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The nationwide growth in demand for fresher foods has contributed to a boom in the refrigerated transportation sector. But tighter food-handling standards and emission regulations are limiting the load flexibility and utilization options that carriers may have had in the past, and at a steeper cost, too.

Fleet managers are relying more on high-tech shop equipment, technology-savvy technicians, efficient shop practices and flexible preventive maintenance scheduling in efforts to rein in the rising maintenance costs inherent with the complexity of today's trucks.

The reintroduction of medium-duty models from three manufacturers will reconfigure that segment of the commercial truck industry, especially in the lighter weight classes.

The role of commercial cargo vans — essentially motorized boxes — hasn’t changed in 50 years, but practically everything else about the vehicles has changed over the past decade.

In less than five years, electronically controlled, or EC, transmissions have gone from a “maybe” option for a few fleets to the majority spec in new trucks.

If fleets were expecting to see lower prices for trucks, trailers and components as the cost of raw materials continued their downward trajectory, they may be waiting for some time if comments from industry executives are accurate.

After years of accounting for just a single-digit share of the heavy-truck brake market, air disc brakes are enjoying double-digit growth, and suppliers are optimistically predicting the systems will capture a quarter of the foundations brake market within a few years.

LAS VEGAS — Mack Trucks Inc. has unveiled a new brand identity program that includes a sleeker, more modern bulldog, a stronger font for the Mack name and a new tag line.