Trucking is on a diet. It only took a decade or so, but the buzz from the annual spring truck show circuit has finally shifted away from "emissions compliance" to another talking point.

Also borne out of impending government regulation, truck fuel efficiency is undoubtedly the new big topic on the minds of industry stakeholders. And if the lineup of lighter, more compact new hardware unveiled this year is anything to go by, truck makers are clearly sensing that some fleet spec’ing habits might be ready for a-changin’.

Nearly every major new truck announcement at the Work Trucks Show, Conexpo, Mid-America and ExpoCam fell into several categories: vocational, urban electric, or, for lack of a better term, "light" or "regional" heavy-duty. Virtually all focused on fuel efficiency, lower weight, aerodynamics, and application elasticity.

Noticeably absent were any major heavy-duty long-haul unveilings at a time when class 8 on-highway sales are pretty encouraging.

By contrast, midrange growth isn’t yet anywhere near at the same pace; and a casual observer could be forgiven for raising an eyebrow at the array of work truck offerings when the construction sector is still in the dumps and cash-strapped municipalities are slashing utility budgets in the face of shortfalls all over North America.

So, what gives?

On both the class 5-7 vocational and regional-haul front, OEMs are clearly aiming to fill the midrange vacuum left when Sterling and GM exited the market.

Navistar, the midrange market leader, expected rivals to ramp up. But while the Hino’s and MitFuso’s are certainly emerging, Navistar marketing VP Jim Hebe says the company is focused on protecting its turf from more familiar nameplates.

The new Kenworth T660 regional hauler

"When the highway market deteriorated, immediately we saw Paccar and Freightliner step up," he told us in an exclusive interview at the Mid America Trucking Show. "Boy, it was like a laser shot right into vocational and into medium duty.

"So, yeah … we’re seeing a tremendous amount of competition from a different form of truck competitor than we’ve had before."
New activity in the work truck segment, specifically, is unmatched this year. Western Star, Freightliner, Kenworth, Navistar, and of course, Caterpillar (based on Navistar’s PayStar platform) released a broad range of iron in this area.

And while the investments don’t exactly match current market-economic conditions, the segment is due for an infusion, says Alan Fennimore, Kenworth’s vocational marketing manager.

Since vocational customers have arguably been more likely to push back replacement cycles and rebuild existing equipment during the last two rounds of emissions standards, there’s a lot of pent-up demand.

"There’s guys that because the economy’s been so bad they haven’t bought trucks since prior to 2007," says Fennimore. "Where they’ve had the option to keep their trucks longer, they’ve been doing that, but coming is a time when they’re going to have to upgrade."

Martin Daum, who heads Daimler Trucks North America, agrees the market "is still at a low point," but, he adds, with familiar German pointedness: "To do a new product, you better do it on the downside than investing at the peak point of a cycle and coming out with a new truck just before it goes downhill again."

FLEX MARKS THE SPOT

Certainly, fleets’ increasing demand for evermore multipurpose, light weight trucks is reflected in manufacturers’ expanding range of chassis and engine power offerings.

With equipment flexibility top of mind, OEMs are actively trimming down class 8 sleeper configurations while stretching horsepower and torque ratings on 11 and 13-liter diesels as fuel-efficient alternatives to the "big bore" 15-plus-liter highway market.

Market segment volatility in North America is blurring the traditional boundaries of power, payload and setup between truck classes.

As length of haul shrank, many line haul carriers focused on expanding equipment utilization, including shifting to more regional operations. The more scalable a truck is without sacrificing fuel economy or too much power, the more appealing it’ll be to the increasing pool of diversifying carriers looking to attract a wider cross-section of freight and drivers that’ll haul it.

"Last year, over 50 percent of the class 8 highway trucks built in the U.S. were day cabs. We’re seeing a lot more interest in day cabs and regional-type sleepers and there’s a lot of factors coming into play, like the whole CSA thing and the growing driver shortage," says Hebe.

"I think we will see much more regional haul, a lot more dedicated, and much more intermodal."

Hebe says there’s always going to be a need for coast-to-coast and team operations — as a percentage, more so in Canada than in the U.S. — but generally, he thinks that’s going to be "much more of a niche business in the future" than it is today.

"So much long-haul freight has already moved to [intermodal] that it’s staggering.

"The impact that has had on class 8 trucks and the need for long-haul truck drivers has been pretty dramatic," he says.

"The good news is there are trucks on both ends of that."