The following employment announcements were made in the trucking industry the week of May 5, 2024:  TuSimple named Albert Schultz and Jianan Hau to the board of directors. Schultz is an independent director who served with the CIA and worked as an entrepreneur. Hao is TuSimple's chief operating officer.  ..read more

Fullbay unveiled new products and updates to its Fullbay Connect platform during the company’s Diesel Connect conference this week in Phoenix. The upcoming launch, featuring three distinct product offerings,Two-Way Texting, Fullbay Marketplace, and Fullbay Financials, represents the largest product launch in Fullbay history and signifies the forward trajectory and growth of the company within the industry.  The three products announced were developed to provide significant additional support to heavy-duty repair owners and colleagues, helping them run and manage their shops more effective ..read more

Range Energy and Thermo King are collaborating to advance commercialization of electric refrigerated trailers, the companies announced Thursday.  The partnership will allow both companies to work on an electric trailer system integrating Range's platform with Thermo King's hybrid trailer refrigeration units (TRUs) and electric TRUs.  "Accelerating the commercial adoption of electric trailers is essential to helping fleet owners and operators meet emerging emissions reduction goals and mandates," says Ali Javidan, founder and CEO of Range. "Working with Thermo King to advance electric ..read more

Fontaine Modification recently rolled the 20,000th truck off the line at its Statesville, North Carolina, modification center. It's a 2024 Freightliner Cascadia Class 8 tractor for Penske Truck Leasing.  The Statesville plant, which builds about 50 trucks per week, supports trucks built at Freightliner Cleveland and the Mt. Holly Truck Manufacturing Plant, as well as the Freightliner Custom Chassis Manufacturing Plant in South Carolina.  "Along with celebrating the delivery of the 20,000th truck from Statesville, we also celebrate our valued employees for their commitment to producin ..read more

Dayton Parts has added another group of part numbers to its aftermarket offering.  The new parts include a direct replacement air cooler clamp for Mack MP7 and MP8 engines years 1995 to 2022, and Volvo D11 and D13 engines 1996 to 2022. Also available is a factory fit valve cover gasket for multiple 2005 to 2007 Navistar engines, and two heavy-duty deck plates for universal applications. Dayton says the deck plates options are 32 in. by 32 in., or 22 in. by 32 in. Both are black and 2 in., thick. The new products are available today, the company adds ..read more

National Truck Protection Co. (NTP Co.) is rolling out its new ELECTRONIX components coverage package to all its commercial truck equipment protection plans selling partners in the U.S. and Canada. The expansion includes Class 2-7 vehicles after the Class 8 trucks introduction generated strong interest from dealers and truck owners.  NTP Co. states the new ELECTRONIX Package covers critical electronics and systems that you shouldn’t, or can’t, drive without like adaptive braking, anti-roll sensor, collision avoidance, navigation, power windows/locks, turn signals, wiper motor, and mo ..read more

Truck, trailer and semitrailer chassis and bodies and tractors earned the IRS more than $5 billion in 2022, the latest year for which data is available. It’s a sliver of that year’s $95 billion in total excise tax collections. For truck and equipment dealers, though, the federal excise tax (FET) can mean a big headache and a serious risk to their bottom lines, especially if there’s an audit and more so if unexpected liability is uncovered. And while there’s not one particular thing that triggers an audit, audits do happen, say Ericka Hernandez and Matt Brown with FORVIS. Hernandez and Brown wi ..read more

Financial planning is hard. Fullbay’s Jacob Findlay and Robby Gilbert admit that up front. Fullbay’s annual state of the repair industry survey last year indicated more than half of service shops don’t develop annual business plans, and the duo understands why. It’s not easy to build a financial plan from scratch, especially when you’re also running with your hair on fire every day trying to run a small business. During a session at Wednesday’s Fullbay Diesel Connect conference in Phoenix, the duo told a packed house of shop executives that while building a financial plan might feel like an up ..read more

Detroit Diesel Remanufacturing last week celebrated the grand opening of its plant expansion at its Hibbing, Minn., facility. Detroit Reman says the expanded facility increases its manufacturing and remanufacturing footprint by twice its size. This marks a significant milestone in the company's mission towards innovation and sustainability for battery electric vehicles (BEV), Detroit Reman says, and enables the company to expand its focus to BEV-specific remanufactured parts, including a dedicated space for high-voltage manufacturing components such as batteries and inverters. The facility als ..read more

In the service business, a company’s reputation is often misinterpreted as its brand. But while a good reputation goes a long way toward keeping customers, a brand is vital to bringing new ones in. During Fullbay’s Diesel Connect conference Wednesday in Phoenix, Iron Buffalo co-owner Mike Schwarz shared with Fullbay COO Chris O’Brien how his business has built its brand, and how its helped the company expand its reach its new markets and horizons. Formally known as JE-CO Truck and Trailer, Schwarz says he and his business partner weren’t trucking professionals when they entered the industry. A ..read more