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.

Articles•by Jim Park•August 6, 2013

The Magic Number

How do turtles mate? Why are women’s shirts buttoned on the left while men’s button on the right? How did they build the pyramids? How much air should I put in my tires? Unlike the pyramids, tire inflation needn’t be one of life’s little mysteries. Yet you may be inflating your tires TOO much.

News•by Jim Park•August 5, 2013

Freightliner Adds Sleepers, Aero, Long-range Tanks to NG Lineup

As interest in natural gas power broadens, Freightliner is adding options that appeal to fleets wanting greater range and fuel savings technologies. The company plans to increase the operating range of some natural-gas-fueled trucks out to 800 miles.

Articles•by Jim Park•July 31, 2013

Making Lease-Purchase Work

Short of holding a square dance in a minefield, there can’t be many situations as fraught with risk as establishing a lease-purchase program to help build your capacity with grow-your-own owner-operators. The same applies to the driver participating in a lease-purchase program.

News•by Jim Park•July 31, 2013

Cascadia Evolution, M2 Models Leading Freightliner to “Best Year Ever"

Lampert attributes Freightliner’s market-leading position with a product lineup that is address customers key concerns: fuel economy and the cost of operation.

News•by Jim Park•July 24, 2013

Meritor Projects Slow, Steady Growth for NAFTA-market Air Disc Brakes

Fleet interest in air disc brakes is growing, Meritor says, but time-tested and trusted drum brakes will dominate the market for some time to come.

On the Road•by Jim Park•July 23, 2013

That Darned Old Trucker Pride

"My first shot at going backwards resulted in something resembling a sheet-bend knot. My second attempt was better. More like a half-hitch knot, but still nowhere near the target." In his latest "On the Road" blog post, Equipment Editor Jim Park gets his hat handed to him by a seasoned British driver after boasting that backing an articulated truck can't be that difficult.

News•by Jim Park•July 22, 2013

DLS Retreading Opens First ContiTread Franchise in South Carolina

Continental Tire helps establish local South Carolina veteran retreader with the first first all-new ContiTread licensed truck tire retreading facility in the U.S.

News•by Jim Park•July 15, 2013

Meritor Streamlines Global Air Disc Brake Production for Improved Cost, Quality, Safety

Meritor is reinvigorating a 75-year-old brake manufacturing facility in Wales, complete with a state-of-the-art engineering and test center, to meet expected increased demand in North American, European and emerging commercial vehicle markets.

On the Road•by Jim Park•July 15, 2013

The Magnificent Stopping Power of Air Disc Brakes

" Since a 13-liter diesel engine with 40 tons in tow will never match the get-up-and-go of a Porsche 911 GT3, we G-force junkies have to get our fix with air disc brakes." Equipment Editor Jim Park got the chance to test the stopping power of several European trucks with air disc brakes on a trip to Europe last week, and he shares the experience in his latest "On the Road" blog post.

Articles•by Jim Park•July 9, 2013

Transmissions: Automating for Fuel Savings

Traditional thinking on automated manual transmissions has it that AMTs are the great equalizers – bridgers of skill gaps between the best and the worst drivers in the fleet. While that’s still true, AMTs now bring even more to the fuel-economy table, offering fuel savings in their own right beyond what even the most professionally driven manual transmission could accomplish.

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