Trucking's year in review: Uncertainty

The Fleet Lead’s editors share a retrospective on 2025 and a look ahead to 2026, focusing on the industry’s latest problems: freight demand and regulatory uncertainty.

In 2025, the three-year economic slump continued to drag on. Fleets and manufacturers struggled to plan for the future as a new administration muddied the industry’s future. Electric vehicle hype died down.

How will these challenges take shape in 2026, and who will come out on top?

Featuring John Hitch from Fleet Maintenance, Josh Fisher from FleetOwner, Kevin Jones from Trailer Body Builders, and Jason McDaniel from Bulk Transporter.

Timestamps:

• 1:07 - The never-ending recession
• 5:41 - Driver quality
• 8:15 - FET repeal: Pipedream?
• 11:37 - EVs on the backburner
• 15:25 - Tariff impacts
• 23:05 - Looking for a positive outlook

Predictions for 2026

• 32:57 - Josh Fisher: Autonomous trucking
• 33:51 - Jason McDaniel: No pre-buy & tech integration
• 36:25 - Kevin Jones: Market share shakeup
• 37:15 - John Hitch: AI tools