The Fleet Lead

Autonomous spotlight: Torc Robotics driving Freightliners

Autonomous trucking has real-world operations today—and the developers have bold plans for commercialization within the next two years. This week, the Fleet Lead's Jeremy Wolfe is hosting interviews with four of the industry's autonomous developers.
Torc Robotics is integrating autonomous software into the Freightliner Cascadia, the most popular Class 8 truck in the U.S. for many years. The developer is also using generative AI to develop training simulations for its virtual driver. Andrew Culhane, Torc’s chief commercial officer, describes the company’s work and the state of the technology.
Timestamps:
1:54 - Benefits of autonomous vehicles
4:56 - The growing pains a carrier might face
6:12 - What makes Torc unique?
8:29 - Torc’s current operations
10:19 - Recent major milestones
18:09 - Torc's near-future plans.

Autonomous spotlight: Bot Auto narrowing cost per mile

Autonomous trucking has real-world operations today—and the developers have bold plans for commercialization within the next two years. This week, the Fleet Lead's Jeremy Wolfe is hosting interviews with four of the industry's autonomous developers.
Bot Auto operates its own autonomous truck fleet to pursue a transportation-as-a-service model, vying for the business of shippers and brokers. The company is focused on minimizing its cost per mile, achieving costs significantly below its competitors. Xiaodi Hou, Bot Auto's founder and CEO, joins the Fleet Lead to talk about the state of autonomous trucking.
Timestamps:
0:34 - Benefits of autonomous technology
2:24 - Challenges to autonomous operation
6:41 - The history of Bot Auto
8:43 - The "Transportation as a Service" model
11:27 - Cost per mile compared to competitors
16:32 - Bot Auto's active truck fleet
19:58 - Texas partnerships
22:54 - Bot Auto's future roadmap

Autonomous spotlight: Kodiak's focus on AI

Autonomous trucking has real-world operations today—and the developers have bold plans for commercialization within the next two years. This week, the Fleet Lead's Jeremy Wolfe is hosting interviews with four of the industry's autonomous developers.
Kodiak AI is a public autonomous truck developer with a focus on OEM-agnostic upfitting and edge computing. It achieved some of the first major autonomous milestones in recent years under its partnership with Atlas Energy. Here Don Burnette, founder and CEO of Kodiak AI, describes the state of autonomy today and outlines the company's achievements.

This week in trucking: New vocational trucks, legal decisions

Here are the big stories from this week in trucking as of March 5:
OEMs announced two new vocational trucks
The Trump administration is changing independent contractor classification
The Supreme Court is hearing arguments around broker liability
Torc Robotics is moving autonomous hauls to Michigan
Bot Auto is working with a broker for Texas hauls
Diesel prices jumped 9 cents
 

Trucking's "Law and Order" Era: Incoming TCA President Jim Mullen on FMCSA crackdowns, freight recessions, and emissions course corrections

Jim Mullen is replacing Jim Ward as president of the Truckload Carriers Association in early April. How will Mullen use his deep trucking industry experience—as a former mega-carrier executive, past FMCSA acting administrator, and leader in autonomous trucking and the Clean Freight Coalition—to guide the truckload sector through a massive regulatory shift?
FleetOwner's Josh Fisher sat down with Mullen at TCA's Truckload 2026 to discuss his "360-degree" perspective and his strategy for navigating trucking's new era of enforcement and economic recovery.
Timestamps:
0:40 - Industry sentiment
4:15 - Career background
7:30 - Lobbying and regulatory relations
10:30 - Impact of enforcement
13:20 - Hours of Service (HOS) pilot
16:00 - Clean Freight Coalition's future
24:20 - Autonomous technology
27:50 - Advice for carriers

This week in trucking: Tariff reruns, FMCSA wants more English proficiency

Here are the headlines from this week in trucking as of February 26:
The Supreme Court struck down IEEPA tariffs
FMCSA is continuing its driver qualification crackdown
Daimler revealed its next heavy-duty engine
Spot rates increased over 2 cents
Diesel prices jumped 10 cents

Daimler Truck's next diesel engine and the urgency of fleet renewal

As EPA's new NOx standards creep nearer, Daimler Truck North America this month revealed its next generation of complaint heavy-duty engines. The Detroit-branded Gen 6 diesel engines will be available in 13-, 15-, and 16-liter options that meet the looming 35-milligram NOx limit, and will power future Freightliner and Western Star trucks.
In the historic Detroit Manufacturing Plant, FleetOwner's Josh Fisher talks with David Carson, SVP of sales and marketing at DTNA, about the new engine, the state of on-highway and vocational trucking, and Carson's advice for fleets. To avoid a repeat of the 2022 capacity crunch and manage the rising maintenance costs of aging equipment, Carson advises fleet managers to "order early, order often" rather than waiting for perfect economic certainty.

Is manufacturing coming back to U.S.? Reshoring Institute talks tariffs, China, nearshoring

The relocation of manufacturing back to the U.S. could be a boon for domestic freight. The pandemic recently spurred business interest in reshoring, but tariff volatility also paralyzed many investment decisions. Rosemary Coates, executive director of the Reshoring Institute, explains the current state of U.S. reshoring.
Timestamps:
00:42 - The Reshoring Institute's mission
04:00 - Global supply chain vulnerability
06:30 - Tariff volatility and business paralysis
12:45 - Manufacturing moving to Mexico

This week in trucking: emissions rollback, non-domiciled oversight

Here are the trucking industry's headlines this week, as of February 12:
EPA finalizes removal of trucks’ greenhouse gas regulations
FMCSA makes another attempt to tighten non-domiciled CDLs
TCA's next president will be Jim Mullen
In fuel, diesel prices rose by 1 cent

Ford Pro's take on tech shortage, work truck TCO, and journey to zero downtime

Modern work trucks have become very advanced, and OEMs' strategies to manage those trucks even more advanced. Ford Pro's Eric Rice, general manager of U.S. fleet sales, details the industry's latest trends: driver assistance, predictive maintenance, the technician shortage, and more.
Timestamps:
02:23 - Total cost of ownership
07:35 - Advanced safety tech
11:35 - The technician shortage
16:30 - Machine learning for actionable data
18:30 - Race to zero downtime