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 27, 2014

Don't Scrub Away Tire Savings

When your truck's alignment is out of whack, with all those wheels heading in different directions, it's unlikely you're getting the best fuel economy — or tire life.

News•by Jim Park•May 23, 2014

Meritor Developing Fuel-Saving Drive Axle

CAMERI, ITALY -- Meritor is developing a new drive axle intended to save fuel by reducing parasitic power losses resulting from oil churn. The company shared its plans for the new fuel-efficient drive axle at a press event for North American trade journalists.

Articles•by Jim Park•May 21, 2014

ATA asks FMCSA to Eliminate Tire Underinflation Violation

There is no official definition of underinflated against which to write citations, so the cops have historically been sort of making it up as they go along -- more than 30,000 tickets written on a regulation that has been proven impossible to determine.

Articles•by Jim Park•May 15, 2014

Driver Ergonomics: Round Pegs and Oval Holes

As well as being in short supply, trucking’s new recruits are also, shorter generally, and thinner, as well as less likely to want a truck to look and feel like a truck. The challenge for truck makers comes in designing truck cabs to fit an expanding body-size profile, while making the driving environment appealing to people who have different expectations about trucks – all without alienating the existing driver population.

On the Road•by Jim Park•May 14, 2014

Skilled Driver Saves Semi from Being Blown Over

A driver was caught on video recently in a hair-raising battle with a prairie wind. And this time the driver won.

Articles•by Jim Park•May 13, 2014

Benchmarking Tire Programs: How Does Your Company Stack Up?

Fleets spend tons of money on tires – so much, in fact, that bad tire management can become a competitive handicap. Find out how four well-run fleets run their tire programs to give their operations a competitive advantage.

News•by Jim Park•May 9, 2014

CAT Faces Fresh Litigation over Repeated C13, C15 ACERT Emissions Failures

Plaintiffs in the latest class-action lawsuit allege Caterpillar hid details of defects and performance issues from customers that the engine maker knew about.

Articles•by Jim Park•April 30, 2014

Ounces of Prevention Means Miles of Cure For Your Tires

Unlike their human counterparts, dead tires do tell tales. And aside from underinflation and road strikes, the tales most commonly told of tires robbing their owners of full value revolve around alignment. Scrubbing and scuffing and driving tires off in different directions, poor alignment kills tires faster than almost any other mechanical malady.

Articles•by Jim Park•April 25, 2014

A Systems Approach to Start/Charge System Maintenance

We have to stop thinking of our start/charge systems as simply a handful of separate components, and start viewing them as a system. From alternators to batteries and starters, cables and regulators, and even add-on components like low-voltage cut-off switches and DC/AV inverters, each can impact the component next to it.

Articles•by Jim Park•April 22, 2014

Frequent Inspections Save Tires

It seems the best you can expect from many drivers is a quick visual check that the tire is where it should be. Whether or not it's capable of holding air is another matter.

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