The HDT staff spent 2018 spanning the globe chasing new trucking technology. Here, Senior Editor Jack Roberts looks back at a few of the highlights as 2018 fades and 2019 dawns. Photos by Jack Roberts
HDT Senior Editor Looks Back at Trucking in 2018 [Photos]
This Bosch concept truck, displayed at the IAA Show in Hannover, Germany, was packed with the company's latest technology, including safety systems and autonomous driving capabilities.
Cummins introduced a new, variable hybrid powertrain at the IAA Show in September. The system allows drivers to effortlessly switch between a hybrid electric-diesel, or fully electric propulstion system.
The CV Series launch wrapped up with short test drives at Soldier Field, in Chicago -- although longer evaluation drivers are slated for next year.
A long ATV ride through the High Desert near Moab, Utah, was a treat courtesy of Peterbilt.
Getting front-row seats to the Volvo Ocean Race, in Gothenberg, Sweden, was definitely a highlight of the year.
Once a month or so, I'm a guest on RoadDog Truck News, hosted by Mark Willis on Sirius Channel 146. Usually Chewy insists on sitting in during the interview to make sure I don't say anything stupid.
Stay in trucking long enough, and sooner or later you're going to find yourself rubbing elbows with Nascar drivers. Here's Clint Bowyer's No. 14 car on display at the Rush Truck Centers Dallas, Texas, location, in early November.
Last mile delivery is nothing new, if this antique delivery bike I stumbled across in Sweden is any indication.
A shot of the Swedish shoreline, en route to dinner on a fine Scandinavian summer's eve, with Volvo Trucks.
The Swedish flag flies proudly astern on a dinner outing from the Volvo Trucks Headquarters in Gothenberg, in June.
Traveler's Tip: You can always find good Italian food in Europe, no matter where you are -- like this hearty lunch I devoured in Gothenberg, Sweden, while visiting Volvo Trucks.
One of the first press trips of 2018 was to Jacksonville, Florida, to see the Shell Starship concept truck after it completed a coast-to-coast fuel economy evaluation run.
Volvo's new FE Electric, all-electric refuse truck, runs through a test course set up in the harbor facilities in Gothenberg, Sweden.
Photo by Jack Roberts
My faithful assistant, Chewy the Chihuahua, is always on hand in the office -- although she's not nearly as helpful as she thinks she is.
November saw International return to the medium duty vocational market, with the splashy launch of its new CV Series trucks in Chicago.
If it's Germany and a Continental press briefing, you know it's going to include good Bavarian wurst and bier.
Stunning scenery near Gateway, Colorado, set the stage for one of the more memorable press trips of the year, thanks to Peterbilt Motor Company.
Gateway Colorodo wasn't all ATV rides and pretty vistas. We also got to put some Model 567 trucks through their paces in the scorching desert heat.
You know Ford is serious about autonomous technology when they don't bother to put windows on their concept trucks.
Photo: Jack Roberts
Ford showcased an extreme example of a Class 8 autonomous tractor at the IAA Show in Hannover, Germany, in September.
Photo: Jack Roberts
In November, I was invited out to visit Rush Truck Centers' Dallas dealership, where Rush Technician Rodeo past champions teamed up with the Stewart-Hass No. 14 car pit crew to show local vocational school students that choosing a career as a diesel technician comes with a fair amount of fun, too.
Hands down, the best photo I tool in all of 2018 (on an Iphone X) of Gothenberg, Sweden's harbor a couple days before the Summer Solstice.
My first trip of the year was to Volvo's icy New River, Virginia, truck assembly plant, to see upgrades to the company's capable VNX heavy duty vocational tractor.