Trucking news and briefs for Tuesday, Jan. 27, 2026:
Eaton plans to spin off Vehicle, eMobility segments
Eaton on Monday announced that it is pursuing a spin-off of its Vehicle and eMobility segments -- combined as Eaton’s Mobility Group -- into an independent, publicly-traded company.
Eaton’s Mobilty Group is a leading provider of transmissions and clutches for the U.S. heavy-duty and commercial vehicle market, along with high-voltage electric vehicle fuses and valve actuation technologies around the world.
“The separation of Mobility advances Eaton’s bold new 2030 growth strategy to lead, invest, and execute for growth,” said Eaton CEO Paulo Ruiz. “Our team will have a sharpened focus on our core Electrical and Aerospace businesses, which are driven by powerful megatrends including in electrification, digitalization and AI, reindustrialization, infrastructure spending and growth in the aerospace after-market and defense demand.”
Ruiz added that, “as an independent company, Mobility will be able to build on its strong foundation as a leading supplier across the globe and have the strategic focus and agility to allocate capital and resources to best serve its customers, pursue independent growth opportunities, and drive innovation.”
Upon completion of the separation, Eaton said it will be strongly positioned to execute on the Company’s 2030 growth strategy by prioritizing allocation of capital on higher-growth, higher-margin businesses with more earnings consistency.
A separation will allow Mobility more flexibility to pursue near- and long-term growth opportunities, the company added, including in markets where it is well positioned with leading technologies serving heavy-, medium- and light-duty trucks, passenger vehicles and off-highway vehicles.
Eaton expects to complete the anticipated spin-off by the end of the first quarter of 2027, subject to the satisfaction of customary legal and regulatory requirements and approvals, including final approval of the Company’s Board of Directors and effectiveness of a Form 10 registration statement filed with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. The planned separation is expected to be completed in a manner that is tax-free to Eaton shareholders for U.S. federal income tax purposes.
Autonomous truck developer expands partnership with International parent company
The Traton Group, parent company of International, Scania and MAN, has announced an expansion of its partnership with autonomous software developer PlusAI to accelerate the commercial deployment of Level 4 autonomous trucks across the U.S. and Europe.
Under the expanded agreement, Traton will provide up to $25 million in non-dilutive research and development (R&D) funding to PlusAI. The investment aims to deepen the factory integration of PlusAI’s SuperDrive software into Traton’s brand portfolio.
Additionally, Traton will nominate a representative to PlusAI’s Board of Directors in connection with its planned public listing and will be eligible for warrants tied to initial revenue milestones.
The collaboration builds on a successful 2024 pilot program, the companies said. Recent milestones include:
- Real-world trials: International has initiated autonomous fleet trials along the I-35 corridor in Texas with one of North America’s largest logistics providers.
- Technical validation: PlusAI successfully completed driverless safety maneuvers using NVIDIA-powered hardware, demonstrating autonomous fallback procedures without human intervention.
- Global scalability: The companies have established a unified Level 4 software stack capable of operating across diverse geographies and vehicle platforms.
“Autonomy represents a meaningful opportunity to deliver higher uptime and greater value for our fleet customers,” said Niklas Klingenberg, Traton Executive Board member.
The companies added that the partnership aims to address persistent driver shortages and rising costs in the $2 trillion freight market. By combining Traton’s manufacturing scale – delivering over 305,000 vehicles in 2025 – with PlusAI’s Reasoning-Reflex AI architecture, the companies expect to bring factory-built, driverless-capable trucks to market via established sales and service channels.
PremierRide ELD reinstated after recent revocation
The PremierRide Logs electronic logging device has been reinstated to the “Registered Devices” list of compliant ELDs by the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration.
The device was one of four FMCSA revoked on Jan. 13. It is now the second from that group that has had its certification reinstated, joining the DSG Elogs device that was reinstated Jan. 15.
FMCSA did not provide additional details as to why the device was revoked or what corrections were made to get it reinstated.
Motor carriers and drivers with the PremierRide ELD can now resume using it to record hours-of-service data.
The agency on Dec. 1 announced a "complete overhaul of the vetting process” for ELDs in an effort to combat tampering and fraud. Since that announcement, nearly a dozen ELDs already on FMCSA’s list of registered ELDs have had their self-certifications revoked with two of those now reinstated.
Paccar recalls vocational Kenworth, Peterbilt models for steering issue
Paccar has issued a recall affecting certain Peterbilt and Kenworth vocational units for an issue that could result in steering failure, according to National Highway Traffic Safety Administration documents.
The recall affects approximately 219:
- 2025 Kenworth L770
- 2024-’26 Peterbilt 520
In these units equipped with a right-hand stand-up steering configuration, misalignment in the steering cross-shaft bearing mounting holes could lead to added stress on the steering cross-shaft, potentially causing it to fail.
Dealers will inspect and repair the steering cross-shafts and replace any damaged or broken cross-shafts, free of charge. Owner notification letters are expected to be mailed March 20. Owners can contact Peterbilt's customer service at 1-940-591-4220 and Kenworth's customer service at 1-425- 828-5888. Paccar’s recall number is 26PACA. NHTSA’s recall number is 26V-022.
