DRIVING VOLVO’S VNX HEAVY-HAULER

I love driving trucks and I’ll travel anywhere to do so, but there’s something special about driving them in your own neck of the woods over familiar roadways. I had…

AND DRIVING A GREAT BIG FREIGHTLINER

Next up was the Freightliner 122SD tri-drive heavy-haul tractor; a Canadian spec’ that will find a home in the Alberta oilfields. This beast featured a large classic-styled hood, a 70-inch…

DRIVING A LITTLE FREIGHTLINER

With the Freightliner business sessions behind us, it was time to hit the streets of Yountville, Calif. and surrounding highways in a variety of Freightliner trucks. I first opted for…

FREIGHTLINER’S VOCATIONAL FOCUS PAYING OFF

Four years ago, at a press event in Napa Valley, Calif., Freightliner declared it was going to get serious about the vocational truck market. The company said it wouldn’t rest…

SOME (ALLEGEDLY) DRUNK GUY IN A TRUCK TAKES OUT BURLINGTON SKYWAY

Well, unfortunately the biggest news concerning the trucking industry these days – if you’re to judge by column inches in the mainstream newspapers – was the guy who slammed a…

Freightliner announces new options for vocational trucks

NAPA VALLEY, Cali. — Freightliner, in its ongoing quest to control the vocational truck market, has added new options to its M2 and SD truck models. “We are dedicated to…

How Freightliner conquered the vocational truck market

Five years ago, Freightliner set out to become a vocational truck leader. Now it claims it has accomplished that goal. Here's how they did it.

Freightliner looks to limit downtime to three days, max

NAPA VALLEY, Cali. — Freightliner has set an internal goal to limit the downtime of its vehicles to no more than three days, for even major repairs. Richard Howard, the…

TransForce to take over Contrans in mega-merger (Updated with Analysts’ Reactions)

MONTREAL, Que. — Canada’s largest trucking firm, TransForce, has made a friendly, board-approved takeover bid for Contrans, another of Canada’s largest, publicly traded trucking firms. The proposed deal was for $14.60 per…

Technology’s making trucking cool again

I just returned from a couple of weeks spent in Germany, where I had the opportunity to see some incredible new technologies that have the potential to drastically and…

No job too large

Penske's Lloyd De Merchant has been named Fleet Maintenance Manager of the Year

WHAT WOMEN DEAL WITH

There’s a really good article on Trucknews.com now from Motortruck Fleet Executive editor Carolyn Gruske. It’s called A Woman’s Job and looks at the types of issues women in the…

ZF WITH A TRUCK THAT CAN BE PARKED BY TABLET. AND A NEW TRANSMISSION.

James here. There’s one thing I can’t neglect to write about in this week’s Hooked Up, and that is ZF’s recent demonstration of technological capabilities. The company hosted about 150…

PASSING THE PEN TO PENNER

Well, this is a first. Since I launched Hooked Up five years ago, I’ve never turned over the reins to a guest contributor, no strings attached. But that’s exactly what…

PROFESSIONAL DRIVERS VS. FAST FOOD EMPLOYEES

There’s been a lot in the news regarding temporary foreign worker programs and the government’s tightening of the rules in an attempt to stem the flow of foreign workers entering…