Equipment

Class 8 truck production and sales increased in 2022 and won’t fall off a cliff in 2023, industry experts said, but 2023 still promises some uncertainty, of course.

SAN ANTONIO — As truck technologies and emissions systems continue to evolve and electric-powered trucks begin to hit the market, the knowledge and expertise required to service and maintain these vehicles is also shifting.

While truck manufacturers make advances in battery electric and hydrogen fuel cell technology, they also are making fuel efficiency and aerodynamic improvements to their diesel offerings that will form the backbone of the trucking industry for years to come.

Increasingly stringent emissions regulations over the past few decades have driven a steady cadence of changes to diesel engine architecture and heavy-duty truck design.

U.S. trailer orders in December surged to the second-highest level since ACT Research began tracking them in 1996, the company reported.

Trucking companies are navigating a challenging economic environment where stubbornly high costs for goods are affecting what shippers are willing to pay for transport, experts warned.

U.S. retail sales for medium-duty trucks experienced a 6.2% year-over-year decline in December, Wards Intelligence reported.

U.S. producer prices dropped in December by the most since the start of the pandemic, extending a monthslong pullback in inflationary pressures and giving the Federal Reserve room to slow the pace of interest-rate hikes.

Change to the hidden health and climate cost of consumer goods carried by tens of thousands of drayage trucks is coming in the form of more widely-accessible electric alternatives.

DETROIT — With its sales slowing and its stock price tumbling, Tesla Inc. slashed prices dramatically Jan. 13 on several versions of its electric vehicles, making some of its models eligible for a new federal tax credit that could help spur buyer interest.