Jim Park

Former HDT Equipment Editor

Jim Park served as Heavy Duty Trucking's equipment editor from 2006-2024. Specializing in technical and equipment content, Park is an award-winning journalist who has been covering the trucking industry since 1998.

Before joining HDT, Park was a truck driver and owner-operator for 20 years and served as an editor for HighwayStar magazine, which ceased production in 2011. He maintained his commercial driver’s license to bring a real-world perspective to Test Drives, as well as to features, videos and podcasts about equipment spec’ing and trends, emissions regulations and developments, maintenance and drivers.

He is the recipient of 16 Jesse H. Neal honors (both finalist and Neal awards), including “Best Range of Work by a Single Author” in 2020.

Articles•by Jim Park•May 16, 2016

VIDEO: Idaho Milk Hauler Saves Fuel with Adaptive Gearing

Volvo Trucks has put a new spin on an old powertrain management strategy. By locking out top gear on its I-Shift overdrive transmission, drivers can pull loads efficiently in 11th gear (direct drive) and still get the performance they want.

News•by Jim Park•May 13, 2016

Western Star Debuts Extreme Duty Off-Road 'Transformer'

Western Star Trucks has just unveiled an extreme heavy-duty off-road chassis that could make owning multiple single-purpose trucks obsolete. The MBT-40 Transformer can pick up an drop truck bodies the way trash trucks pickup and drop roll-off containers.

News•by Jim Park•May 12, 2016

Can Tire Balancing Save Fuel?

Industry statistics suggest only about 30% of fleets do wheel balancing, and even those fleets usually balance only the steer axle wheels. IMI Products says if fleets balanced wheels at every position. they could see fuel savings and gains in tire life that would return their investment in balancing compounds tenfold in the just the first year.

Articles•by Jim Park•April 29, 2016

Choosing Tires for 6x2s

6x2 axle configurations offer undisputable weight and fuel savings, but they take their toll on tires. Does it have to be that way?

Articles•by Jim Park•April 25, 2016

Quick Spin: Sneak Peak of the Cummins 2017 X15

We get behind the wheel of the newest fuel-efficient version of the Cummins ISX and find there’s much to look forward to.

Articles•Cover Story•by Jim Park•April 18, 2016

Living With ELDs: Getting Ahead of the Electronic Logs Mandate

Fleets prepared to make the necessary changes to every facet of their operation will be more successful transitioning to e-logs.

News•by Jim Park•April 15, 2016

FlowBelow Brings Aerokit to Canada

FlowBelow it's its first major deal with a Canadian carrier; says snow and ice proved not to be a problem when using the devices in winter.

Articles•by Jim Park•April 6, 2016

5 Things You Need to Know About ELDs

Electronic logging devices to track driver hours of service become mandatory in December 2017. Everything you need to know about compliance is spelled out in the final rule, but here's a quick look at some of the more common sources of confusion – and a few things you'll need to consider that are not spelled out in the text of the rule.

News•by Jim Park•April 1, 2016

Pirelli Bringing Truck Tires to North America

Trading on its global presence in the commercial tire market and the tremendous success of its consumer brand in the NAFTA market over the past decade, Pirelli plans to bring several popular sizes and types of truck tires to North America later this year.

Articles•by Jim Park•March 29, 2016

3 Ways to Save on Tires

Everybody knows tires can eat up a big chunk of a fleet’s operating budget. Keeping costs in line isn’t impossible, but you have to work at it. Here are three suggestions that can help you get a handle on tire costs and keep them under control.

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