Hydrogen: abundant…and elusive.

The hydrogen conversation in commercial trucking has shifted from “when” to “who’s left standing.”

Once a crowded field of competitors racing toward zero-emission freight, the hydrogen fuel cell truck sector in the United States has contracted dramatically in 2025. Nikola filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in February. Hyzon closed its doors permanently the day before. Both companies had spent months searching for buyers or additional funding. Neither found either.

That leaves Hyundai standing alone as the only active supplier of Class 8 hydrogen fuel cell tractors in North America. Legacy manufacturers delayed their hydrogen programs indefinitely, citing infrastructure gaps and profitability concerns.

The irony? Hydrogen is the most abundant element in the known universe. Yet turning that abundance into practical trucking fuel remains expensive and complicated.

The appeal is obvious. Hydrogen fuel cell trucks can match diesel’s range and refueling time — critical factors for long-haul operations (battery electric vehicles still struggle with weight and charging delays). For routes exceeding 500 miles, hydrogen starts making sense, on paper.

Here’s the rub: hydrogen trucks need hydrogen stations. California aimed for 15 to 20 public refueling stations by 2025 to support zero-emission long-haul freight. And that’s for one state. Scaling that nationally translates into billions of dollars in infrastructure investment. Meanwhile, federal support for alternative fuel infrastructure has been reduced.

The technology itself works. Hyundai’s XCIENT trucks are logging real miles globally. The challenge isn’t the engineering. It’s the ecosystem. Even proven technology struggles to gain traction without widespread refueling infrastructure and stable financial support.

For commercial trucking, hydrogen represents a promising option for specific applications, particularly heavy-haul, long-distance freight. But the recent industry shake-up proves that hydrogen won’t replace diesel overnight.

While we don’t predict the future, here’s a decent guess: expect hydrogen to carve out a niche in specialized corridors first, supported by substantial investment. For most carriers, the hydrogen transition is still a few years and a lot of infrastructure dollars away.

The post About Those Hydrogen-Fueled Trucks appeared first on NATCO Transport.

NATCO VP Cori Eckley-Ritchards

As the trucking industry explores autonomous vehicle technology, one innovation stands out for what it reveals about the irreplaceable value of human drivers: External Human-Machine Interfaces, or eHMIs.

These visual communication systems — typically light displays mounted on autonomous vehicles — are trying to replicate something our professional truck drivers do naturally every single day.

When our experienced NATCO drivers roll up to an intersection, they catch a pedestrian’s eye. They give a friendly wave to let someone cross. They flash their lights to help out a fellow trucker. These quick, human moments help to keep our roads safe and everyone moving.

eHMIs show us that the tech world has figured out something important: autonomous vehicles have a real problem on their hands. How do you replace decades of human judgment, road courtesy, and just knowing what to do? These systems use colored lights, symbols, and patterns to tell others what the vehicle plans to do.

Research shows that cyan-colored, flashing displays work best, but here’s the rub: while human error does cause accidents, even the fanciest eHMI can’t match the adaptability of a well-trained driver who’s learned from experience. Our professional drivers combine their hard-earned skills with modern safety technology to make better decisions than either humans or machines could make alone.

Here at NATCO, we see this technology development as proof of what we’ve always known: our drivers bring something to the road that you just can’t quantify through an algorithm. Not yet, anyway.

While we’re all for innovations that make things safer and more efficient — from collision avoidance systems to smarter route planning — technology today does seem to work best when it helps our drivers shine, not when it tries to replace them.

The whole eHMI story tells us something worth remembering: the autonomous vehicle folks are working overtime to artificially recreate what our professional drivers bring naturally. As we look ahead, NATCO stays committed to investing in both smart technology and the skilled professionals who remain the backbone of safe, reliable transportation.

Our drivers aren’t just steering wheels — they’re the gold standard that technology is still trying to reach.

The post The Human Touch in Autonomous Technology appeared first on NATCO Transport.

Adopter of early technology. Code name: “Rusty.”

There’s this perpetual tug-of-war. Old school vs. new technology. John Henry vs. the machines. Luddites vs. technology. And a good deal of Don’t Tread on Me vs. Big Brother.

With that in mind, here’s yet another acronym: ADAS — advanced driver assistance systems.

The ADAS technologies “use various sensors and cameras to monitor the vehicle’s surroundings, providing warnings or even taking control of certain functions to help drivers avoid accidents or navigate more easily.” Says Wikipedia.

This is, in a way, just another advancement on safety devices that we’ve put on vehicles since at least 1908, when J.E. Francis gave us the Slip Prevention Regulator for Rail Vehicles. That evolved into the anti-lock braking system (ABS), which, um, keeps our wheels from locking up while braking.

ADAS involves a lot more:

• adaptive cruise control

• collision avoidance

• obstacle alerts

• lane departure

• lane centering

• satellite navigation

• traffic warnings

• automated lighting

So, maybe to ease us through that Don’t Tread on Me approach, they’ve come up with ADAS levels. In Level 0, ADAS simply provides information. (think of a chirp or flash in your sideview mirror when you veer out of your lane). Level 1 works to take over one function. Level 2 assumes control over multiple functions. Levels 3 to 5 angles toward fully autonomous vehicles.

Think of adaptive cruise control, automatic emergency brake assistance, lane centering, lane keeping.

As our friends at Transport Topics describe it, “FMCSA has reported that trucks with both automatic braking and forward collision warnings were associated with about a 40% ­lower crash rate compared with trucks without ADAS.”

Those numbers are quite impressive in terms of increasing safety on our roads.

Also on the horizon? Get ready for automated valet parking, which “allow(s) a car to park itself in certain parking lots or garages, without a driver in the vehicle.” And don’t forget to tip your programmer.

The post ADAS Adoption appeared first on NATCO Transport.

But what happens when we get a text message with a link to pay your ticket or risk losing your license? And so we click the link and pay the fine. Only, there never was a ticket. We’ve been had.

That scenario contributed to more than $50 billion in cybercrime theft from 2020 to 2024. And it’s growing, year-over-year.

The bad guys have built on a scam that moved through the country a couple months ago, which pulled money from texts about unpaid highway tolls.

The 17 States affected, so far: Alabama, Arizona, Colorado, Illinois, Indiana, Florida, Georgia, Louisiana, Minnesota, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, North Carolina, Pennsylvania, South Dakota, Tennessee and Wyoming.

The states have responded with helpful advice. In Pennsylvania, for example, the Attorney General’s consumer alert said:

“These messages always contain a link to pay. Do not click on the link or copy the link into your browser. These messages are from scammers trying to obtain your personal information or to scare you into paying them … PennDOT does not send text messages about traffic violations or fines. Consumers who receive a text message or email from anyone alleging to be from a government agency should reach out to that agency to confirm the authenticity of any such message.”

The Arizona Department of Transportation (ADOT) addressed the scam in part by telling drivers to beware of messages about fines and licenses revoked, especially if it’s from the “Arizona Ministry of Communications.” Our government doesn’t have ministries. Some churches, yes. But not any U.S. government agency.

Arizona’s department notified drivers directly: “Beware of new text scam: ADOT isn’t after you for unpaid tickets.”

Check your state Department of Transportation HERE for alerts and updates.

The post The DMV Unpaid Ticket Scam appeared first on NATCO Transport.

The Consumer Electronics Show (CES) is always our favorite annual geek-out event. It’s one grand space for throwing spaghetti against the wall to see what sticks.

This year’s show brought a number of innovations that might get some traction in the market. Two highlights for the transportation industry:

Autonomous Vehicle Sensors
Take note of some impressive terminology that’s now in circulation. “Configurable field of view.” “Detection range.” “Semantic segmentation.” That’s a description from the startup Aevis of their new product, the Aevis Atlas Ultra 4D LiDAR, a sensor designed to provide advanced detection capabilities for autonomous driving.

As they describe it, the “4D LiDAR sensors detect velocity and range simultaneously, allowing autonomous devices like vehicles and robots to make more intelligent and safe decisions.”

“Our technologies are driving the future of advanced vision systems for commercial vehicle applications. Stoneridge’s MirrorEye® Camera Monitor System, the foundation of the company’s vision system portfolio, replaces traditional rear and side-view mirrors with digital cameras and monitors, delivering greater safety, and enabling fuel efficiency and reduced emissions.”

Seth Clevenger at Transport Topics was at the show. Here’s how he describes things:

“The MirrorEye system was paired with in-cab display hardware provided by BOE Varitronix, including a prototype center high-mount display showing views of the sides of the truck captured by two downward facing side cameras, along with a view of the space directly in front of the vehicle from a camera mounted above the grille. The display also included pedestrian detection warnings.”

Again, there’s no knowing right now if these, or any new devices, will become standard in these emerging markets. The CES is a geeky-great way to help companies and their innovations have a better chance.

The post Future Trucking appeared first on NATCO Transport.

Well, that was some year. Forget politics. Let’s focus on that air conditioning unit you had to get replaced. The new tires. The price of milk.

The state of third-party logistics. Driver retention. Hours of Service. Parking spots. Disaster recovery. And the price of diesel.

It’s always something. Here, then, at the cusp of a new year, we try to clear the plate of a tumultuous 2024. Impossible, yep. But let’s give it a try.

We started the year with wheels, condensing 4,000 years into 300 words, from the potter’s wheel to plans for wheels on Mars (think interlocking, load-bearing springs).

We’re fascinated with artificial intelligence and its possible effect on how we live in general and, in this space, how we drive in particular. All the potential benefits and pitfalls of letting our brains do other things (yeah, or nothing at all) gives us some pause, especially when we remember that all Dave really wanted was for Hal to open the pod-bay doors.

Meanwhile, back on Earth, we have some choices to make. It’s how we power our vehicles that’s set the competition into aggressive motion. While there’s a lot of chatter about electronic vehicles right now, the jostling for dominance of emerging alternative fuels (biobutanol, dimethyl ether, methanol, etc.) continues.

Sometimes success hides in plain sight. This year, NATCO proudly pulled back the curtain on our process. The five questions we want our customers to ask:

1. COMPLIANCE.
Does the company know the specific federal and state regulations to deliver safely and legally into and through any given state, or multiple states?

2. KNOWLEDGE.
Does the company know the difference between types of trailers, including double-drop RGNs, reefers, flatbeds, and dry vans?

3. EXPERIENCE.
Does the company have a history of handling my type of shipment? Does it have experience with commodities, construction, Hazmat, oil, gas?

4. COMMUNICATION.
Is the company prompt and straightforward in phone calls, text messages, emails regarding delivery windows, offloading scenarios, payment methods?

5. TRANSPARENCY.
Is the company sharing accurate, honest information about the market? Does it proactively share news about fluctuations in fuel, bottleneck delays, availability?

So much more in our portfolio. So much more to come. Put it all together, and we’re ever more proud to be part of this dynamic, challenging, and rewarding logistics industry.

Team NATCO wishes you and yours a peaceful, healthy, and happy holiday season.

The post Rolling into 2025 appeared first on NATCO Transport.

Ghosts in the Machine

Whoa. Our friends at Transportation Intermediaries Association are drawing attention to the spike in fraud affecting the industry.

The methods? Identity theft, unauthorized brokering, direct cargo theft and “other means that bad actors employ to dupe brokers and industry partners.”

The cost? Nearly $1 billion.

TIA points to advances in artificial intelligence and the bad guys’ ability to tailor it for these acts of theft. As is usually the case, the ability of the attackers has started strong, with counter-measures striving to keep up and go from reactive to proactive.

Part of that strategy is regulatory. Bills like The Household Goods Shipping Consumer Protection Act, designed to give the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration restored power to combat registration fraud through developing ways to monitor and issuing civil penalties when bad actors get busted.

The Owner-Operator Independent Driver Association issued a press release in September, after the bill passed committee. In it, they pinpoint the issue:

Problem: Professional truckers have been telling the U.S. Department of Transportation for decades about inadequate broker regulations that are rarely, if ever, enforced. This has resulted in an inequitable economic environment for truckers, especially small-businesses who are victimized by unscrupulous brokers and other fraudulent entities. The current regulatory framework limits fraud enforcement, enables bad actors to operate with impunity, and forces out drivers who want to build sustainable trucking careers.

Solution: The Household Goods Shipping Consumer Protection Act restores and codifies FMCSA’s authority to issue civil penalties against bad actors. The legislation also requires that brokers, freight forwarders, and carriers provide a valid business address to FMCSA in order to register for authority.

The wheels of justice move slower than 18-wheelers. Here’s to no traffic jams for both laws and lanes.

The post Kinks in the Supply Chain appeared first on NATCO Transport.

NATCO on Cooking Oil ( ! )

The march toward reducing CO2 emissions in our industry is moving forward, in fairly dramatic ways.

At issue is the pollution from diesel-powered vehicles. Diesel burns dirty. According to the U.S. Energy Information Administration:

“In 2022, diesel (distillate) fuel consumption accounted for about 25% (464 million metric tons) of total U.S. transportation sector CO2 emissions and about 10% of total U.S. energy-related CO2 emissions.”

Addressing the problem, the fuel industry has been developing multiple alternatives to diesel. The list is eyebrow-raising in possibilities. Andrew Cullen, senior VP of fuels and facility services at Penske, says:

“When we look at all of this from a fleet perspective, it … seems like fleets are faced with this dizzying array of options to not only meet regulatory requirements but to meet their own sustainability goals or their customers’ sustainability goals.”

Somewhere down the road and in the tank, winners will emerge in this pretty healthy competition for cleaner fuel. Note to file: the winner isn’t always the most viable or economical, and in this case it may not provide the cleanest mass-produced fuel possible. A lot depends on supply-and-demand variables, on marketing strategies, and on consumer adoption.

Still, the net results have many advantages, including:

Fewer emissions. There’s an average of 65% reduction in carbon intensity with renewable diesel compared to petroleum diesel.

Flexibility. Renewable diesel can fully replace diesel or be blended with diesel, which is especially advantageous in a transitional environment.

Compatibility. Renewable diesel doesn’t require vehicle engine rebuilds or replacement.

Renewable diesel is “chemically identical” to petroleum, and that’s what allows it to be mixed with standard fuel. It’s typically derived from used cooking oil, soybean oil, corn oil, canola oil, and tallow.

That’s promising progress . . .

Chart: American Transportation Research Institute

Chart: American Transportation Research Institute

The post On Renewables appeared first on NATCO Transport.

Seeing the Forest for the Trees

California has long been a couple steps or leaps ahead of much of the rest of the country regarding innovation and her approach to environmental issues.

Part of that is informed by the state’s numbers:

• most people

• highest gross domestic product

• highest personal income

• most venture capital deals made

• second highest value in exports (shout out here to Texas, which leads that arena by $300 billion)

(Some asterisks here: California is also first in the nation in bankruptcies, first in the number of computers with dial-up internet access, and 48th in the nation in production workers percent distribution.)

Cumulatively, California has the power, money, and momentum to set standards for herself, and that tends to influence the rest of the country, be it through adoption or blowback (i.e., miles per gallon benchmarks).

So, when news breaks that the “first commercial hydrogen fuel station for big-rig trucks in the U.S. is up and running at the Port of Oakland, a baby step toward what hydrogen proponents see as a clean new future for long-haul trucking,” people tend to listen.

Here’s how the Los Angeles Times frames it:

“The small station, now serving 30 hydrogen fuel-cell trucks, could mark the start of a nationwide network for fuel-cell truck refueling. It could also flop.”

Yes, there’s a huge gulf between a nationwide network and a flop. As with so much of innovation, you never know until you send it out and see what sticks. That’s why there’s the annual Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas. And hundreds of conventions in hundreds of industries in dozens of cities every year. And, for that matter, someone setting up an exploratory committee to gauge whether or not to run for public office.

Here’s the rub on hydrogen: producing it right now is itself a dirty process that generates greenhouse-gas emissions, which is counterproductive. It’s expensive. And there’s no guarantee that it’ll reach a critical mass sufficient enough to encourage competition, traditionally brings the price down.

And yet, California will outlaw new diesel truck sales by 2036. There’s the red line, and the Golden State has 12 years to find a lasting way to prevent stepping over it.

The post Hydrogen Dreams appeared first on NATCO Transport.

Fries With That?

Need that Wendy’s Pretzel Baconator burger and fries right away? And you don’t want to wait for traffic? And you live in Christiansburg, Virginia?

You’re in luck. Wendy’s has teamed up with DoorDash, Alphabet (Google’s parent company), and the drone company Wing to make it so.

Christiansburg has a population of 21,824 people. For comparison: City Stadium in Richmond, 200 miles east and home of the Richmond Kickers soccer team, has a full capacity of 22,611 people.

This pilot(less) program follows on the heels of a reportedly successful teamed drone delivery service in Queensland, Australia in 2022. Wing provides similar services in three countries; they started delivery from a Walmart in Dallas, with a reach of 60,000 homes. As our friends at Transport Topics put it: “Let the baby wipes and forgotten birthday candles fall from the sky.”

Experimental? Not so much as test market environments used to work out logistics issues, timing, and details like weight distribution, power line avoidance, and safe landing zones.

The impact of drone delivery carries a potentially positive impact on other sectors of commercial and residential delivery, both long haul and final-mile.

Consider the electric bike and scooter and car and van delivery vehicles we see and experience daily in urban and suburban environments. We’ve experienced those close calls with Vespas that too-often tend to ignore traffic lights. And the lingering effect of a post-pandemic life is our increased tendency to have things delivered to our homes and businesses instead of our going out to fetch them ourselves.

The net result from an expanded delivery system via drone is the very real possibility that our roadway traffic would decrease to a level that actually improved the ability of commercial delivery vehicles to reach their destinations faster.

Less traffic is a key ingredient to smoother sailing. And you’ve got the whole “Burgers Not Bombs” campaign angle. Don’t forget the Classic Chocolate Frosty. And help us all if Wendy’s forgets to pack a spoon.

The post Droning There appeared first on NATCO Transport.