FleetOwner’s galleries this year highlighted the most photogenic news in the trucking industry. Readers loved photo galleries with topics ranging from driver safety to new EV progress to fleet history. Read below for FleetOwner’s top 10 photo galleries of 2023.
10. Continental sets sights on 2030 and commercial tire market
UVALDE, Texas—Continental's expansive Uvalde Proving Grounds, where the global tire manufacturer, other suppliers, and fleets test passenger and commercial vehicles and equipment on 26 diverse courses, isn't for the faint of heart. The conditions are severe, from the various wet and off-road courses to the unforgiving summer temperatures—which hit a heat index of 115 degrees F on this June afternoon—and the critters are eager to devour those who don't take hydration to heart—and end up fainting to the floor.
"They say everything in Texas wants to kill you," warned Ricky Ruiz, a Proving Grounds employee who escorted guests on the off-road handling course. Read more…
9. Japanese-based HW Electro unveils electric cargo van for North American market
NEW YORK—Last-mile deliveries are like fitting the last piece into the puzzle of the supply chain, and the designers of a Japanese electric cargo van believe their vehicle is the missing piece to the U.S. supply chain for light-duty fleets and services.
In front of a group of automotive and commercial fleet media, HW Electro, a Japanese-based electric vehicle manufacturer, revealed its newest vehicle to the North American market, the HW Electro Puzzle. The Puzzle is a commercial van that maximizes cargo space while emitting no greenhouse gases. It was designed with three stakeholders in mind: the owner, the driver, and "everyone else." Read more…
8. Which cities have the worst roads?
Fleet telematics company Teletrac Navman has released a detailed list of the best and worst roads in America using data from transportation research nonprofit Trip.
Road condition is defined using several factors, including the International Roughness Index (IRI), a pavement smoothness measurement calculated annually by the Federal Highway Administration, and the Present Serviceability Rating (PSR), a pavement condition rating also determined by the Federal Highway Administration. Read more…
7. Schneider unveils large-scale SoCal EV charging depot
Schneider National used a splashy ribbon-cutting at its South El Monte Intermodal Operations Center on June 7 to mark the completion of a large-scale electric-vehicle charging depot that the company says will support nearly 100 Freightliner eCascadia electric Class 8s by the end of the year. The company claims its fleet of heavy EVs will be one the world's largest.
The multimodal provider of transportation, intermodal, and logistics services (No. 7 on the FleetOwner 500: Top For-Hire Fleets of 2023) unveiled the depot as part of its partnership in California's Joint Electric Truck Scaling Initiative (JETSI) that puts billions of cap-and-trade dollars to work reducing greenhouse gas emissions. Read more…
6. States with the most fatal truck crashes
Transportation services company Simplex analyzed the latest data from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) to determine which states had the highest proportion of fatal accidents involving large trucks. It measured the percentage of large trucks involved in fatal crashes compared to all fatal vehicle crashes per state to declare the state with the least percentage of truck incidents as the safest for truck drivers.
The study revealed that Michigan is the safest state for truck drivers on the road, as 4.72% of its fatal crashes involve large trucks. The state has recorded 1,567 vehicles involved in life-threatening crashes and 74 involved large trucks, according to NHTSA. Read more…
5. Freightliner’s SuperTruck II previews diesel’s more efficient future
LAS VEGAS—Diesel might not be powering long-haul tractor-trailers decades from now. But the fuel will continue to be the primary energy source for over-the-road freight transportation for the rest of this decade. North America's largest truck maker showed off ways that it plans to squeeze every ounce of efficiency out of a gallon of diesel over the coming years.
With advanced aerodynamics, low-rolling resistance tires, powertrain improvements, and energy management with advanced technologies, Daimler Truck North America has built its most efficient diesel-powered truck in history. It can even roll down the highway without the engine running, thanks to its EcoSail system. Read more…
4. Gallery: MATS 2023 Truck Beauty Championship winners
LOUISVILLE, Kentucky—Trucks are complicated, sophisticated pieces of technology whose rumbling engines are the heartbeat of the economy. But there's another reason so many are attracted to the trucking culture: Trucks are great to look at.
Scores of drivers from the U.S. and Canada made their way to Louisville last week for the 2023 Mid-America Trucking Show to compete in the PKY Truck Beauty Championship—named in honor of Paul K. Young, who started the first show back in 1972. Read more…
3. Gallery: Diagnostic tool must-haves
The annual FleetOwner and Fleet Maintenance Fleet Diagnostics supplement features the best tips, tricks, and tools for diagnostic technicians. This gallery highlights the products that can help make troubleshooting a breeze. Scroll through the gallery above and find more information on the products in the links below. Read more…
2. Gallery: 100 years of Kenworth engineers getting muddy
"Muddy boots" mean more to Kenworth Trucks' engineers than a bit of dirt on steel toes. It represents research, feedback gathering, field testing, and experimentation. Boots might get muddy, but that comes with the job. The phrase is a company-wide concept passed down through Kenworth's 100 years in business.
The OEM's early engineers traveled to customer sites—which included many logging operations in the early days—to look at Kenworth trucks from top to bottom to see how they were holding up in the customer's application. These engineers' boots inevitably become pretty muddy. Read more…
1. Gallery: Trucker safety guide and statistics for 2023
Safety should be at the top of everyone's minds in a trucking operation, but no matter how proactive management is or how well-trained drivers are, crashes will occur. It's important for safety personnel and truckers to know the riskiness of various situations.
For that reason, Hale Trailer Brake & Wheel has created a series of infographics that lay out the most recent data in road safety: what situations are the most dangerous, what types of crashes are most common, and what factors are most important to look at when assessing risk. Read more…
