Global vocational leadership

Volvo Trucks leads the vocational and construction segments in many markets globally, with its FMX and VMX trucks found on jobsites across Europe, Asia, Africa, and Latin America, as company representatives emphasized at the preview. Volvo has also spent years serving vocational customers in North America, learning firsthand what the region's toughest jobsites demand.

“We are the only OEM in the world that has yellow machines and a truck manufacturer in one house,” Voorhoeve said. “We combine the knowledge that we already have in the vocational segment all over the world, talking to our customers over here, and then combining it with the knowledge and experience that global construction equipment has on jobsites: How do you organize a jobsite? What is uptime? What does uptime mean? Not just when the wheel loader drives and the truck drives, but when they work together.”

Indeed, Volvo Construction Equipment has built and sold construction machines in the U.S. for more than 50 years.

"Growth in vocational is a natural next step for Volvo Trucks, right as we're seeing stable demand for trucks on construction sites, infrastructure projects, and industrial builds across the country,” Voorhoeve added.

Power generation construction spending is expected to grow nearly 10% annually through 2030, according to construction industry researcher FMI. And federal funding continues to flow into the country's roads and bridges, with states already committing more than $270 billion in highway and bridge investment, according to the American Road & Transportation Builders Association.

Safety built for the jobsite

Of course, it wouldn’t be a Volvo Trucks rollout without an emphasis on safety, a hallmark of the manufacturer.

“The all-new VNX provides the strength to our customers of proven technology and components that are well suited for the North American vocational market. From that strength, we can deliver an incredibly durable truck that's really designed and built for some of the toughest jobsites in North America,” John Moore, Volvo Trucks products marketing manager, told journalists ahead of test drives around the off-road test track at the customer center. “And with strength and durability comes the safest vocational truck we have ever built. It's important that our customers have safe trucks.

"And when you go outside and drive these trucks, I want you to notice the visibility and the maneuverability of the vehicle you're in, and by having a truck like that, it actually makes it safer for drivers, and they do get into crowded job sites where there's a lot going on.”

Vocational jobsites put drivers close to on-site workers, equipment, and unpredictable conditions. The VNX is built to meet that head-on with Volvo's advanced safety systems. It carries forward the same safety platform introduced on the Volvo VNL and Volvo VNR, built around Volvo's vision of zero accidents.

The VNX notably introduces a new feature for tight-space maneuvering: Remote Steer. It gives operators full control of the truck from outside the cab at speeds up to 5 miles per hour, making it especially valuable for any off-road work where drivers have to navigate tight spaces and difficult surroundings.

“I find this exciting every time I do it,” Moore said. “Basically, we made a giant RC truck—so the driver can get out, control the truck with remote control, and can get right next to the truck and guide it. If you ever try to drive a mixer and back it in real close to where they're pouring concrete, you pretty much have to have another person waving you in.

“You can do everything with one person. You can move a crane around with it. Anything where you have to do really tight work around close objects.”

Additionally, the optional pedestrian detection continually scans for people around the truck from 23 to 230 feet out, and blind spot detection, now available on both sides, warns the driver with an amber light and an audible alert when a lane change is not safe. A 360-degree camera system further enhances situational awareness, providing a top-down view around the entire cab.

Cab strength matters just as much: The Volvo VNX uses one-third more ultra high strength steel than legacy vocational products, and optional side curtain airbags make Volvo the only OEM in North America to offer them on a vocational truck, according to the company.

The Volvo VNX also features heat-treated steel frame rails and a clean layout behind the cab so body builders can mount components where they work best. The all-metal grille has a rugged steel mesh backing that keeps debris away from engine components while maintaining airflow, and the steel bumper comes in three configurations to accommodate frame extensions, attachments, and a center tow pin.

The Tough Shield windshield, as demonstrated on press day with an ice cannon, is twice as resistant to sharp impacts and thermal shock as a tempered glass windshield and five times more scratch-resistant.

Under the hood, the VNX runs on the proven D13 platform, now rated up to 540 horsepower and 1,950 lb.-ft. of torque, with an engine brake delivering up to 630 braking horsepower. The engine is certified to EPA 2027 emissions standards in all 50 states.

Driver comfort built in

The interior is designed for the wear and tear of job sites where operators are frequently in and out of the cab all day, with easy-to-clean surfaces that hold up to dirt, dust, and off-road operations.

But a tough cab doesn't have to feel like it. The VNX is built from the driver out, with a cab engineered to cut noise and dampen vibration, so focus extends through long, demanding days.

Volvo Dynamic Steering eases driver strain and keeps the truck steady even when the ground isn't, giving drivers more control with less fatigue behind the wheel. It's a level of comfort drivers don't typically expect from a truck built for this kind of work.

“Vocational work is tough on trucks and drivers. That's why we designed the all-new Volvo VNX with the durability customers expect and technologies that help reduce driver strain,” Voorhoeve said. “Every element is focused on helping customers get the job done while providing superior safety and comfort for the driver.”

And while a 15-minute spin around the test track doesn’t match day-in and day-out demands put on a driver around a jobsite, the well-integrated systems eased the anxiety of an editor not accustomed to some challenging off-road terrain. In several instances, it essentially handled itself.

The benefits of the key elements were obvious:

• Volvo Dynamic Steering, in its light setting, provided low steering effort, minimal road feedback, and improved control through ditches by keeping the steering straight.
• The auto-hold feature and Terrain Brake performed as advertised on a steep incline with no rollback or lurches for a 70,000-lb. dump.
• Visibility over the hood and through the wide cab windows was excellent.

Design elements add up

As detailed by Brian Balicki and Jason Dabel of the Volvo Trucks design team, a vocational truck is a tool designed for a specific purpose. Balicki likened it to screwdrivers: same basic tool, but many types.

“Every solution, every innovation, every invention is focused on the fundamental question: What's the real need, and what's the best solution?” Balicki opened the press briefing. “And then a follow-up can certainly be: How is that solution actually better than what you can find somewhere else?”

And that means lots of discussion with customers about real-world operations before heading to the drawing board.

“We came up with three main keywords that were the inspiration for the VNX,” Balicki said. “The first is athletic, similar to a running back in football, powerful but agile. Then there's this look as well, infusing Americana into the product and being confident on and off the field, broad shoulders, with chiseled features. That brought us to this refined look of a more muscular and aggressive product over the VNL and the VNR that we have today.”

Second on the VNX keyword list: authentic.

“The VNX should be a true reflection of the work it will be doing through genuine and sustainable materials,” Balicki continued. “We feel that this resonates with drivers who want the living-room comfort that they expect to find in the VNX while they're getting their work done.”

And finally, but certainly not least in a vocational truck: capable.

“This is the bridge between the form and the function, because the VNX cannot simply just look the part,” Balicki said. “It needs to have the functions and the right features to perform well on the worksite, especially alongside the biggest pieces of yellow-iron construction equipment.”

For designers, no detail is too small. Every touch point adds to the overall impression and driver experience. The VNX designers referred to it as “color, material, and finish”—or CMF.

And that means the trim levels, inside and out. There’s look and feel, naturally, but for a work truck, that also means well-placed gauges, dials, and switches—and controls that are easily managed on rough terrain or with gloved hands.

“Interior is a space that's really going to be appreciated—mostly by the driver—but to us that makes it really critical to make sure that that is a space where the driver really wants to work,” Dabel said. “I don't think it's an exaggeration to say that we really focused on every detail, big or small, with these trucks.”

Connected beyond the cab

The VNX is Volvo's most connected vocational truck yet.

Every Volvo VNX comes with a factory-installed 4G telematics gateway, powering Remote Diagnostics that monitor the truck 24/7. Remote Programming delivers software and parameter updates over the air so trucks stay on the job instead of sitting in the shop.

And through Volvo Connect, fleet managers get real-time reports on fuel efficiency, location, and safety, giving everyone in the business the data they need to keep operations moving forward.

Start of sales for the all-new Volvo VNX will be announced later this year.