Heavy Duty Trucks Market Trends

Growth Drivers

• Lowering the risks of accidents and increasing safety - Negative consequences from a transportation chain's operations might include air pollution, traffic jams, noise pollution, accidents, and deterioration of infrastructure. Investigating the potential of HCT as a solution from a socioeconomic and environmental standpoint is one strategy to reduce accidents. 
  
  In line with the European Transport Research Review, it is evident that, compared to typical semi-trailer combinations, the biggest trucks in Alberta, Canada, have a 58% reduced accident risk. Other potential factors for a decreased risk and, therefore, increased safety for the largest vehicles, resulting in decreased accident costs overall, including stricter requirements for permission to use HCVs. This greater caution when driving larger and heavier vehicles, and driving on larger and safer roads while utilizing greater safety equipment.
   
• Increasing demand for end-users - Because end users in the mining, construction, and other sectors are requesting more heavy vehicles, the heavy duty trucks market is growing. Executives from major truck manufacturers assert that increasing building activity has led to a spike in demand for heavy vehicles such as concrete mixers and tipper trucks.   
  
  Moreover, the American Trucking Association specified that as of April 2023, there were approximately 750,000 active motor carriers in the US that either owned or leased at least one tractor, according to the US Department of Transportation. Between those carriers, 95.8% of drivers run ten trucks or fewer, and 99.7% of drivers run 100 trucks or fewer.
   
• Rising demand for intelligent transportation systems - Improved traffic congestion management is required due to the increasing rate of urbanization. In these situations, the impact of ITS systems grows, which is a significant industry development. Furthermore, intelligent transportation systems are expected to benefit from this trend in the future.

Challenges

• Need of larger batteries in heavy duty trucks - Larger batteries are needed for trucks and buses than for passenger cars, especially if they are heavy duty models. Take the Tesla Semi, which has the greatest range of any heavy duty vehicle on the market and a battery that is nearly 10 times larger than the Tesla Model Y, a passenger car with a 74-kilowatt-hour battery. The price of batteries varies with size, i.e. the cost of the car increases with battery size.
   
• High cost of heavy duty trucks - The entrance of new producers is hindered by these expenses. Because of these expenses, manufacturers are compelled to restrict the variety of vehicle products they sell, as every new type of vehicle has initial expenditures. As a result, the excessive start-up expenses restrict the number of manufacturers that are actively in business while also restricting internal company diversity.