The new GNSS-based toll collection system is scheduled to be implemented by April 2025.

At IAA Transportation 2024 last month, I experienced firsthand the magnetic effect of the “Tesla phenomenon”. Towards the end of a series of keynote speeches delivered by some of the industry’s most important executives, Dan Priestley, who heads the development of Tesla’s heavy electric ‘Semi’ truck, took to the stage to provide an update on the company’s plans for the commercial vehicle segment. I had a place towards the front, having sat through the preceding talks that afternoon, which were reasonably well attended; however, looking behind just before Priestley’s entry to the stage, I saw a new crowd of attendees filling out the entire space.

Brigade voluntarily submitted their key products, including Sidescan Predict and Radar Predict, to independent testing at Loughborough University, where they passed the new Progressive Safe System (PSS) requirements for both Blind Spot Information Systems (BSIS) and Moving Off Information Systems (MOIS).

In July, American powertrain manufacturer, Cummins Inc, opened a new test facility at its engine plant in Darlington in the northeast of England, with the attendance of T&BB and other members of the trade press. The company has carried out engine testing at Darlington for many years, but the new facility represents a definitive change in approach to product development and evaluation. While the older test cells are solely designed to assess engines, the new facility can accommodate an entire truck or bus for whole vehicle testing. Moreover, the building which houses the new facility is specifically made to safely test gas and hydrogen combustion vehicles.

New European legislation mandating the use of tyre pressure monitoring systems (TPMS) for all new commercial vehicles, including trailers, came into effect on July 7. Any tyre pressure change that exceeds 20% must be displayed (in real-time) on the driver's dashboard, alerting them to the issue as a safety precaution.

Mullen is now entirely exempt from export duties and taxes by U.S. customs for any Class 1 and 3 vehicles sold abroad which are produced at the Tunica site.

The ‘Automated Vehicles Act’ (passed on 20 May) will require self-driving vehicles to achieve a safety level “as high as careful and competent drivers” before being allowed onto public roads.

The amended legislation will further reduce CO2 emissions from road transport and introduce new targets for 2030, 2035 and 2040. 

According to the EU, the dates of application depend on vehicle type: “30 months for new types of cars and vans, and 42 months for new cars and vans. 48 months for new types of buses, trucks and trailers, and 60 months for new buses, lorries and trailers. 30 months for new systems, components or separate technical units to be fitted in cars and vans, and 48 months for those to be fitted in buses, lorries and trailers.”

The EPA’s latest “Greenhouse Gas Emissions Standards for Heavy-Duty Vehicles”, now in its third phase, stipulates the maximum permitted emissions in grams per ton-mile that will be allowed for each subcategory of vehicle – divided according to its weight and application.

MoRTH has issued a new regulation mandating that the trucks manufactured on and after October 1, 2025, must be fitted with air conditioning for drivers; the new regulation will apply to trucks above 3.5 tons gross vehicle weight (GVW) – applies to trucks in the N2 and N31 categories.

The European Parliament in Brussels has agreed improved Weights and Dimensions Directive rules, moving from an initial 40-tonne heavy-goods gross vehicle weight limit to 44-tonnes. The caveat, however, is that after 2034, these weight exemptions will only apply to zero-emission vehicles.