It was busy but upbeat — at the TMC’s 2025 Annual Meeting in Nashville.
Photo: Deborah Lockridge/Canva
There is no show quite like ATA’s Technology and Maintenance Council. It is as much a classroom and networking powerhouse as it is the premier showcase for new trucking technology today.
I’m back (and somewhat rested) after a manic five days in Nashville attending TMC’s 2025 Annual Meeting.
Overall, the show was a huge hit. This meeting set new records for attendance. The show floor was packed with enthusiastic crowds. And – as always – there was a plethora of new equipment and technology on display.
We’re really starting to see technology and equipment merge together in new, and effective ways.
And this 2025 TMC Annual Meeting really highlighted that trend. From the driver’s seat, to the maintenance shop, new technology is rapidly transforming trucking in ways that would have seemed fantastical just a few years ago.
Volvo has been making waves in the industry for over a year now. And the global truck OEM stayed true to recent form by kicking the show off with the launch of its new VNR Class 8 truck.
And to my point: The new VNR is absolutely jam-packed of cutting-edge safety, efficiency and productivity features.
Building on that theme, Volvo also launched a brand new D13 Variable Geometry Turbo diesel engine at the show.
Other highlights include a powerful new partnership that will see Mack Trucks sharing Allison Transmission data and service assistance on its GuardDog Connect telematics platform.
Goodyear announced that it is adding Aperia Halo Connect i3 automatic tire inflation technology to its Tires-as-a-Service platform for fleets.
And Utility Trailer and Cargobull North America are announced a new high-efficiency microchannel condenser for TRUs.
Just to name a few.
An Upbeat Mood
The mood at the show was decidedly upbeat as well.
It’s worth noting this meeting set a record for TMC attendance. The aisles on the show floor were packed with fleet managers checking out new technology and equipment. Many were clearly starting to gear up for the long-anticipated prebuy heading into 2027.
Many I talked to were genuinely pleased at the outcome of the 2024 election. They were looking forward to a more relaxed regulatory environment for trucking. And there was a sense that the new Trump administration would usher in better economic conditions for both the trucking industry and the country as a whole.
On a related note, there was decided pleasure at the Trump administration’s early moves to slow down or even halt many of the aggressive 2027 Greenhouse Gas 3 emissions regulations that have been stalking the industry for the past several years now.
Several fleet executives I spoke with told me that they genuinely want to help reduce diesel exhaust emissions. However, they said the aggressive GHG3 regulatory structure was essentially an electric truck mandate that was unworkable in a many critical applications – most notably long-haul.
Trump’s actions will help reset the regulatory landscape, these executives told me. The upshot is that the fleets will be able to decide which clean and green alternatives work best for them. Now, fleet managers told me, they won’t be forced into expensive powertrain technologies that are currently unable to deliver the performance and efficiencies they – and they customers – require.
Still. California and the California Air Resource Board (CARB) have emerged as trucking’s Public Enemy No. 1 over the past two decades.
So I’d be lying if I said there wasn’t a palpable sense of glee among attendees at seeing both California and CARB rocked back hard by the new Trump administration.
On the Other Hand…
Enthusiasm for the new administration seemed to be universal. However, every single fleet manager I spoke with also expressed real concern about President Trump’s tariff threats and the trade war it has sparked with Canada, China and Mexico. I also heard misgivings about Elon Musk’s “Department of Government Efficiency,” and the aggressive cuts it is making to USAID and other federal programs.
The general mood was one of cautious optimism: The hope that Trump was merely using the threat of tariffs to broker more favorable trade deals for the United States.
However, these same fleet managers also said that the actual implementation of tariffs would be decidedly negative for the trucking industry. This included fears that international freight would be dealt a particularly harsh blow.
Another commonly expressed concern focused on equipment acquisition costs. One fleet executive told me that if tariffs were passed, and if the projected 2027 GHG3 price increases held firm, the cost of new Class 8 tractors would simply be “out of reach” for fleets.
Outside of the political arena, there was widespread concern about the proliferation of skyrocketing nuclear verdicts. Several fleet managers told me they hoped to see “badly needed” reforms implemented on this alarming front.
One midwestern fleet manager, for example, told me he hoped to see some sort of caps set on judgements to help protect fleets from being ruined by a guilty verdict.
Still, the 2025 TMC Annual Meeting clearly showcased a trucking industry that is feeling confident right now. After years of feeling like it’s been treated as a villain, the industry believes it has friends in high places once again.
It’s an industry that is excited about the future. It is excited about new technologies coming to help it work safer and smarter. And it is excited about a new regulatory landscape that it believes will work with it, instead of against it in the future.
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