The Fleet Lead

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

This week in trucking: CDL crackdown, truck orders plummet

These are the major headlines in trucking, as of December 4:
FMCSA improves ELD review
Truck orders continue to plummet
FCMSA removes 3,000 CDL training providers
Minnesota’s non-domiciled CDLs are in FMCSA’s crosshairs
10 Roads Express is shutting down
Diesel prices dropped 7 cents

Podcast: Ryder recruiter Suzanne Varghese on veteran hiring best practices

When it comes to adding veterans to your fleet or shop, there are plenty of benefits you stand to gain. After all, many veterans bring both hard and soft skills to the table, from technical training to leadership, dedication, and reliability.
For instance, Suzanne Varghese, a gas turbine engine mechanic and maintenance supervisor for the U.S. Navy has parlayed her skills to the civilian world with Ryder as a recruiter. In this episode of The Fleet Lead, listen to Fleet Maintenance's Editor-in-Chief John Hitch, a former submarine sonar technician, discuss vet hiring best practices with Varghese.
And along with commercial vehicle maintenance, this is one area Ryder excels at. Ryder has more than 4,000 veterans on staff and is routinely recognized as a top employer for vets. Since 2011, Ryder has hired more than 15,000 veterans.
Chapters:
1:29 - Varghese's role with Ryder
4:25 - Life as a Navy technician
11:50 - Where and how to recruit veterans
13:42 - How to interview a veteran
17:44 - Veterans' soft skills

Hendrickson's 'Beyond Suspensions' strategy

Hendrickson is a manufacturer and supplier of medium- and heavy-duty suspensions, axle and brake systems, tire pressure control systems, and other products to the global commercial transportation industry.
In this episode of the Fleet Lead Hendrickson’s VP of marketing, Jeff Sass, talks about the company’s ‘Beyond Suspensions’ strategy, American manufacturing, an aftermarket myth, and beyond.
Timestamps:
01:06 - American manufacturing is critical
03:02 - Investing for the rebound
05:09 - What would Magnus think, 100 years on?
06:08 - A trailer is more than a box on wheels
08:09 - Tariffs: Who pays?
12:29 - Down markets are opportunities
13:58 - Myth: Aftermarket grows when new CV sales are down
15:07- Crystal ball: The growing importance of CV equipment

This week in trucking: Freight recession symptoms, Bollinger quits

The major headlines from the week of Nov. 24 in trucking, just before Thanksgiving:
Bollinger Motors is no more
Demand for Class 8 equipment is very weak
Industrial production is doing even worse than expected
The first all-new Mack Pioneers have been delivered
Diesel prices dropped 4 cents

Volvo Trucks on the freight recession, fleet survival, and the bottom line

Volvo Trucks North America launched its new VNL and VNR models in the middle of the prolonged freight recession. While OEMs don't choose the market conditions when they develop a new truck, Peter Voorhoeve, president of VTNA, points to the bright side: the models' fuel efficiency can be a critical tool for carriers' bottom line.
In this episode of the Fleet Lead, Josh Fisher talks with Volvo's Voorhoeve about fleets' equipment acquisition strategies, the current environment of uncertainty, and electric vehicle adoption.
2:07: New trucks launch in longest freight recession
3:42: Fuel savings and equipment replacement advice
7:47: Electric truck focus is waning
11:30: Global strategy and regional markets

This week in trucking: NOx rule stays, Schneider ready for acquisitions

The major headlines from this week in trucking: 
The heavy-duty NOx rule will not be delayed
Schneider is looking for more opportunities for mergers and acquisitions
The Department of Transportation is demanding Pennsylvania revoke non-domiciled CDLs
Pilot Company named its 2025 Road Warrior Champion
Diesel prices rising

How Peterbilt is juggling new vehicle platforms, waiting on the freight recession

Peterbilt is finishing out 2025 with a strong lineup, but just like every other industry stakeholder, they're also waiting to see how the market shifts on alternative powertrains, like electric vehicles and natural gas engines, as well as looking toward the end of the freight recession. To drill down on how fleets can manage their business needs while still operating in plenty of unknowns, Jake White, director of Product Marketing for Peterbilt, sat down to discuss the company's model 579 and 579 EV and how their customers are responding to the various powertrains available to them.
Listen to the interview on this week's episode of The Fleet Lead podcast below or search for The Fleet Lead on your favorite podcast app.
Timestamps:
1:05 - Peterbilt's show trucks and lineup
3:41 - Peterbilt's vocational business
4:58 - Customer sentiment on EVs and natural gas
5:61 - Advice for fleets for when the freight recession ends

Volvo's autonomous roadmap

People in the trucking industry predicted that autonomous trucks would be running in 2019—then it was 2021, 2024... What's the holdup? Sasko Cuklev, Head of On-Road Solutions of Volvo Autonomous Solutions, details the company's strategy for commercializing autonomous trucking and its development of an autonomous ecosystem: digital integration, infrastructure, first responder training, and more. 

Veteran's Day Special: Talking veterans with Nick Smith, a U.S. Marine turned International sensation

Whether they're in the bay or on the road, veterans have both the tangible and intangible skills to succeed in the transportation industry. Whatever the branch of service or mission given, service members by and large have been trained to think on the fly and get the job done no matter what, learn to follow and lead, and manage stress. They also know a thing or two about logistics and how to "hurry up and wait," making them well suited to the transportation industry once their military service has ended.
In this special Veterans Day episode of The Fleet Lead, Fleet Maintenance's Editor-in-Chief John Hitch, a former U.S. Navy submariner, sat down with Nick Smith, the media relations manager at International and former Marine who did two combat tours in Iraq, to discuss his transition from the Corps to a top-notch trucking communicator, how vets in general can help reinforce your fleet or shop's ranks, as well as how to set them up for success.
We also get into how difficult life gets when the mission and adrenaline rushes are over and it's time to return to civilian life, and how trucking can be a lifeline to those who gave their best years to the nation and are desperate for purpose.
Chapters:
Introduction - 00:40
Smith's role at International - 02:47
How veteran's experiences prepare them for work - 05:15
Smith's role and mentorship in the marines - 08:09
On leadership - 11:04
Support after service - 15:28
The stigma against veterans - 25:15
How to prepare for discharge - 31:26