This year was expected to be pivotal for the trucking equipment market, but market headwinds, regulatory rollbacks, and tariffs pushed much of the freight and transportation industries into a standstill. Despite fleets having less appetite for new equipment and alternative technologies, leading industry OEMs rolled out new trucks and powertrains in 2025.
Industry leaders continued to focus on efficiency, from the ongoing electrification with the debut of battery-electric trucks from Peterbilt and Kenworth to the resurgence of internal combustion with new, specialized engines from Volvo Trucks and Cummins.
Manufacturers also introduced redesigned, next-generation models such as the Mack Pioneer and the Volvo VNR, alongside significant infrastructure investments, including Isuzu's new $280 million manufacturing facility. Here is a look at the top 10 stories that captured FleetOwner readers’ attention in 2025.
10. Peterbilt expands electric truck lineup with vocational 567EV and next-gen 579EV
Leaning on what it learned from its first heavy-duty battery-electric truck, Peterbilt is rolling out its first vocational EV and updating its flagship Class 8 electric tractor. Equipped with Paccar’s new ePowertrain, the new Model 567EV and next-generation Model 579EV offer increased range and advanced technology for fleets seeking to reduce emissions and enhance uptime.
“The completely new ePowertrain is the heart of the new EV models and a culmination of five-plus years of arduous testing and developing a battery-electric platform befitting a Peterbilt,” Erik Johnson, the OEM’s assistant GM of sales and marketing, said during a sneak peek of the new trucks in Texas this past April. Read more…
9. Kenworth debuts vocational-focused Class 8 battery-electric truck: the T880E
Logos can often be iconic. A single graphic, patch, or emblem can represent an entire brand or company. Those in the trucking industry know the Kenworth logo. It rests on every grille of Kenworth trucks: the vertical red-and-white stripes and the bold K and W in white.
But recently, Kenworth made a change and updated its logo to get the word out. Identical to the classic red KW logo except for its light blue coloring, it signifies Kenworth’s zero-emission lineup. While the BEVs are the only zero-emission Kenworth trucks available today, the truck manufacturer plans to bring additional zero-emission vehicles to the market in the future, Sarah Abernathy, Kenworth’s advanced powertrain marketing manager, told FleetOwner. Read more…
8. Jeep builds Wagoneer for law enforcement, VIP protection
Stellantis and the Jeep brand recently expanded their law enforcement lineup with the debut of the Jeep Wagoneer Command Operations Vehicle. According to Stellantis, the Wagoneer COV was designed at the request of, and in collaboration with, federal, state, and local government agencies for law enforcement fleet use and VIP protection.
The newest law enforcement vehicle in the Stellantis lineup features a 3.0L Hurricane Twin Turbo I6 engine capable of producing a maximum of 420 hp and 468 lb.-ft. of torque. This powertrain allows the Wagoneer COV to get from 0 to 60 mph in 6.3 seconds. It’s also equipped with a 240-amp alternator and a Quadra-Lift air suspension system. Read more…
7. Volvo D13 VGT engine: A new turbo engine for regional operations
Along with rolling out an all-new VNR tractor in 2025, Volvo Trucks North America launched a new turbo engine designed to power regional operations better. The Volvo D13 Variable Geometry Turbo Engine was unveiled with the new VNR during an event at the American Trucking Associations’ 2025 Technology & Maintenance Council exhibition in Nashville earlier this year.
The new Volvo D13 VGT engine will be standard on the new VNR and will be available on the Volvo VNL day cab that launched last year. The D13 VGT engine builds on the improvements launched with the D13 Turbo Compound engine standard on the Volvo VNL. While the turbo-compound engine is tailored for long-haul and highway cruising, the new VGT engine is designed for stop-and-go operations in regional hauls. Read more…
6. Isuzu breaks ground on $280 million South Carolina manufacturing facility
Isuzu hosted a groundbreaking ceremony to mark its plan to produce 50,000 trucks per year by 2030. With the South Carolina governor, the global and North American CEOs, and several high-ranking executives and state officials from the U.S. and Japan in attendance, the ceremony marked the start of construction on a new Isuzu Trucks production facility—a $280 million investment that will require more than 700 employees upon completion.
While a 1,000,000-sq.-ft. facility already rests on the 200-plus-acre lot, Isuzu will spend the next 14-18 months modifying the building and several surrounding acres to accommodate production lines for the N-Series Gas, N-Series Electric, and F-Series Diesel trucks, as well as clearing land for assembled truck storage. Read more…
5. How JB Poindexter & Co. built a $2.5B truck body empire
Forty years ago in 1985, JB Poindexter and Co., a manufacturing conglomerate of work truck and van products, was just getting started. Since then, JBPCO and its nine business units have grown so valuable for the industry that if JBPCO were “vaporized today,” the industry would be in a state of “severe distress,” owner John Poindexter told FleetOwner. “A lot of competitors couldn’t begin to fill the void that we would have left behind,” he said.
That void would be felt immediately in products such as step van bodies, service and utility bodies, and more. According to JBPCO’s website, the company’s Morgan Truck Body business unit holds 45% of the medium truck body market, while Poindexter said it's closer to 50%. The Morgan Olson brand has 66% of the step van market, according to the JBPCO website, and 90% of the Class 5 delivery market, Poindexter said.
And JBPCO continues to grow despite industry headwinds amid transportation uncertainties in 2025. Read more…
4. No need to max out your tires
Federal regulations require specific information to be molded on the sidewall of a truck tire. The size, date of manufacture, and maximum load-carrying capacity are among the mandated markings for all truck tires sold in the U.S.
There are also performance requirements that are not optional. Manufacturers must mold the letters “DOT” on the sidewall to indicate it meets those standards. It’s a self-certification, so all the manufacturer has to do is submit the test data that shows the tire meets the requirements.
Another key piece of information on every tire sidewall is the required inflation pressure to carry the maximum load. Many people confuse this with the maximum inflation pressure, but that is not the case. Read more…
3. Cummins’ new engines: 7.2L Diesel, 6.7L Turbo, and gasoline for work trucks, pickups
Trucking industry trade shows spent the first half of this decade highlighting potential zero-emission projects without mass adoption. But Cummins used NTEA’s 2025 Work Truck Week to remind the industry it is powered by internal combustion.
In addition to using the Indianapolis exhibit hall to launch a new medium-duty diesel engine, Cummins showcased three of its latest engines for the medium-duty and vocational markets: X10 diesel, B6.7 Octane, and 6.7L Turbo Diesel.
“There’s no company in America that could have a display like this. We don’t even have our heavy-duty offering here—we would need another full booth,” boasted Jose Samperio, Cummins North America on-highway VP, during a presentation. “There is no one that has this broad of portfolio of internal combustion engines in America as we do here at Cummins.” Read more…
2. Volvo redesigns VNR as regional Class 8 workhorse for urban, bulk, and flatbed haulers
A year after the North American truck maker reimagined its flagship long-haul tractor, Volvo Trucks refreshed its regional Class 8 truck to meet the growing demands of urban delivery, bulk, and flatbed haulers.
With a tighter turning radius, the all-new Volvo VNR is built for shorter-range operations, such as urban delivery. It also features improved aerodynamics and can be spec’d in sleeper configurations for longer hauls. Volvo Trucks North America unveiled the new tractor in Nashville during the American Trucking Associations’ 2025 Technology & Maintenance Council exhibition.
The new VNR shares a common platform with Volvo’s flagship VNL, which began serial production in 2024. “Both of the trucks have been built from essentially 90% new here in the U.S.,” Bobby Compton, VTNA product marketing manager for regional haul, told FleetOwner before VNR’s public debut. Read more…
1. Mack’s new ‘badass’ highway truck shows off OEM’s pioneering, hard-working attitude
For 125 years, Mack Trucks has been synonymous with American power and toughness. But the trucking pioneer wanted its next on-highway truck to meet its own B.A. test.
“What is the 'B.A. test'?” Fernando Couceiro, Mack Trucks' highway and product VP, asked industry media before the new Mack Pioneer truck was unveiled in Brooklyn, New York, this past winter. “It has to look badass … We don’t like pretty or cute. We like badass.”
Mack used its New York City roots as the backdrop to debut the most aerodynamic highway truck in its long history, creating 11% better fuel efficiency than the Mack Anthem. The new Mack Pioneer is designed for fleet efficiency that makes hard-working drivers’ jobs easier, Couceiro said hours before the truck was unveiled during a 125th birthday party at the Brooklyn Navy Yard. Read more…
In addition to these articles, FleetOwner publishes several popular annual features that attract attention across the trucking and transportation industries. These include our annual looks at the largest commercial transportation systems in the U.S., the FleetOwner 500: For-Hire and FleetOwner 500: Private Fleets.
Our annual profiles of women in the industry, Women in Transportation 2025, were published this spring. Each year, FleetOwner recognizes the transportation operations of private fleets with the FleetOwner Private Fleet of the Year award. This fall, we expanded and rebranded our annual New Models into the 2025 FleetOwner vehicle guide, our largest-ever look at the next generation of heavy-duty, medium-duty, light-duty, and alternative-powered trucks and vans.
We wrapped up the year with the 2025 Trucking By the Numbers feature, an infographic highlighting the facts and figures shaping the trucking and transportation industries.
To view what's ahead for FleetOwner in the new year, please check out our 2026 Media Kit.
About the Author
Josh Fisher
Editor-in-Chief
Editor-in-Chief Josh Fisher has been with FleetOwner since 2017. He covers everything from modern fleet management to operational efficiency, artificial intelligence, autonomous trucking, alternative fuels and powertrains, regulations, and emerging transportation technology. Based in Maryland, he writes the Lane Shift Ahead column about the changing North American transportation landscape.