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

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 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

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 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

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

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

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.