Trucking news and briefs for Wednesday, Nov. 5, 2025:
Kodiak partners with ZF for steering components for 100 autonomous trucks
Autonomous truck developer Kodiak AI has expanded its long-standing partnership with global supplier ZF with the purchase of 100 steering systems with redundant components.
Kodiak said the purchase enables the company to grow its trucking business. Kodiak began integrating these redundant steering components into Kodiak Driver-equipped trucks earlier in 2025.
ZF’s commercial vehicle product portfolio enables autonomous mobility, including redundant ReAX, adaptive electronic steering assist system and next-generation Electric Power Steering.ZF
“At ZF, our goal is to offer innovative solutions designed to enhance the autonomous vehicle industry by incorporating redundant components and moving towards fail-safe steering systems, enhancing safety, precision, and AI-driven functionality,” said Praful Bari, Head of Application Engineering, Commercial Vehicle Solutions, ZF. “This includes the development of cutting-edge technologies like redundant ReAX, our adaptive electronic steering assist system and our next-generation Electric Power Steering, which enables ZF and our partners to explore new possibilities in autonomous mobility."
ZF’s steering innovations are a key component of Kodiak’s autonomous platform, the companies said, as redundancy is essential to safe driverless deployments. In January 2024, Kodiak unveiled its sixth-generation truck, which included ZF’s redundant steering actuators controlled by Kodiak's autonomous system. If the primary steering actuator experiences a failure, the truck seamlessly switches to the secondary actuator, allowing Kodiak’s virtual Driver to maintain control of the vehicle and achieve a safe fallback.
ZF supported Kodiak throughout the development of the steering system solutions, and ZF’s flexible manufacturing system allowed for the rapid creation of dedicated production capacity specifically for Kodiak’s steering solution. Kodiak’s manufacturing partner, Roush, upfits the Kodiak Driver-equipped trucks with the ReAX steering solution at its factory in Livonia, Michigan.
"Praful and his team at ZF have been fantastic partners to Kodiak since day one, and they have worked tirelessly to get us exactly what we needed to meet our safety standards for a redundant autonomous system,” said Jamie Hoffacker, VP of Hardware, Kodiak AI. “These innovations have been pivotal in the commercialization of driverless semi-trucks, and are contributing to advancements in safety, efficiency, and environmental responsibility in the commercial vehicle sector."
Hours regs waived in Dakotas for fertilizer, fuel haulers
The governors of North Dakota and South Dakota have each declared emergencies that waive hours of service rules for certain truck drivers.
In North Dakota, Gov. Kelly Armstrong declared an emergency due to disruptions in the fertilizer supply chain. Armstrong’s declaration said “facility maintenance delays and transportation issues on the eastern side of the state are causing a strain on the state's anhydrous supply and have resulted in the need for trucks to transport the fertilizer from one side of the state to the other.”
That longer haul, Armstrong added, “has put a strain on industry, being unable to run the trucks for enough hours to meet demand, resulting in a delay for farmers who have an already shortened application window.”
As a result, the emergency declaration waives hours of service regulations for commercial drivers transporting agricultural inputs, including dry fertilizer, liquid fertilizer and anhydrous ammonia. The waiver expires on Nov. 17.
Likewise, in South Dakota, Gov. Larry Rhoden issued an emergency declaration due to “extremely low inventories and outages of propane and other fuels due to the high demand for petroleum products due to harvest.”
The order exempts commercial drivers delivering gasoline or gasoline blends, diesel, fuel oil, ethanol, propane, jet fuel, and biodiesel from hours of service regulations.
“Although hours of service have been temporarily suspended for commercial deliveries, companies may not require or allow fatigued drivers to make deliveries,” Rhoden said. “All other road safety and vehicle compliance regulations still apply.”
South Dakota’s waiver is effective through Nov. 10.
Toll hike coming on Michigan’s Blue Water Bridge
Truck drivers crossing the Blue Water Bridge from Michigan into Canada will see increased tolls beginning Dec. 1.
Effective Dec. 1, the toll rate for crossing the eastbound span of the Blue Water Bridge (BWB) in Port Huron for trucks will increase from $4.25 per axle to $5.25 per axle. The Michigan Department of Transportation said the planned $1 increase will help offset increased maintenance and operations costs, in addition to construction improvements for the BWB plaza.
This increase is the second in a planned, staggered increase that began in 2024, MDOT noted. While not required, MDOT previously chose to engage the public and regular commuters before making a final decision regarding rate increases. Following an overwhelming response from a public survey, BWB administration implemented the first $1 rate increase on Dec. 1, 2024, with this next $1 increase beginning this Dec. 1.
The overall rate increase follows 14 years of no changes to toll rates for commuter and commercial vehicles.
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