HDT’s Top 10 News Stories of 2024 – Fleet Management

What were the important trucking news stories of 2024? According to HDT’s website analytics, all-new trucks and engines, as well as regulatory and safety compliance news, topped the charts.

Here’s a rundown of the top 10 Heavy Duty Trucking news stories that attracted the most audience in 2024.

In this February story, we reported that the Commercial Vehicle Safety Alliance would focus on tractor protection systems and alcohol and controlled substance possession during its annual Roadcheck inspection safety blitz, May 14-16. 

When the results from Roadcheck were posted in October, CVSA reported that the top vehicle out-of-service violation in North America was for defective service brakes. Hours-of-service violations was the top reason drivers were placed out of service.

This January story looked at the U.S. Department of Labor’s new final rule on determining independent contractor status.

The new rule repealed and replaced a 2021 Trump administration rule that was welcomed by trucking but which critics said made it harder to prove employees were being “misclassified” as independent contractors.

Now that we have another Trump administration incoming, will we revert back? Maybe not. Trump’s pick for Secretary of Labor is pro-union, setting alarm bells ringing among trucking companies that use owner-operators.

In another story out of Washington, in late April we reported that the federal government was proposing to re-classify marijuana as a less-dangerous drug, moving it from a Schedule 1 drug (a category that also includes heroin) to a Schedule 3, a category that includes medications such as ketamine and testosterone that are available by prescription.

A couple of weeks later, the proposal officially was published.

In July, Secretary of Transportation Pete Buttigieg said in congressional testimony that such a change would not affect safety-sensitive workers subject to federal drug testing. 

In early March, Cummins announced its next-generation X15 engine as part of its as Cummins HELM fuel-agnostic engine platform. But there weren’t a lot of details until we got a deeper dive into the engine and how it will meet 2027 emissions regulations in August.

A lot of people were interested in reading about how Cummins’ new X15 diesel engine meets EPA 2027 emissions requirements while improving fuel economy — and without adding weight or using more diesel exhaust fluid.

It’s the end of an era for Navistar International — and the beginning of a new one — as the Traton subsidiary announced a rebrand and name change to International.

On Sept. 25, Navistar Inc. announced its plan to rebrand and change its name to International Motors LLC effective Oct. 1. 

In early January, Volvo Trucks teased a new Volvo VNL tractor, and later that month, it launched what company officials called a completely “reimagined” truck designed to improve customer value, driver productivity, safety, and sustainability.

With a highly aerodynamic design, the new truck is engineered to achieve a fuel efficiency improvement of up to 10% compared to the current VNL model. It’s also designed to be the platform for all the company’s upcoming technologies, including future transportation solutions of battery-electric, fuel cell and internal combustion engines running on renewable fuels including hydrogen.

In March, the California Air Resources Board said it had delayed the first periodic testing deadline for the Clean Truck Check Program to Jan. 1, 2025.

That did not, however, delay requirements to register and pay fees for 2023.

Volvo Group says it remains fully committed to internal combustion engine technology, and demonstrated it by showing off its new D17 diesel engine in Sweden.

The D17 is the largest diesel engine ever put into a Volvo truck — and the most powerful – yet offers improved fuel economy, compared to the D16 diesel it replaces, according to Volvo.

The engine’s designed to take advantage of Sweden’s new length laws. The country believes longer, heavier combinations can reduce energy consumption by improving freight efficiency. 

Jim Park followed up with a blog about how the U.S. ought to look at the Swedish solution, which is to double the load while using a single power unit, thereby getting much more work done with just a slight increase in the fuel burn compared to a pulling a single trailer.

Some of the most intriguing news out of the Advanced Clean Transportation Expo in May was a Tesla Semi look-alike, a new battery-electric truck from Chinese truck maker Windrose. The company intends to begin production on that truck and have it in customer hands here next year.

Serving as a strategic advisor for Windrose’s expansion to the U.S. market is Jason Roycht, formerly global head of fuel cell electric vehicle market development at Nikola and previously vice president of commercial vehicles for Bosch.

The company has very ambitious plans to deliver an efficient and cost-effective Class 8 truck battery electric truck to every major market on the planet.

Just in time for the American Trucking Associations’ annual Management Conference in Nashville, Daimler Truck North America rolled out the latest generation of its popular Freightliner Cascadia Class 8 highway tractor.

For the fifth generation Cascadia, the development mantra centered on three core design goals: safety, efficiency and profitability.

Check out Jack Roberts’ first impressions of the Cascadia in this test drive, and you’ll find a photo gallery here.