Jim Park

Former HDT Equipment Editor

Jim Park served as Heavy Duty Trucking's equipment editor from 2006-2024. Specializing in technical and equipment content, Park is an award-winning journalist who has been covering the trucking industry since 1998.

Before joining HDT, Park was a truck driver and owner-operator for 20 years and served as an editor for HighwayStar magazine, which ceased production in 2011. He maintained his commercial driver’s license to bring a real-world perspective to Test Drives, as well as to features, videos and podcasts about equipment spec’ing and trends, emissions regulations and developments, maintenance and drivers.

He is the recipient of 16 Jesse H. Neal honors (both finalist and Neal awards), including “Best Range of Work by a Single Author” in 2020.

News•by Jim Park•November 1, 2013

Goodyear's Fleet Smart Program Levels the Tire-Buying Playing Field

Goodyear's Smart Fleet Program provides full access to many benefits enjoyed by larger fleets, including premium Goodyear tires, published pricing, 24/7 road service and more.

On the Road•by Jim Park•October 29, 2013

Why We Need Good Driver Training

VIDEO -- Equipment Editor Jim Park recently found a truck route that reminded him of the importance of good driver training. Suspend your disbelief for a few minutes, pretend the sound of Jim's motorcycle engine is a Jake Brake, and join him for a trip down a truly hair-raising hill.

On the Road•by Jim Park•October 21, 2013

Twin-Sticks to No-Sticks (Trucks have sure come a long way, Baby)

It's easy to look back nostalgically at trucks that our grandfathers drove. Spend a day in one like Equipment Editor Jim Park did recently and say you wouldn't kill for an an automated transmission and an air-ride seat. Read more in Park's "On the Road" blog.

Articles•by Jim Park•October 15, 2013

Keeping Your Wheels On

There’s no mystery to why wheels come off trucks. The National Transportation Safety Board in 1992, and Ontario’s Ministry of Transportation in the late 1990s, both concluded after exhaustive studies that inadequate maintenance was the root cause of a series of fatal wheel separation incidents.

Articles•by Jim Park•October 8, 2013

Growing a Small Fleet

To be a fleet of fewer than 100 trucks in America today is to be a long-tailed cat in a room full of rocking chairs: every move fraught with risk, perils at every turn. Large fleets can outpace, outperform, outbuy, outhire and outlobby the smaller fleets.

On the Road•by Jim Park•October 8, 2013

A Tale of Two Fuel Tests

What conclusion is the reader supposed to come to when two sets of properly conducted and documented fuel economy tests yield significantly different results? It would be easy to dismiss one of the tests as inaccurate, but that would still not answer the question, which one is wrong? What if both of them are right? A recent news article published such test results and yielded a significant discrepancy. A week-long deep-dive into fuel economy testing and real-world fleet results reveals that we s

Articles•by Jim Park•October 7, 2013

Hydraulic Hybrid Drive Systems Can Save You Fuel

Hybrid drive systems deliver value by reducing engine load, replacing or supplementing engine output through alternate means of powering the vehicle, or recovering energy normally turned into heat during braking and putting it back to work. Heavy-duty hydraulic hybrids accomplish all three.

Articles•by Jim Park•October 7, 2013

Why Do Wheels Come Off Trucks?

We don't hear many reports of wheel separations anymore, but that doesn't mean we have solved the problem. Reliable estimates suggest unplanned separations still occur at a rate of probably several per day. Exact numbers are hard to determine because many incidents go unreported.

Articles•by Jim Park•October 4, 2013

Retreading Wide-base Tires

Wide-base tires aren’t cheap. Not that duals are cheaper, but in a single wide-base tire you have an investment approaching the cost of a pair of standard tires. Minimizing the life-cycle cost of those big wide tires almost demands that they be retreaded.

Articles•by Jim Park•October 1, 2013

Test Drive: Natural Gas Freightliner Cascadia 113

Freightliner’s Cascadia 113 and the ISX12 G from Cummins Westport aren’t exactly strangers. About 100 of the trucks have been in customer hands for some months now. Equipment Editor Jim Park takes one for a spin.

Prev Next