HDT Talks Trucking
Episodes
The Diesel Engine at 125 Years: Still Going Strong and Getting Even Cleaner
29 Apr 2022
Contributed by Lukas
The first functional diesel engine was tested in 1897, making the “heat engine” 125 years old this year. Will the diesel see 150 years of service?...
Top Trucking News Stories of March 2022
12 Apr 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Get updates and insights on the top trucking news from March 2022 with HDT Editor in Chief Deborah Lockridge and Managing Editor Vesna Brajkovic on th...
Get Ready for Wireless Electronic Truck Inspections
30 Mar 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Wireless electronic truck inspections could revolutionize the harvesting of data from commercial vehicles. Inspections will be faster and more compreh...
Smart Fuel-Buying Tips for Fleets
28 Mar 2022
Contributed by Lukas
This episode is sponsored by Circle K. Learn more about the Circle K Fleet Card. With diesel prices at or near record highs, HDT Talks Trucking share...
Standardizing Emerging TRU Technologies
17 Mar 2022
Contributed by Lukas
The electrification of transport refrigeration equipment is evolving but charging and power sharing must be standardized before adoption occurs at sca...
Top Trucking News Stories of February 2022
15 Mar 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Get updates and insights on the top trucking news from February 2022 with HDT Editor in Chief Deborah Lockridge and Managing Editor Vesna Brajkovic on...
Are ELDs Responsible for Higher Crash Rates and More Risky Driving?
23 Feb 2022
Contributed by Lukas
A study published late in 2021 by the Supply Chain Management Research Center at the University of Arkansas is casting doubt on the safety benefits of...
Top Trucking News Stories of January 2022
18 Feb 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Get updates and insights on the top trucking news from January 2022 with HDT Editor in Chief Deborah Lockridge and Managing Editor Vesna Brajkovic on ...
How Can We Prevent Another Lakewood Colorado Crash?
26 Jan 2022
Contributed by Lukas
The driver in the Lakewood, Colo. crash, Rogel Aguilera-Mederos, paid a stiff price for his actions on the afternoon of April 25, 2019. It would...
The Pathway to TRU Electrification
20 Jan 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Battery size and weight are significant barriers to developing electric power systems for mobile refrigeration units. Integration of the charging syst...
Top Trucking News Stories of December 2021
11 Jan 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Get updates and insights on the top trucking news from December 2021 with HDT Editor in Chief Deborah Lockridge and Managing Editor Vesna Brajkovic on...
Inside a High School Truck Driver Training Program
09 Nov 2021
Contributed by Lukas
With the industry facing a shortage of qualified drivers, fleet managers are faced with the challenge of both retaining CDL drivers, as well as attrac...
Is the Real World Ready for Driverless Trucks?
09 Nov 2021
Contributed by Lukas
There are currently, dozens of driverless trucks operating on interstate highways (with safety drivers) mixing and mingling with humanized cars and tr...
Inspections and Maintenance for Autonomous Trucks
09 Nov 2021
Contributed by Lukas
Ryder will soon be managing maintenance services for several fleets of autonomous vehicles. The company will be doing regular maintenance on the truck...
Driving into the 3G Sunset
26 Oct 2021
Contributed by Lukas
Remember the Y2K scare? At the time, many people worried airplanes would fall from the sky and every bit of digital data ever collected would simply v...
Is Your Fleet Ready for FA-4 Oil?
26 Oct 2021
Contributed by Lukas
The FA-4 category oils have been available for almost five years now, but market penetration remains light. Despite the fuel saving benefits inherent ...
How to Build an Electric Medium-duty Fleet
07 Oct 2021
Contributed by Lukas
It has been said that as of today, more than 5 million trucks in North America could be converted from fossil-fuel power to electric. The sweeping sim...
Is There a Better Way to Measure Fuel Economy?
07 Oct 2021
Contributed by Lukas
How can fleets make informed decisions when buying fuel saving devices and technologies if they are looking at unreliable data? How often do we hear f...
Meet HDT's Managing Editor, Vesna Brajkovic
28 Sep 2021
Contributed by Lukas
Meet the newest member of HDT’s editorial team, managing editor, Vesna Brajkovic. Managing editors are to magazines what operations managers are to ...
The Secret Life of Truckstops
05 Sep 2021
Contributed by Lukas
Truckstops and trucking are very much dependent on one another, yet the relationship isn’t always mutually beneficial. Whether it’s fuel prices, r...
Electric Trucks Are Producing Some Interesting Partnerships
24 Jul 2021
Contributed by Lukas
With medium- and heavy-duty truck electrification, we’re seeing a unique alignment of traditional truck manufacturers, tier-1 suppliers and start-up...
Getting Back to the Basics on Electrical Maintenance
20 Jul 2021
Contributed by Lukas
While the basic principles of Ohm’s Law haven’t changed, the architecture of a truck’s electrical system certainly has. Are fleets doing enough ...
Learning to Master the Downsped Driveline
09 Jul 2021
Contributed by Lukas
Cruising down the highway at 900 rpm takes a bit of getting used to. Some drivers don’t like the way the truck feels, while others can’t get used ...
GHG Phase 2 Will Change How We Build Diesel Engines
09 Jul 2021
Contributed by Lukas
It’s going to take a lot more than better aerodynamics and low-rolling resistance tires to meet the EPA’s next round of emissions reductions for h...
Volvo Trucks Sees Hydrogen Driving Fossil-free Trucking
14 May 2021
Contributed by Lukas
Volvo Trucks has committed to decarbonizing its share of the road transport system by 2050 using hydrogen fuel cells alongside battery-electric vehicl...
Electric Trucks: The Road to Cost Parity with Diesel
30 Apr 2021
Contributed by Lukas
The market for battery- or fuel-cell-electric trucks is still in its infancy. It could be another 10-15 years before production and deployment numbers...
Has FMCSA finally got hours-of-service right?
28 Apr 2021
Contributed by Lukas
The most recent update to the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration's Hours of Service regulations went live September 29, 2020. They were two y...
Carriers Need to Get Better at Self Defense
28 Apr 2021
Contributed by Lukas
Trucking's response to a crisis often tends to be reactive and defensive. That can leave a carrier on its back-foot when trying to defend a claim in c...
Are Two AI Trucks Twice as Good as One?
03 Apr 2021
Contributed by Lukas
Autonomous truck teaching and testing is in full swing now, with close to a dozen companies in the game right now. One company, Locomation, says it ca...
Aftertreatment Maintenance from A-Z
03 Apr 2021
Contributed by Lukas
Aftertreatment systems remain the source of much confusion and frustration for fleets and drivers alike. In this episode we discuss some of the proble...
HDT Talks Trucking Season 6 Trailer
03 Apr 2021
Contributed by Lukas
Season 6 of HDT Talks Trucking digs into bunch of hot-button issues, from aftertreatment system maintenance -- a perennial headache for fleets, to man...
Will Self-driving Trucks Put Truck Drivers Out of Business?
17 Mar 2021
Contributed by Lukas
HDT Talks Trucking Special Report: Self-driving trucks will obviously displace some drivers. The question everyone is asking is how many and when. The...
Leadership Insights: Turning Trends into Actions
23 Feb 2021
Contributed by Lukas
From the latest in data intelligence to effectively using data to improve safety and operations, Dr. Ashim Bose, Omnitracs' chief data and AI officer,...
Leadership Insights: Efficiency, Productivity and Smaller Fleets Too
23 Feb 2021
Contributed by Lukas
Data is the key to profitability. Omnitracs' chief data and AI officer, Dr. Ashim Bose, focuses on how operational data can improve efficiency and pro...
Leadership Insights: Taking Safety to the Edge
23 Feb 2021
Contributed by Lukas
Data flows by the gigabyte from trucks today. Much of that data can help make your drivers safer and keep your drivers safe. From fatigue warnings and...
HDT Editorial Roundtable-Looking back at 2020 and ahead at 2021
08 Jan 2021
Contributed by Lukas
We assembled the editorial team for a look back at 2020 and a look ahead at 2021. Deborah Lockridge, David Cullen, Jack Roberts, and I offer our refle...
Fuel Economy Testing Pioneers Chuck Blake and Bob Wessels
08 Jan 2021
Contributed by Lukas
Chuck Blake and Bob Wessels hardly need an introduction, but for the record, Chuck was Detroit Diesel's senior technical support manager when he retir...
Are You Worried About Cybersecurity? You Should Be.
08 Jan 2021
Contributed by Lukas
The world is electronic now, which means there are doorways into our lives and our business that we'd prefer stayed closed. But as the recent Russian ...
What Can Fleets do About the High Cost of Insurance?
08 Jan 2021
Contributed by Lukas
We're facing what some have called a crisis with insurance costs right now. Premiums continue to escalate in lock step claims costs, from medical expe...
Meet Adam Lang, winner of HDT's Safety & Compliance Award for 2020
08 Jan 2021
Contributed by Lukas
Running a fleet's Human Resources and Safety & Compliance departments would be challenging at any point in time, but more so through a pandemic. A...
HDT Talks Trucking Season 5 Trailer
04 Jan 2021
Contributed by Lukas
Season 5 of HDT Talks Trucking delves into a couple of current industry concerns, insurance costs and cybersecurity. Andrew Ladebauche and Brian Runne...
On the Road to Smarter Smart Trailers
15 Dec 2020
Contributed by Lukas
HDT Talks Trucking Special Report: Smart Trailers Smart Trailers are upending how truck fleets do business. These formerly brainless boxes are now pro...
Everything You Need to Know about Hydrogen Fuel Cells
13 Nov 2020
Contributed by Lukas
HDT Talks Trucking Special Report: Hydrogen Fuel Cells. Hydrogen fuel cells' place in the heavy-duty trucking market is not well understood. Many see ...
The Need for Sleep
02 Nov 2020
Contributed by Lukas
Truck drivers' lifestyles and work environments don't always compliment their need for restful and restorative sleep. In an industry where much of the...
HDT's Alternative Fuel Overview
20 Oct 2020
Contributed by Lukas
Decades will pass before diesel disappears from our vocabulary. Despite what you may have read on the internet, no single alternative energy source wi...
What Penske Has Learned About Electric Trucks, So Far
16 Oct 2020
Contributed by Lukas
We know there will be challenges integrating electric trucks into traditional fleets, but until recently we haven't had many real-world examples from ...
Yes Virginia, Diesel Does Have a Future
15 Oct 2020
Contributed by Lukas
Rumors surrounding the death of diesel are, as Mark Twain once said, greatly exaggerated. While some people can't wait for the last puff of smoke from...
Renewable Natural Gas, the Energy Source Nobody's Talking About
15 Oct 2020
Contributed by Lukas
The search for cleaner energy sources for transportation is taking trucking in some interesting directions, but one source is often overlooked or even...
What Can we Learn from Truck Crash Investigations?
15 Oct 2020
Contributed by Lukas
Truck accidents usually bring tragic results, but some good can come from the follow up investigation. The National Transportation Safety Board doesn'...
HDT Talks Trucking Season 4 Trailer
07 Oct 2020
Contributed by Lukas
Season 4 rounds out our first year of podcasts, and what an interesting year it's been. This season we look at the future of fuel, including battery e...
Cops & Robots: How Do We Enforce Robotic Trucks?
07 Oct 2020
Contributed by Lukas
AUTONOMOUS TRUCKS SPECIAL REPORT: There are only a few dozen autonomous trucks on America's highways today, but the Commercial Vehicle Safety Alliance...
Are Autonomous Truck Ready for the Road?
08 Sep 2020
Contributed by Lukas
AUTONOMOUS TRUCKS SPECIAL REPORT: Mary “Missy” Cummings calls herself a techno-realist. By day, she's a professor at Duke University and the direc...
Robotic Trucking, the Waymo Way
08 Sep 2020
Contributed by Lukas
AUTONOMOUS TRUCKS SPECIAL REPORT: Vijaysai (Vijay) Patnaik helped start and is now the Product Lead for Waymo’s self-driving trucks program. He says...
Keeping Drivers Healthier and Happier During the Pandemic
29 Jul 2020
Contributed by Lukas
Staying healthy while living in a truck is a tough thing to do at the best of times. Staying healthy and positive becomes doubly difficult living unde...
Truck Safety’s Most Wanted
17 Jul 2020
Contributed by Lukas
What are the most important truck safety improvements in the eyes of the folks who investigate transportation accidents? The National Transportation S...
Meet HDT's 2020 Fleet Innovators, Part 2
17 Jul 2020
Contributed by Lukas
Innovation comes in all shapes and sizes, from listening to your employees for the little tweaks that make their workdays more productive, to be a tes...
How to Improve Driver Retention
17 Jul 2020
Contributed by Lukas
Driver turnover is a costly problem, but it's doubly hard to swallow when you already have good drivers, but you can hang onto them. Jim Park's guests...
Meet HDT's 2020 Truck Fleet Innovators, Part 1
17 Jul 2020
Contributed by Lukas
What do maintenance data, safety technology, and more efficient pup trailers have in common? They’re all tactics taken by HDT’s 2020 Truck Fleet I...
The Future of Fuel Economy
17 Jul 2020
Contributed by Lukas
Sometime later this year the first of the GHG 2021 trucks will hit dealer lots. To meet the first round of GHG reduction targets, these trucks will be...
Could Autonomous Trucks Still be Decades Away?
17 Jul 2020
Contributed by Lukas
Stefan Seltz-Axmacher created and ran Starsky Robotics, billed as the first venture to operate a truly driverless truck on a public highway. The compa...
Season Three Trailer
18 Jun 2020
Contributed by Lukas
HDT Talks Trucking's third season casts an eye toward the future. We talk with Stefan Seltz-Axmacher, the CEO and co-founder of now-defunct driverless...
Surviving COVID-19
10 Jun 2020
Contributed by Lukas
Kansas City-based team lease-operators Chanté and Chris Drew contracted COVID-19 in late March while on the road. For the next nine days, the truckin...
Truck Driving During a Pandemic (Part I)
07 May 2020
Contributed by Lukas
Meet seven drivers who live on the front line of the battle with COVID-19. They mix and mingle with shippers and receivers, other drivers at truck sto...
Truck Driving During a Pandemic (Part II)
07 May 2020
Contributed by Lukas
Part II continues the discussion with seven truck drivers who are out in the wild working during the pandemic. In this episode, they discuss the steps...
How Can Fleets Reduce Unscheduled Downtime?
31 Mar 2020
Contributed by Lukas
Some fleets manage to do a very good job with certain maintenance tasks. That begs the question: if some fleets are so good at maintenance, why can't ...
Making Sense of All Those Economic Numbers
31 Mar 2020
Contributed by Lukas
HDT editor-in-chief, Deborah Lockridge speaks with veteran trucking industry analyst and HDT columnist, Jeff Kauffman, who is also the managing direct...
Electric Trucks Might Not be as Easy as We First Thought
31 Mar 2020
Contributed by Lukas
Vehicle electrification is probably the most profound change ever to hit transportation -- and the trucking industry in particular -- but getting thos...
Self-driving Trucks: Savior or Scourge for Trucking?
31 Mar 2020
Contributed by Lukas
Driverless trucks are still a few years off when you talk about the long-haul sector, but they are already in play on other markets, such as drayage a...
Meet HDT’s Emerging Leaders
31 Mar 2020
Contributed by Lukas
Where is the next generation of trucking leaders coming from? HDT editor-in-chief, Deborah Lockridge, discusses HDT’s annual Emerging Leaders awards...
Does California's AB-5 law mean the end of the owner-operator?
31 Mar 2020
Contributed by Lukas
There have long been allegations of employee misclassification in the trucking industry, especially among companies that abuse the lease-purchase cont...
Season Two Trailer
12 Mar 2020
Contributed by Lukas
Are truck owner-operators trucking entrepreneurs, or poorly disguised employees? HDT’s editors dig into the issue of employee misclassification, Cal...
What Does the Delay of the Entry-Level Driver Training Rule Mean for Trucking?
19 Feb 2020
Contributed by Lukas
The entry-level driver training requirements were a long time coming – and now they’re going to be even longer, as the Federal Motor Carrier Safet...
ELDs: The Gift That Keeps on Giving
18 Feb 2020
Contributed by Lukas
Once the final deadline for mandatory electronic logging devices came and went on Dec. 18, 2019, you might have thought that was the end of the story....
How Do We Get Started with Electric Trucks?
04 Feb 2020
Contributed by Lukas
We’ve written a lot about electric trucks over the past five years or so. Yet there’s still a lot we don’t know about how they’re going to wor...
Does Trucking Have a Drug Problem?
04 Feb 2020
Contributed by Lukas
There’s been a lot of recent activity on the drug-testing front in trucking: The debut of FMCSA’s long-awaited Drug and Alcohol Clearinghouse, a d...
How Far Have We Come with Electric Trucks?
21 Jan 2020
Contributed by Lukas
It seems that hardly a week goes by here at Heavy Duty Trucking that we aren’t reporting on something related to electric trucks, so we’re digging...
What Does It Take to Turn Around a Fleet with a Sagging Safety Record?
21 Jan 2020
Contributed by Lukas
What can trucking companies do to improve their safety records? Under the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration's Compliance, Safety, Accountabi...
Season One Trailer
08 Jan 2020
Contributed by Lukas
Listen to a preview of what's to come on the HDT Talks Trucking podcast! HDT Equipment Editor, Jim Park, gives an overview of what topics the podcast ...