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.

On the Road•by Jim Park•July 23, 2013

That Darned Old Trucker Pride

"My first shot at going backwards resulted in something resembling a sheet-bend knot. My second attempt was better. More like a half-hitch knot, but still nowhere near the target." In his latest "On the Road" blog post, Equipment Editor Jim Park gets his hat handed to him by a seasoned British driver after boasting that backing an articulated truck can't be that difficult.

News•by Jim Park•July 22, 2013

DLS Retreading Opens First ContiTread Franchise in South Carolina

Continental Tire helps establish local South Carolina veteran retreader with the first first all-new ContiTread licensed truck tire retreading facility in the U.S.

News•by Jim Park•July 15, 2013

Meritor Streamlines Global Air Disc Brake Production for Improved Cost, Quality, Safety

Meritor is reinvigorating a 75-year-old brake manufacturing facility in Wales, complete with a state-of-the-art engineering and test center, to meet expected increased demand in North American, European and emerging commercial vehicle markets.

On the Road•by Jim Park•July 15, 2013

The Magnificent Stopping Power of Air Disc Brakes

" Since a 13-liter diesel engine with 40 tons in tow will never match the get-up-and-go of a Porsche 911 GT3, we G-force junkies have to get our fix with air disc brakes." Equipment Editor Jim Park got the chance to test the stopping power of several European trucks with air disc brakes on a trip to Europe last week, and he shares the experience in his latest "On the Road" blog post.

Articles•by Jim Park•July 9, 2013

Transmissions: Automating for Fuel Savings

Traditional thinking on automated manual transmissions has it that AMTs are the great equalizers – bridgers of skill gaps between the best and the worst drivers in the fleet. While that’s still true, AMTs now bring even more to the fuel-economy table, offering fuel savings in their own right beyond what even the most professionally driven manual transmission could accomplish.

Articles•by Jim Park•July 9, 2013

Which Drivers Make Good Lease-Purchase Candidates?

While capacity is important, the DOT's new CSA enforcement regime and ever-nosier agencies like the IRS make it clear that you simply can't take people that need to be led by the hand into a lease-purchase program.

Articles•by Jim Park•July 8, 2013

4 Ways to Get More Miles from your Tires

Irregular tire wear is usually a symptom of some other malfunction such as poor alignment, improper inflation or even poor driving habits. The peril with mechanically induced irregular wear is that it begins the day you install the tire, though it won't produce any visible signs until weeks or perhaps months later. By then, its progress is almost irreversible.

Articles•by Jim Park•July 8, 2013

Buy Used, Build Equity

Here are two things you need to know about buying a truck: it takes big bucks to play with big trucks, and there no such thing as a free lunch. Keep those two things in mind while planning your business strategy and you'll double your chance of success.

Articles•by Jim Park•July 3, 2013

What Exactly Constitutes an Underinflated Truck Tire?

Why should we worry about defining underinflation? Because of the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration's CSA (Compliance, Safety, Accountability) enforcement program.

On the Road•by Jim Park•July 3, 2013

The 1.6 MPG Epiphany, Part II

This story is a follow up to a blog Jim Park wrote a little over a year ago about a fellow, Carlos Cruz, who was a struggling lease-purchase driver. He wasn't making any money and was about to walk away from the truck when he decided to try some of the fuel saving tips he had read about and heard about on the radio. Today, his 90-day average is over 8 mpg, and his personal loaded best at 75,000 GVW is 9.7 mpg.

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