In our December 2013 issue, we talked to truck makers about what we can expect on commercial trucks in the next five to 10 years. For this photo gallery we compiled real concept trucks and those just on paper.
Visions of Future Trucks
The EPA's Super Truck project challenged equipment makers to develop a more efficient tractor-trailer. This one is based on the Peterbilt Model 579.
A concept drawing from Navistar, one of the teams working on the EPA SuperTruck project.
In 2009, Volvo Group in Europe designed a "Concept Truck 2020." Among other things, it replaced the traditional dashboard with a thin film touchscreen panel on which information is tailored to suit the driver.
This design by Adam Palethorpe in the UK exists only on paper and in model form, but has some intriguing features. It was done in 2009 as part of a final year proposal on a transport design course and is not connected with Scania.
This design by Adam Palethorpe in the UK featured a single driver's seat.
Palethorpe's futuristic design featured active collision avoidance.
Daimler showed off this Mercedes European fuel-efficiency concept rig at the 2012 IAA commercial truck show in Hanover, Germany.
The huge IAA commercial truck show in Hanover, Germany, in 2012, included this eye magnet, the "aerodynamically optimized road train" from MAN and Krone, both prominent vehicle builders in Europe.
The rear view of the "aerodynamically optimized road train" from MAN and Krone displayed at last year's IAA show in Germany.
The Freightliner Revolution concept truck features many aerodynamic developments that found their way into the real-world Cascadia Evolution.
The Freightliner Revolution concept truck replaces the passenger-side door and seat with a work area.
The key to Volvo's Concept Truck 2020 was to link vehicles together wirelessly into long road-trains that rush across the continents at 90 km/h (56 mph), a concept known as platooning.
One of Adam Palethorpe's design ideas were wheel covers that offered warnings of drivers who were close to exceeding their allotted driving time.
Makers of the Airflow Bullet Truck developed a prototype they say got 13.4 mpg on a cross-country trip.