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•July 3, 2012

Tires: Traction  vs.  Fuel Economy

Traction is a funny thing: We know when we don't have enough of it, but can we quantify how much is enough? It's a question that arises when discussing fuel-efficient tires

Articles•by Jim Park•July 3, 2012

Owner-Operator Learns Keys to Fuel Efficiency -- and Profitability

Here's a tale that, if it were from any other industry, might inspire a feel-good feature film. It's about a struggling rookie lease-operator who, as he is driving back to the terminal to hand back the keys, decides to try something different

Articles•by Jim Park•June 28, 2012

Traction vs. Fuel Economy?

Traction is a funny thing: We know when we don't have enough of it, but can we quantify how much is enough? It's a question that arises when discussing fuel-efficient tires

Articles•by Jim Park•June 26, 2012

How to Spec for Fuel Efficiency

You can't rightly expect a driver to do all the heavy lifting when it comes to fuel economy. It takes a huge amount of discipline to stay on top of the driving, but given the right tools, even a mediocre driver will do reasonably well

Articles•by Jim Park•June 26, 2012

Five Easy Ways to Reduce Fuel Consumption

There are still legions of drivers who are not practicing even the most basic fuel-saving techniques. Just hang around an intersection with a lot of truck traffic and liste

Articles•by Jim Park•June 26, 2012

Driving Fuel Efficiency

What's in it for me? That's what drivers want to know when you try to get them to save fuel. There are few stronger motivators than a good return on an investment. Building driver buy-in to your fuel economy program requires enough incentiv

Articles•by Jim Park•June 1, 2012

Top 5 Vehicle Maintenance Violations

Vehicle maintenance violations are a huge threat to a carrier's safety record. There are close to 200 separate violations on FMCSA's list of point-carrying infractions, and many carry ratings of 5 points or higher

Articles•by Jim Park•June 1, 2012

Aftermarket Service Providers Can Help Customers Over CSA Hurdles

With 514,000 carriers running 9 million trucks and buses to contend with, the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration has had to develop a more effective way of tracking safety violations. It's called CSA, short for "Compliance, Safety, Accountability.

Articles•by Jim Park•May 31, 2012

Near-Term Aftermarket Outlook a Double-Edged Sword

The recession has been good for some aftermarket parts and service providers, but others took a bit of a thrashing between 2008 and 2011. Many cash-strapped fleets decided to keep trucks in service longer, which meant an increase in parts sales and service opportunities

Articles•by Jim Park•May 17, 2012

Keeping An Eye on  Axles and Suspensions

Although the maintenance-free tractor-trailer is still a few years off, there are really only two big maintenance items left when it comes to axles and suspensions: the shock absorbers and the air springs. Some historically large maintenance items today are designed to almost outlive the trucks

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