Equipment

About Equipment News...

Commercial freight transportation is a machine-based business. Highly technical equipment and advanced engineering are at the center of supply chain and require constant innovation. Transport Topics equipment coverage focuses on the machines and other physical assets that make delivery possible. It looks closely at available truck, trailer, and chassis models, developments in the engineering space, and maintenance innovations and best practices. 

Technology, Equipment

Tuned In

Longhaul trucking can be a difficult and isolating job, but some fleets have turned to electronic in-cab entertainment to keep drivers connected and boost their job satisfaction. And when drivers are satisfied, better retention and recruiting numbers often follow.

Katie Pyzyk | Special to Transport Topics
October 11, 2017

Daily Briefings from Transport Topics

Transport Topics has partnered with Spoken Layer to make one-minute daily briefings available on all your smart devices. Simply say “Alexa, play Transport Topics” or “Okay Google, talk to Transport Topics” to get the day’s biggest trucking headlines.

Government, Business, Technology, Equipment, Safety

FMCSA Grants Truck Renting and Leasing Association a Limited Five-Year ELD Exemption

The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration announced that it is granting the Truck Renting and Leasing Association a five-year exemption from a federal requirement that all trucks be equipped with electronic logging devices to record drivers’ hours of service.

Eric Miller | Senior Reporter
October 11, 2017
Business, Technology, Equipment, Safety, Fuel, Autonomous

VW to Roll Out Electric Trucks, Buses in $1.7 Billion Project

Volkswagen AG is flanking its push into electric cars with plans to roll out battery-powered commercial vehicles targeted at urban areas as growing public concerns about air quality boost demand.

Christoph Rauwald | Bloomberg News
October 11, 2017
Government, Business, Technology, Equipment, Safety, Autonomous, TCA

Iowa DOT Seeks Volunteers for Self-Driving Car Research

Some of Iowa’s leaders in automated vehicle research are seeking volunteers to help test the results of high-definition mapping and data collection.

Mitchell Schmidt | The Gazette (Cedar Rapids, Iowa)
October 10, 2017
Business, Technology, Equipment, Safety, Fuel, Autonomous

Tesla’s Model 3 Bottlenecks Delay Unveiling of Semi-Truck

Tesla Inc. pushed back the reveal of its semi-truck by three weeks as CEO Elon Musk focuses on boosting production of the cheaper sedan that the electric-car maker is counting on to dramatically increase sales.

Anne Riley Moffat | Bloomberg News
October 10, 2017
Business, Technology, Equipment, Autonomous

It’s No Use Honking. The Robot at the Wheel Can’t Hear You

As auto accidents go, it wasn’t much: twelve minutes before noon on a cool June day, a Chevrolet Bolt was rear-ended as it crawled from a stop light in downtown San Francisco.

Ryan Beene | Bloomberg News
October 10, 2017
Business, Equipment, Logistics

Ports of Seattle, Tacoma Face Chassis Shortage

Truck drivers are facing a shortage of chassis to haul 40- and 45-foot containers from the ports of Seattle and Tacoma, according to The Northwest Seaport Alliance.

Ari Ashe | Staff Reporter
October 9, 2017
Business, Technology, Equipment, Safety, Autonomous, TCA

GM Buys Lidar Startup Strobe to Accelerate Self-Driving Cars

General Motors announced Oct. 9 that it is buying Strobe, a Pasadena startup that makes lidar, a laser-based sensor that most autonomous vehicles use to see the world around them.

David R. Baker | Bloomberg News
October 9, 2017
Business, Equipment

Craig Schneider Takes Over as President, Firestone Industrial Products

Firestone Industrial Products has named Craig Schneider president.

October 9, 2017
Business, Equipment

Orbcomm Bolsters Freight Telematics Business With Purchase of Blue Tree Systems

Orbcomm Inc. moved to fortify its global freight telematics service with the purchase of Blue Tree Systems Limited International, a company based in Galway, Ireland, but with extensive business in the United States, Germany and France.

Daniel P. Bearth | Staff Writer
October 9, 2017