The conversation around Right to Repair has been floating around trucking for years, but it’s usually talked about in vague terms. More access. More fairness. More competition. What Owner-Operator Independent Drivers Association (OOIDA) is pushing for right now is much more specific — and much more urgent. At its core, this is about who controls […]
Starting January 1, 2027, new heavy-duty diesel engines will hit the road. And when engines change, oil has to change with them. That’s the entire story. Under upcoming EPA regulations, heavy-duty diesel engines must achieve significant emissions reductions: an 80% decrease in nitrogen oxides (NOx) and a 50% cut in particulate matter. Furthermore, these rules […]
Your truck isn’t just a piece of equipment. It’s your office. Your income. Your schedule. Your leverage. And the moment a DPF light or engine fault shows up on the dash, all of that can grind to a halt. That reality is exactly why this recent episode of The Long Haul hit home for so […]
When new trucks became impossible to source, fleets had to push assets past a million miles. The ones that survived did one thing right: they greased.
The first real cold snap of the season is when a lot of truckers remember something they already knew: winter doesn’t care how busy you are, how many miles you need this week, or how tight freight already feels. Winter finds every shortcut you’ve taken. It finds every part you ignored. It finds every ounce […]
The first real winter as an owner-operator feels a lot like your first year running your own business — the weather just exposes what you didn’t prepare for. Cold doesn’t care how motivated you are, how nice your truck is, or how solid your dispatcher sounds on the phone. When the temps fall below freezing, […]
If you’re an owner-operator or small fleet owner staring down the barrel of an engine problem, you already know the feeling—an uneasy mix of fear, frustration, and that sinking question in your gut:
In today’s market, a check engine light can be more than an inconvenience — it can be a trap. Here’s why code clearing without real diagnosis is one of the most dangerous shortcuts a shop can take on your equipment.
There’s a quiet, ugly truth behind many of the owner-operator breakdowns you see these days: DPF systems and emissions enforcement have bled carriers dry for years. The semiconductor chips, the sensors, the regeneration cycles—they’re not just technical burdens. They’re capital killers. Now, a new bill—the “Diesel Truck Liberation Act”—is pushing back against the EPA’s reach, […]
Walk into any diesel shop today and you’ll see it plain as day — bays full of trucks, fewer techs on the floor, and longer wait times that stretch into weeks instead of days. For a small carrier, that’s not just an inconvenience, that’s revenue bleeding out while your truck sits idle.
Consistently heavy freight doesn’t just risk a DOT ticket — it slowly eats away at your truck’s suspension, brakes, and cooling system until potentially one day you’re sidelined with a repair bill.
Your trailer doesn’t have to blow a tire or drop a landing gear to ruin your week — sometimes it’s as simple as a drip from the roof or a weak wall panel that lets in water. Those small oversights are what turn profitable freight into expensive claims and can cost you the shipper’s trust for good.
You’re rolling through Arkansas, just crossed the state line, and boom—your check engine light hits, your coolant temp spikes, and the power falls out of the pedal. You limp it to the shoulder, hazard lights flashing. You’re not just down—you’re at the mercy of a roadside repair vendor you’ve never met, in a city you […]
Some trucks are just cursed. That’s just the fact. Used trucks are especially a dice roll. You know the one — every time it goes in for a PM, something new gets discovered. Transmission slipping. Electrical gremlins. DPF acting up. And as soon as you think you’re back on the road making money, bam—check engine […]
If you run refrigerated freight, you already know reefer maintenance isn’t optional—it’s mission-critical. But there’s one number that quietly determines the health, resale value, and future liability of your trailer more than any other: reefer hours. So many carriers only look at year, brand, or cosmetic condition when buying or selling a reefer trailer. But […]
If you run trucks for a living, your maintenance records are more than paperwork. They’re your defense in a DOT audit and your bargaining chip when it’s time to trade or sell equipment. Yet too many carriers treat documentation like an afterthought—tossing receipts in a shoebox or relying on memory. That works right up until […]
Your DPF and DOC don’t fail overnight—they fail slowly, one idle session and one short trip at a time. Some think emissions system issues are bad luck or bad engineering, but the truth is these systems are extremely sensitive to how the truck is operated day in and day out. The difference between a truck […]
Preventative maintenance is one of those areas where carriers either run a disciplined system or they run themselves into breakdowns that bleed cash. Too often, maintenance is treated like a disruption instead of a controllable part of operations. A truck goes into the shop and revenue stops. Loads are missed. Customers are frustrated. But here’s […]
If you’re running trucks and not pulling oil samples, you’re missing a critical opportunity to catch something before it becomes a bigger issue. Oil samples are one of the cheapest, most reliable ways to see inside your engine without tearing it apart. Too many small fleet owners and operators look at oil changes as a […]
A transmission doesn’t just wake up one day and blow itself out. It wears down in silence. It warns you in whispers—until the whisper becomes a breakdown. Slipping gears. Delayed shifts. Rattles, vibrations, burnt fluid, rising temps—these are all clues. And if you catch them early enough, you save thousands. But if you wait until […]
Tires are one of the biggest operating expenses for any trucking company, but some carriers don’t treat them like the diagnostic tool they are. They see tread loss as the cost of doing business, when in reality, tires are trying to tell you what’s wrong with your truck. Every wear pattern—feathering, cupping, shoulder wear—has a […]
Brake problems don’t start at the roadside—they start in the yard with poor maintenance. One of the most overlooked pieces of a truck’s braking system is the slack adjuster. Many small fleets and drivers either ignore it completely or, worse, adjust it at the wrong time. The result is uneven braking, premature wear, out-of-service violations, […]
Every truck you purchase comes with an OEM maintenance schedule. Most ELDs you install has the ability to track miles, engine hours, and time. Yet some small fleets never connect those two together. Instead, they leave maintenance up to memory, paperwork, or worse—driver recall. That’s how critical service intervals get skipped, warranties get voided, and […]
