore manufacturing as domestic production adjusts to reduced demand.

Competition is the best tool for controlling prices. In the commercial truck tire service space, smaller dealers keep larger dealers honest by offering fleets alternatives. Based on what I’m hearing, both are in feast or famine mode to some degree, with more business they can handle one day and a total drop-off the next. Dealers on the larger end of the spectrum can more easily weather the storm, while the smaller companies are faced with much tougher decisions when it comes to staffing and payroll. If this trend continues, carriers will have fewer options for truck tires and service.

Low-cost offshore brands will still be available, but the quality of the service will suffer. The best technicians could gravitate away from the smaller dealers to the larger ones with the promise of consistent pay, benefits, and overtime.

It’s still possible to get a Tier 3 or Tier 4 tire with good service, but the future could feature economy tires accompanied by economy service. Poorly trained and equipped technicians may not follow recommended practices, so fleets should expect reduced performance and more roadside tire failures.

I fear that we are losing the middle. There will always be the pickup truck and compressor crowd that offers bargain-basement prices. A fleet usually gets what it pays for in those instances; in many cases, they are not paying for insurance. If that bargain-service

provider improperly installs or repairs a tire that leads to an accident, the fleet will be the primary defendant. Plaintiff attorneys don’t care where the money comes from, so the deep-pocketed carrier becomes the primary target.

The smaller, reputable tire dealers between the mega-dealers and the pickup trucks help maintain balance in the commercial truck tire market. They have adequate insurance and offer the most products and services because they aren’t bound by contracts with the major manufacturers that limit what they can sell. Quality service is often their focus since they have fewer locations and technicians to manage. Many are being bought out as aging owners struggle to remain profitable under uncertain market conditions.

There will always be truck-tire service providers to handle demand. Large, multistate commercial tire dealers have systems in place to ensure qualified technicians have the tools and equipment they need to keep trucks on the road. They will always be there to keep freight moving safely with tires that are correctly installed, repaired, or retreaded. In addition, they have the assets and insurance to provide an added level of protection for the fleet in the event of an accident.

Feast or famine benefits no one. Tires continue to be a major expense for the trucking industry, and fewer options put even more pressure on maintenance. Operating costs increase when tires are poorly maintained, forcing fleets to choose between higher-priced roadside service and bargain-basement tires with equally low service and no insurance. FO

Kevin Rohlwing | krohlwing@tireindustry.org

Kevin Rohlwing is the chief technical officer for the Tire Industry Association. He has more than 40 years of experience in the tire industry and has created programs to help train more than 220,000 technicians.

Photo: Marek Trawczynski | 1387073847 | Getty Images

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Ford’s off-road ready work truck

Ford said this work truck is as off-road capable as a Tremor. We tested it.

by Jade Brasher

It looks like a work truck. No chrome, no fancy wheels, no leather-wrapped accents. Yet, it’s what’s on the inside that really counts for the Ford F-250 Super Duty XL 6.7L Power Stroke Turbo Diesel.

When a member of the Ford team first told me about the F-250 XL Power Stroke, he said this particular truck was just as capable as a Super Duty equipped with the brand’s Tremor Off-Road package, designed for the road less traveled. Naturally, I had to test that theory.

How it drives

Before testing the truck’s off-road capabilities, I used it as my daily driver for the week. Navigating a vehicle this size through the one-way streets in my neighborhood isn’t exactly a walk in the park, but the F-250 handled it with ease.

The engine is also quiet compared to the older diesels you’ll hear puttering around town. The Power Stroke turbo diesel won’t wake up the neighbors when work starts before the sun, and the person taking your order in the drive-thru won’t ask you to cut the engine so they can hear you properly. All in all, my daily driving experience with the F-250 Super Duty XL wasn’t half bad.

The weekend came, and it was time to test the truck’s 4x4 capabilities at Silver Lake Sand Dunes. The dunes are in West Michigan, about a four-hour drive from my Metro Detroit home.

While it wasn’t equipped with the finer things like poweradjustable seats, I wasn’t aching during that long drive—and that means a lot coming from someone with herniated discs.

One thing that was surprising about the Ford F-250 Super Duty XL, however, was that it didn’t have a regular power outlet, which was noticed on the way back because my occupant needed to charge their laptop. Designed as a work truck (even equipped with a stowable work surface), one would think having a 115V AC outlet would be a no-brainer. Go figure.

While driving, I noticed how well the truck handled: first through the tight streets of my neighborhood, then along the crowded Interstate highways, and then through the winding state routes. Though it appears to be a Plain Jane work truck, its suspension is tuned perfectly. It also handled well because— unlike your typical off-road truck with beefy tires—its smaller wheels keep the truck nimble and feeling lighter.

A dune crawler

I have plenty of off-road experience, but I’ll admit I was nervous to take this truck out on the dunes. Surrounded by Jeep Wranglers and dune buggies, the sheer size of the F-250 Super Duty made it seem totally out of place. To make matters worse, Silver Lake Sand Dunes consist mostly of “scramble” areas, which basically means there are NO RULES.

Friends who’d been there before had already shared horror stories about nearly being hit, both when they were inside and

FleetOwner was told the F-250 XL Power Stroke was just as capable as a Super Duty equipped with the brand’s Tremor Off-Road package, designed for the road less traveled.

Photos: Jade Brasher | FleetOwner

outside their vehicles. Other friends shared their stories of a broken window and damaged bumper. As far as I’m concerned, Silver Lake Sand Dunes is Michigan’s Wild West.

My worries subsided once I got the truck out on the dunes. The weekend crowd had mostly gone home by Sunday afternoon when we got there, leaving plenty of room in the park for my test drive.

The first hill I tried to tackle was a no-go—but that’s likely because of me. The F-250 scaled the first half well, but just before reaching the top, I saw the flag of a buggy coming up the other side and opted to slow down and let it pass. By the time it passed, the truck had sunk too low into the sand, and the only way out was to reverse downhill. Taking another angle, I got it up the hill the second time.

That first hill wasn’t much to write home about, though it was steep. Really, it was the hills that the buggies were gliding over that had my interest.

I had never driven over sand dunes, but I discovered that in a vehicle of this size, navigating dunes requires a perfect dance between speed and control. Speed is required to scale the steep hills without sinking too far into the sand. Yet once you get over the hill, control is required to master all the bumps going down. I’ll admit that there were moments when the hills and dips were closer together than I anticipated, and I crossed them with too much speed. In those moments, I just thanked God for seat belts.

Regardless of the inexperienced driver behind the wheel, the increased weight from the diesel engine, and its long wheelbase, the Ford F-250 XL handled the sand as if it were designed for it.

The verdict

While I do not expect drivers of this work truck to venture onto sand dunes, it was refreshing to know that my friends at Ford don’t mince words when touting their vehicles’ capabilities. After this experience, I believe this F-250 Super Duty XL can go anywhere the job requires—from the suburbs to the sand dunes. FO

The interior of the Ford F-250 Super Duty XL is a typical work truck with no frills. But that doesn’t mean it’s uncomfortable.

The F-250 Super Duty XL features a front bench seat, allowing the truck to accommodate a crew of six.

Aerodynamic add-ons for fleets

ConMet

ConMet says its tractor-mounted TruckWings system automatically deploys at highway speeds to close the tractor-trailer gap, reducing aerodynamic drag. At lower speeds, it retracts to allow full clearance for turning and maneuvering. By managing airflow, the system enhances vehicle stability and fuel efficiency. Designed for compatibility with all truck configurations, including day cabs, sleeper cabs, and

even reefers, the TruckWings system helps improve efficiency for diesel, compressed natural gas, hydrogen, and electric powertrains. It can be installed in under two hours.

The system features an aluminum frame and operates autonomously. Cloud-connected telematics provide realtime data, including uptime reporting, to help fleets track and evaluate performance. TruckWings technology is backed by a 5-year/500,000-mile warranty.

FlowBelow Aero

FlowBelow’s trailer wheel covers with universal latch brackets simplify installation across multiple trailer makes and models with a one-size-fits-all mounting system. Users need only choose their color preference; the universal latch brackets eliminate the need to

specify hub type and wheel offset, fitting any application.

The manufacturer says that trailer wheel covers deliver fuel savings of 0.81%, equivalent to about 0.5 cents per mile, through improved aerodynamic efficiency. The covers are designed to last the lifetime of the trailer, providing long-term operational benefits for fleet operators and measurable ROI.

Installation kits include an optional hub odometer stand that integrates with

Photo: ConMet

Photo: FlowBelow

the latch system, allowing easy access for hubometer readings during maintenance operations. The covers are available through trailer OEMs for new builds or can be purchased for retro t applications on existing equipment.

Transtex

Transtex’s Edge Elite Aero System+ is a streamlined aerodynamic solution designed to increase fuel ef ciency across full trailer coverage. Comprising Edge Skirts, Edge TopKit+, Edge Flaps, and Edge Fins, Transtex states that this lightweight, virtually maintenance-free package delivers up to 10.49% fuel savings,

or 12.09 gallons per 1,000 miles, equating to about $2,877 in savings per trailer, with a typical six-month ROI. Its minimal-parts design and no driver interaction reduce operating costs, while installation is quick and payload impact is negligible. Built for durability, the system withstands harsh weather, road impacts, and features materials that resist permanent deformation. Independently tested by MVTS, the manufacturer says it also achieved 7.88% fuel savings (8.88 gallons per 1,000 miles) on corrugated refrigerated trailers—yielding up to $2,832 annual savings per unit.

ZF North America

ZF’s OptiFlow TrailerSkirt is a durable aerodynamic solution designed to improve fuel economy and meet industry compliance standards. Built for easy installation and engineered to reduce drag and CO2 emissions, it features a patented one-bolt mono-clamp system and exible thermoplastic struts that hold up in both hot and cold conditions. Tested and certi ed for aerodynamic performance, the manufacturer states that OptiFlow TrailerSkirt promotes fuel savings at highway speeds.

Available in multiple lengths and standard black or white nishes, it helps improve efficiency without adding operational complexity. Now available in a compact 115-inch length, the latest addition to the trailer skirt line is said to provide exibility for a broader range of trailer con gurations without sacri cing aerodynamic performance. FO

because it’s not all about fuel

Chevron can fuel your fleet with solutions that range from traditional diesel to R-CNG. But our solutions go beyond the fuel tank. We’ll be there to help keep your goods on the go — and help keep your business ahead.

Photo: Transtex

Photo: ZF North America

The logistics

For-hire trucking is becoming more robotic.

Technology is changing how carriers, brokers, and shippers interact. Demand is growing for both real-time shipment tracking and the automation of several interactions.

“You’re seeing these technologies take over those transactional bits of relationships so that the broker and carrier relationships can become much more focused on the human and business elements, as opposed to the very operational and manual tasks,” Kary Jablonski, VP and GM of broker growth and Trucker Tools for DAT Freight & Analytics, told FleetOwner

Mobile apps, arti cial intelligence, load boards, and transportation management systems are automating a range of manual tasks—from tracking to rate negotiation. However, the march toward automation is also followed by fraud and theft.

Tracking, communications, verification—automated by Jeremy Wolfe

The trends: tracking, automation, fraud

Logistics is still a relationship-driven industry, but the dynamics around those relationships are always changing. Throughout the last several years, online platforms have drastically changed the expectations that brokers and shippers have for their loads.

“Relationships are extremely important in this industry, whether that’s a shipper with a broker who doesn’t have any of their own trucks, or the shipper with the asset capacity providers … relationships are critical. That will never change,” Danielle Prigge, chief commercial of cer at Mastery, told FleetOwner “What has changed is how those relationships are managed throughout the day-to-day.”

According to DAT’s Jablonski, the rise of mobile apps a decade ago began to automate many of the interactions between parties.

“Mobile apps started to become a thing in 2012, 2013 in the trucking space to help carriers, especially small eets, automate a lot of the manual processes they go through when working with brokers,” Jablonski said.

Over the last several years, demand for automation and real-time tracking is growing—but so is the risk of fraud.

Load tracking requirements

One of the most signi cant expectations is shipment visibility/load tracking. Surveys of shippers since the pandemic tend to agree that over half of shippers require real-time visibility for their loads.

Tracking was supported by the electronic logging device mandate from 2017. An ELD in every vehicle meant that carriers could GPS location updates for signi cantly less hassle.

“We are seeing shippers demand more real-time visibility to where their freight is and when,” Prigge said.

“With Trucker Tools, we’ve seen tracking adoption, and using mobile devices to track, skyrocket over the last six to seven years,” Jablonski said.

One of the larger and more recent shipper surveys, the 2024 transportation benchmark survey by Descartes, found that the emphasis on freight tracking is still high. According to 630 respondents—mostly manufacturers and shippers—the most important capability to manage their transportation was visibility (42%) for the seventh year in a row.

Most shippers (over 50%) said they used real-time tracking portals, direct TMS updates, or carrier/broker shipment status portals to track loads—but about 40% or more of respondents also said they still used spreadsheets, emails, phone calls, and electronic data interchange (EDI).

Cutting phone calls

Prigge said that rate visibility is becoming more important as well—and, with that, automated rate negotiations.

“We are seeing them [shippers] demand more visibility to rates so that they can shop rates in a more digital way. And with that, you have some tech platforms available out there that can help manage that interaction, between a capacity provider and the shipper, to say, ‘Here’s my lane, how much would you move it for?’ And then it can actually transact that freight at that point,” Prigge said.

Shippers aren’t the only party looking for easier interactions through tech platforms. Carriers also have the opportunity to spare their labor the tedious back-and-forth. Traditional processes take signi cant manual effort.

“They [carriers] are looking for the right loads. They’ll bid on a load on the DAT load board, for example, and then they’ll have to go back and forth via email, via phone, via text message—10 years ago it would have been via fax,” Jablonski said. “You go from nding a load to then bidding a load, going back and forth, hopping on a phone with a

broker, getting an email con rmation, picking up the load, having to schedule over the phone, getting paid in a manual way, and then managing those documents quite manually.”

“With that comes a lot of use cases for things like RPA (robotic process automation) technology,” Mastery’s Prigge said. “You see a lot of organizations building bots scraping websites to see what freight shippers have available. That bot will then submit a rate based on pricing algorithms that the carrier has.”

The inescapable phrase ‘AI tools’ is also nding its way into the load pricing landscape. Groups such as C.H. Robinson are using generative AI to provide price quotes, process orders, set appointments for pickup and delivery, and check on loads in transit.

“You’re seeing a lot of use cases for AI and agentive AI where shippers can go to a website and enter in that data,” Prigge said. “An AI agent will then run that interaction before ultimately handing it off to an actual customer service rep within that organization.”

From tracking to pricing and scheduling, automated tools are growing more pervasive for logistics relationships.

Previously menial tasks could require signi cantly fewer labor hours.

“We are seeing far more digital touches than traditional just emailing back and forth,” Prigge said.

“There’s been this cultural acceptance of using our apps and phones to pass that information back and forth, which has made it a lot easier for carriers and brokers—as opposed to having to be on the phone or send an email,” Jablonski said.

The freight fraud boom

Accompanying the rise in automated interactions is the ease of fraud. Intuitively, if automation means brokers can give carriers a load without slow, menial human communications, then those brokers also have fewer chances to notice the red ags of a fraudulent operation.

Though underreported, cargo theft in the U.S. has exploded since the pandemic. Common tactics include identity theft, double brokering, and more.

“A major theme in the post-COVID market is trust and safety. There’s been a lot of cargo theft and fraud; carrier identities have been stolen,” Jablonski said.

As technology reduced human interactions, the pandemic’s market

Legacy technologies like the IBM AS/400 computers are an age-old problem for enduring businesses. These platforms require continuously greater e ort to modernize and face an aging workforce to support them. Photo: Vt320, Wikipedia Commons

uctuations also facilitated fraud. Shippers’ desperation for carrier capacity during the pandemic also led to recordhigh rates and a weaker incentive to be picky among carriers. The subsequent freight downturn meant that many spot market carriers had greater desperation for well-paying freight brokers. These circumstances gave fraudsters a golden opportunity lasting several years.

“Anytime there’s an economic downturn or any major events across the country, you will see cargo theft tick up,” Scott Cornell, a transportation and inland marine crime and theft specialist for Travelers, said earlier this year. “I go back to the 2008 to 2010 market crash. We saw cargo theft blow up pretty good during that time and then came back down as the economy improved. This is a normal reaction that cargo thieves have. They take advantage of us when we’re at our worst possible times.”

That does not mean technology always increases the risk of fraud. The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration’s plans for a registration overhaul will nally include identity veri cation technology. Several companies today are developing tools to shield carriers and brokers from fraud, including OTR Solutions, Highway, DAT, and many more.

A TMS for all parties

Mastery provides the MasterMind TMS, a transportation SaaS for shippers, carriers, brokers, or any combination. The company was founded in 2019 by Jeff Silver, a co-founder of Coyote Logistics.

The premise was to build, at an enterprise scale, a commercially available TMS for mega carriers. It was developed in collaboration with major eets like Schneider (No. 7 on the FleetOwner 500: For-Hire), Prime (No. 12 on the FO500), Keurig Dr. Pepper, and more.

“MasterMind is designed and built to scale enterprise organizations that have shifted from providing just carrier services or truckload service to be a capacity solution,” Prigge said.

Major carriers such as Schneider, a customer of Mastery, have been juggling both their hauls and their own broker operations for years. Customers like these are actively selling not just truckload but also intermodal solutions, serving transportation through rail providers or third-party carriers. Operations like Schneider’s can bene t from a TMS that can do everything.

“It’s not necessarily just a Schneider truck and trailer picking things up anymore. These organizations are maturing in how they go to market for their capacity offering so that they can be a one-stop shop based on what a shipper’s needs are,” Prigge explained.

Mastery’s TMS MasterMind is a cloud-native software solution, hosted in Azure with data replication/analysis through Snow ake. The tech stack is geared to, as Prigge puts it, “high uptime, high redundancy, and access to data in real time.” The platform’s features are built API (application programming interface)- rst for easy integration with other technologies.

“If you see something in the MasterMind UI, it’s intended to have an API endpoint,” Prigge said.

Fitting the theme of automation, the platform also has features for automated freight matching, contract management, and back-of ce documentation.

“We have the ability to say to an end-user, ‘Here are 10 loads that match, but here are the three that are the best based on when the truck is empty, when and where it’s available, and where that

Long back-and-forth communications via phone call or email are being replaced with robotic automations and simpler negotiations.

truck desires to get to,’” Prigge said. “We’re helping those brokers offer freight that actually works for that third-party carrier.”

Prime integrates MasterMind Prime Inc. is one of those many industry-leading carriers that offers more than its extensive eet: It also acts as a freight broker and logistics service provider for owner-operators and other eet owners.

Jeff Silver, Mastery’s founder, was known to Prime from his time at Coyote. The company began having conversations with him around the beginning stages of his work on Mastery. They were interested in the direction that the MasterMind TMS was heading.

“As it’s designed, it can cover everything a TMS needs from your entire enterprise, and that was very attractive to us,” Jim Guthrie, director of operations for Prime, told FleetOwner. “Industry-wide, between carriers and shippers, you’re nding that everybody’s working in conjunction to nd the technological solutions of the future that help with real-time tracking, updating, and automation around those tasks. There’s a big demand for more of that data and more information to push to different interested parties within the supply chain.”

Legacy platforms are an age-old problem for enduring businesses. Older platforms can be deeply embedded in the business’s operations, but they also require continuously greater effort to modernize and face an aging workforce to support them.

Photo: Mastery

“If you look at the technical landscape that exists in the carrier space, there’s still a lot of organizations running on legacy platforms like ICC, aka, old AS/400 technology, which is super stable but de nitely has its limitations, both functionally as well as from a technical standpoint,” Prigge said.

Prime had been using a highly modi ed ICC system, which utilizes IBM’s AS/400 technology, to support its offerings for years.

“Prime, like many carriers in this industry, has really worn out, programmed, modified, and bandaged our legacy systems for years and years. There hasn’t been a new package in the industry that was all-encompassing for the future for everything that’s needed to manage assets. There are brokerage platforms but not really from a carrier asset management perspective.”

The company was also interested in automation of menial clerical tasks. Newer tech, a step up from old-school

IBM platforms, was also a promising way to attract and retain talent.

“The old AS/400-based green screens aren’t very attractive to young kids coming out of college nowadays,” Guthrie said. “In fact, they look at those and wonder what century we’re living in.”

Prime announced it would begin integrating MasterMind into its operations in 2021, rst bringing in its brokerage offering, then moving to its intermodal, asset, and power only offerings.

Today, the company is making progress in integrating its operations into the system. Its brokerage division is fully on-board with the platform. It hopes to have its intermodal and assets divisions fully integrated in the next 12 months.

DAT’s automation for brokers, carriers

DAT is expanding its offerings to better accommodate these industry trends. The company made major acquisitions over the last year for freight tracking, identity veri cation, and freight matching.

Live tracking, automated updates

The company’s acquisition of Trucker Tools in December 2024 brought robust live tracking to support its freight ecosystem. DAT brought in the tracking platform as DAT One’s primary tracking provider. Carriers can integrate their ELD via the DAT One app.

“We know that truck drivers and carriers hate receiving check calls from brokers asking them, ‘Where are you? When are you going to be there? Are you running late?’ What our technology does is automate the entire process for drivers,” Jablonski, who joined DAT with the acquisition, said.

The platform has integrations with over 250 ELD providers. Carriers that consent to ELD integration can provide automated updates to their partners.

“When a load is booked on there, you can also kick off a tracking link if you’re a Trucker Tools customer. It makes it easy and seamless,” Jablonski added.

Automated transactions for brokers

DAT’s most recent acquisition takes direct aim at automated freight matching and fraud blocking. The Convoy Platform provides brokers with transaction automation and veri ed carriers.

“At DAT, we’re aggregating a lot of publicly available and proprietary data that we have to help make sure that brokers and carriers have a full picture of the other person before they even begin engaging in the relationship,” Jablonski said. “Our recent Convoy acquisition takes that to the next level with some really sophisticated identity veri cation technology.”

Convoy was a brokerage that ran from 2015 until it suddenly shuttered in 2023, its CEO blaming the freight recession. Supply chain logistics platform Flexport bought the Convoy tech stack after the company’s closure and launched the Convoy Platform in early 2024. Flexport sold the assets to DAT in July of this year.

Convoy asks carriers for “the pretty standard information that they get asked by brokers when they onboard into their networks” and veri es that against other data, such as FMCSA operating authority, Jablonski said.

Convoy is a separate platform from the DAT One app, but the company plans to bring both together over time. Carriers today must go through independent onboarding for both platforms. But the platform goes beyond identity veri cation; it also helps brokers nd carriers and helps carriers boost their visibility.

“It allows brokers to access this massive pool of trusted capacity but also to automate matching, booking, and execution of a load,” Jablonski said. “I think that’s the value for users on the broker side and the carrier side. They can automatically negotiate back and forth— they don’t have to wait for responses from brokers—and then book, receive documents, and onboard, all within one single mobile app.” FO

The Convoy Platform can automate the matching, booking, and execution of a load. Photo: DAT

Fleetworthy acquires Commercelogic

Fleetworthy acquired Commercelogic, a provider of predictive tolling and GPS­powered analytics. With this acquisition, Commercelogic’s technology will be combined with the Bestpass by Fleetworthy platform, providing fleets with predictive toll insights, automated reconciliation, and cost­saving opportunities.

Bestpass by Fleetworthy currently processes over $1.5 billion in toll transactions annually and serves more than 30,000 customers. By integrating Commercelogic’s predictive technology, the platform will offer fleets near real­time toll visibility, automated discrepancy detection, and dynamic route optimization.

Commercelogic adds enhanced toll reporting tools as a standalone service initially for customers using Geotab and Samsara. Additional ELD integration partners will be announced soon.

PCS Software launches Cortex AI

PCS Software recently announced Cortex, an AI engine fully embedded in PCS TMS to help fleets operate faster, smarter, and with less manual effort. Cortex will debut at the Houston PCS Customer Summit on September 25.

“Our AI strategy is grounded in 25­plus years of operational expertise, deep customer insight, and an unmatched understanding of the workflows of carriers, brokers, and shippers—all built into the PCS TMS,” Mark Hill, CEO of PCS, said. “We’ve focused on AI that matters—tools that improve margins, automate busywork, and give fleets that rely on PCS a true competitive edge.”

Analysis and inference are at the core of Cortex, which applies AI across four key areas of the TMS: optimization, workflow, communication, and insights.

expanded

Aurora begins driverless operations at night

Aurora Innovation is expanding its commercial operations. After surpassing 20,000 driverless miles in June, the autonomous trucking company is expanding its driverless fleet to three trucks, beginning driverless commercial operations at night, and opening a Phoenix terminal.

Aurora has expanded driverless operations on the Dallas­to­Houston lane to include nighttime driving. This capability more than doubles truck utilization potential, shortening delivery times on long­haul routes and creating a path to profitability for autonomous trucking.

Aurora’s new terminal in Phoenix opened in June and exemplifies an infrastructure­light approach that resembles how Aurora plans to integrate with future customer endpoints. Fort Worth to Phoenix is nearly half the distance of the busy Atlanta to Los Angeles freight corridor, taking more than 15 hours to complete. Self­driving trucks can halve transit times, especially on long routes that exceed the 11­hour driving limit for human drivers. Aurora is currently making autonomous hauls on this lane for Hirschbach and Werner.

Gatik unveils AV simulation platform

Gatik recently introduced Gatik Arena, its next­generation simulation platform designed to accelerate the development and validation of autonomous vehicle systems. Arena produces photorealistic, structured, and controllable synthetic data that addresses the limitations of traditional real­world data collection.

As Gatik scales driverless operations in 2025, Arena will enable safe and efficient training for its autonomous systems on a wide range of driving scenarios. To develop this next­generation simulation platform, Gatik is collaborating with NVIDIA to integrate NVIDIA Cosmos World Foundation Models, enabling the creation of ultra­high­fidelity, physics­informed digital environments for AV training and validation.

Capturing rare events in the real world is expensive, time­consuming, and often unsafe. Arena addresses this with high­fidelity synthetic data generation, combining real­world logs, trajectory editing, agent modeling, and multi­sensor simulation pipelines to deliver full closed­loop simulations.

Teletrac Navman debuts Multi IQ

Teletrac Navman recently debuted its Multi IQ Camera, a cloud­based dashcam solution designed for operators of large commercial vehicles who want to increase visibility to improve safety and also benefit from the AI capabilities of forward­facing and driver cameras.

The Multi IQ Camera can connect up to five cameras across the vehicle: cab interior, side, rear, cargo area, or undercarriage cameras, alongside its built­in high­definition dual­front and driver­facing dashcam. The multi­cam format addresses the challenges faced by trucks and large vehicle combinations where blind spots are significant and ever­present. FO

Aurora has

driverless operations on the Dallas-to-Houston lane to include nighttime driving.

Photo: Aurora

“The level of professionalism and wealth of knowled e of the CTP culture is extraordinary. The opportunity to connect with fellow CTPs is priceless.”

“The CTP certification demonstrates a commitment to continuous improvement and prepares the fleet professional for advancement within the industry.”

“We have one from ‘ ettin it done’ to ‘ ettin it done better’. Earnin my CTP has made a tremendous difference helpin make this happen.”

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Candidates for the Class of 2026 now bein accepted. Contact Kristen Todd, NPTC Director of Education and Certification, at 703-838-8841 or ktodd@nptc.or Sponsored by

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by Gary Petty

Private fleets eye more growth

NPTC’s 2025 Benchmarking Survey shows private fleets plan to expand

THE NPTC 2025 Benchmarking Survey Report, authored by NPTC EVP Tom Moore, CTP, and sponsored by Penske Truck Leasing for the fifth consecutive year, was released on August 1.

The report is widely regarded as the foremost authority on private fleet operations and one of the most valuable benefits of council membership. It is recognized as the gold standard by which private fleets can scorecard their performance, justify their value, and assess how well they stack up against national standards and top-performing private fleets.

The report’s data analysis confirms that private fleets continue to strengthen their market share by being reliable, flexible, and growing strategic assets.

Data analysis from the report affirms private fleets as reliable, flexible, and growing strategic assets that continue to strengthen their market share and exercise greater control over their supply chains.

Private fleets provide unmatched value for on-demand capacity, premium

service, and the highest safety performance. Customer service (89%), cost control (74%), and a hedge against outside carrier uncertainty (73%) are reported as the top three benefits of running a private fleet.

Fleet members from 104 companies contributed data to NPTC’s Benchmarking Survey questionnaire.

For 11 consecutive years, companies have grown shipments, volume, and value of their in-house transportation freight movements. This year, shipments increased 11.7%, volume increased 8.2%, and the value of private fleet freight movements increased 6.6%.

Private fleets handle 70.4% of outbound shipments and 43% of inbound shipments. This is the third consecutive year that outbound shipments have reached over 70%, peaking in 2024 with the highest percentage in survey history at 75%. The percentage of inbound shipments this year matches the highest level ever recorded two years ago.

Average compensation for private fleet drivers (HD equipment) is now $91,081. Generous benefit packages add about a third more cost to the driver’s overall compensation. This combination makes private fleet drivers’ pay the highest in the trucking industry.

Private fleets are three times safer than the trucking industry at large. Based on CSA scores posted by the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration, the DOT Recordable Accidents rate of fleets surveyed is 0.49 crashes per million miles. This rate nearly matches the overall average 0.48 crashes per million miles for private fleets in five of the last six years.

The reported lost time rate of 2.95 injuries occurring in the workplace per 200,000 hours worked is the lowest in the 18-year history of NPTC surveys.

Widespread adoption of active safety

technologies drives continuous improvement in fleet performance. Key technologies deployed include automatic transmissions (100%), in-cab cameras (88%), backup cameras (33%), side-facing cameras (29%), digital camera mirror system (12%), 360-degree cameras (6%), lane departure (76%), speed monitoring (86%), collision warning (83%), disc brakes (77%), adaptive cruise control (79%), electronic stability control (68%), and tire inflation (50%).

Incentive compensation programs are offered by 74% of fleets. Safety is the biggest component of incentive compensation at 83%, followed by new-hire referral (52%), clean inspections (33%), and compliance (31%).

Private fleet drivers work at the same company for an average of 8.7 years (down from 9.5 years in the 2024 report); annual turnover is 18.4%, which is slightly higher than the previous 15-year running average of 14.5%.

The cost of driver turnover is now $12,313, which is up from $7,929 the previous year. About 45% of companies offer sign-on bonuses. The average number of candidates screened is 15.

Despite the steeper grade for driver recruiting, private fleets are optimistic about the road ahead. When asked to look into the future, 76% of fleets expect to grow by adding equipment and/or by handling more of their company’s freight.

NPTC’s 2025 Benchmarking Survey Report is copyrighted and is for the sole and exclusive benefit of its members.

For information about joining NPTC and receiving a copy of the report, contact the council at nptc.org. FO

Gary Petty | gpetty@nptc.org

Gary Petty has more than 30 years of experience as CEO of national trade associations in the trucking industry. He has been the president and CEO of the National Private Truck Council since 2001.

Photo: NPTC

Growing and improving the system

Operations plan, advanced management technology drive Dohrn’s success

by Seth Skydel

When Pittsburgh-based Pitt Ohio Transportation Group acquired Sutton Transport, it was hailed as being aligned with the company’s ongoing effort to enhance customer service by increasing shipment density.

Furthermore, the eventual integration of Sutton and Dohrn Transfer Company, a Pitt Ohio operation, into a single operating company called Dohrn offered the ability to extend Dohrn’s successful use of advanced management technology.

“Our primary focus has been on enabling a seamless customer integration process, and that is driven in large part by the ability to apply the existing Dohrn technology stack across the Sutton operation,” Alex Gustafson, VP of information systems at Dohrn, said. “While we’re effectively doubling each company’s size, we need to ensure that customers do not lose visibility and that we have uniform pricing, tendering, and billing processes.”

Since 2002, Dohrn has relied on FACTS freight management software from Carrier Logistics Inc. (CLI), Gustafson said. Designed for less-thantruckload (LTL) fleets, FACTS is credited with helping the company implement process improvements.

“By using automated and integrated solutions for freight management, we’re reducing administrative time and costs internally and for our customers,” Gustafson explained. “Technology and process improvements drive our success, including bringing on-time service into the upper 90th percentile.”

Through the use of electronic BOL capabilities, Dohrn can process an average 2.7 more bills per hour. The average billing time across the company is 2,517 hours per month, so 2.7 more bills per hour means nearly 6,800 more bills completed with the existing staff.

Beyond management technology, Dohrn’s safety investments have resulted in an 88% reduction in harsh events and a 35% reduction in speeding.

Dohrn Transfer has also added an electronic proof of delivery (POD) capability to an integrated driver P&D mobile solution from Acordex. The system allows drivers to capture signatures on mobile devices and send delivery receipt images to customers, offering both a paper-free solution as well as faster POD visibility to the shipper.

As an example, Gustafson pointed out that electronic POD processing saves an estimated 30 minutes per day of management time at each terminal by eliminating the need to scan and index delivery receipts. For drivers, the technology eliminates about 15 minutes daily in time that was spent sorting and organizing paperwork during check-in.

Now in place at the carrier are Dohrn Departure Reports, an automated CLI capability that provides shippers and consignees with notifications about freight status. The reports are transmitted by email or text with a link to realtime tracking once the driver leaves a terminal. An accompanying Excel file allows users to see revised ETAs and a live map showing the current location.

At Dohrn, the CLI Dock Management System graphically displays the loaded, unloaded, and in-progress status of trailers of each facility that visually shows dock-door locations.

The cross-dock savings were estimated at 16.67%. Beyond improving freight visibility for customers, Gustafson noted, the solution allows trailers to be reloaded sooner while decreasing service failures by eliminating loading errors.

Beyond management technology, Dohrn invests heavily in safety. Dash cameras, predictive analysis software, and coaching programs led to an 88% reduction in harsh events and a 35% reduction in speeding.

Equipment investments are made regularly by the carrier as well. The average age of power equipment is now 4.5 years. For customer service, 35% of trailers are liftgate-equipped, and all trailers are fitted with tracking systems. In addition, fuel efficiency improvements were realized with single-axle tractors and automatic tire inflation systems.

Following the Sutton acquisition, the Pitt Ohio Transportation Group, including Pitt Ohio, Dohrn, Ross Express, and US Cargo, is projected to become the 12th largest LTL carrier in the U.S.

“With a growing footprint and increased density, management systems and processes driven by an operations plan are essential,” Gustafson emphasized. “Utilizing advanced tools and being a technology leader is how we can improve customer experience.” FO

Photo: Dohrn

Volume 122, Issue 7

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Justby Jade Brasher

as there are too many electric vehicle startups to count, so too were there many vehicle—and truck—startups that soared into existence and faded into obscurity in the 20th century.

While many consumer vehicle brands began their journey in the early 1900s, the realization that bigger vehicles would be more suited to bigger jobs didn’t fully arrive until the 1910s. Many manufacturers on this list began shortly before, during, or shortly after the first World War. Unfortunately, it was the Great Depression that prevented many young truck manufacturers from making this list or surviving among the seven major truck manufacturers of today.

This 1977 Brockway 758 packer was part of the maintenance department for the 400-acre Woodlawn Cemetery in the Bronx, New York. Photo: J. Hancock via BigMackTrucks.com

Among the OEMs of the 20th century were American-Coleman, Brockway, Diamond T, Divco, REO, Sterling, and White. You can read more about these defunct truck makers in a Fleets Explained entry at FleetOwner.com/OldOEMs.

Above: This is possibly the first truck made by the Holmes Motor Co., about 1920. The photo looks east from the South Platte River with the Carnegie Library in the background.

Middle: A 1951 921 Series

Photo: City of Littleton

Diamond T

Photo: Legacy Classic Trucks

Bottom: A 1949 REO Speed Wagon

Photo: Curbside Classic

Left: A 1964 White Motor Corp. truck

Photo: Daily Diesel Dose

Left: The final Divcos produced looked like the truck on the left. Today, there is a growing interest in all models of Snub-Nosed delivery trucks and their ancestors. Photo: Divco