Five truck trend takeaways from September
September was a busy month for the FE Team as we worked to cover all the latest and greatest the heavy-duty industry has to offer. From OEM offerings to seasonal maintenance to electrification to data integration, we were constantly on the ball capturing the stories you want to read. With so much going on, you

The road to self-driving trucks with Torc Robotics CEO
The automated truck driving excitement among some fleets is palpable. The automated driver assistance systems–like the currently available adaptive cruise control and lane keep assist features–that are the foundational stepping stones of automated driving technology are seeing strong adoption rates, according to OEMs. Yet, the step from Level 2 automated assistance systems to Level 4

EV chassis developments continue as suppliers address technology, charging, maintenance issues
Not a day goes by, it seems, that there’s not news about new developments in electric vehicle chassis. Traditional truck OEMs and newcomers to the market alike are steadily announcing their latest plans and technologies, and fleets are taking notice. Along with those developments, however, comes the need for fleet managers to address a number

Freightliner Plus Series medium-duty truck walk around
Productivity and safety were the names of the Freightliner Plus Series M2 and SD games when the OEM unveiled the refreshed medium-duty and vocational trucks at a pre-launch truck event earlier this summer. While the talking point of truck technology finding its way into the vocational truck segment has been building over the past several

Freightliner M2, SD Plus Series launch updates its medium-duty truck offering
Freightliner introduced the new Plus Series–enhanced versions of its M2 and SD models, including the M2 106 Plus, M2 112 Plus, 108SD Plus, and 114SD Plus. The enhanced models provide a major update to the interior and electrical systems of the M2 and SD models. The OEM noted that the Plus Series is designed to

Daimler Truck marks 800,000th vehicle produced at its Cleveland Truck Manufacturing
Daimler Truck North America (DTNA) announced the production of the 800,000th vehicle built at its Cleveland Truck Manufacturing Plant located in North Carolina. Keys to the milestone vehicle–a Freightliner Cascadia–were presented to representatives from less-than-truckload motor carrier, Old Dominion Freight Line late last month during a ceremony at the facility. Freightliner Trucks acquired the plant

How Daimler Truck N.A. maps out a product strategy during a time of trucking transitions
The buzz of electrification in trucking continues to build as electric trucks roll into applications. While EV headlines continue to dominate (guilty as charged), diesel is still king of the road for the foreseeable future. Diesel development continues as the industry faces down another round of GHG emissions regulations in 2024, and diesel will play

Efforts to stop truck CPC module thefts continue
WGAL News 8, an NBC affiliate in Lancaster, Pennsylvania, broke the story in early April: “Police are investigating the theft of computer modules stolen from trucks ready to go up for auction in Lancaster County. Hess Auctioneers in Marietta said the modules are worth thousands of dollars.” At the time, the company was getting ready

Detroit Active Side Guard Assist improves safety during low-speed turns
Detroit announced the addition of Active Side Guard Assist (ASGA) to the Detroit Assurance suite of safety systems to improve safety in low-speed, passenger-side turns. Planned for production beginning Sept. 1, ASGA detects moving objects in the path of a right-hand turn at speeds below 12 MPH and applies the brakes, which improves safety at

How data impacts electric truck operation
There’s more nuance in running a heavy-duty electric truck compared to a diesel hauler. At least, at first. Range only creates anxiety until you understand and have worked with it. To ensure loads get to where they need to go, there’s front end work that has to be done, namely route planning and charging strategy.

Freightliner eCascadia battery electric truck walk around
After several years of co-development with fleets and more than 1 million cumulative test miles, Freightliner rolled out the production-series eCascadia battery electric Class 8 truck at this year’s ACT Expo. It touts a typical range of approximately 230 miles, depending on the vehicle configurations, and is backed by Daimler Truck North America eConsulting services

Sysco Corp. to add up to 800 battery electric Freightliner eCascadia to its fleet over the next four years
Sysco Corporation, the global foodservice distribution company, and Daimler Truck North America (DTNA), North American heavy-duty truck manufacturer, jointly announced a Letter of Intent (LOI) to deploy up to nearly 800 battery electric Freightliner eCascadia Class 8 tractors serving Sysco customers by 2026. The first eCascadia delivery is expected to arrive at Sysco’s Riverside, Calif.,
