Trucking news and briefs for Friday, Sept. 26, 2025:
Trump placing duty on big truck imports
President Donald Trump on Thursday announced on his Truth Social platform that, effective next week, the U.S. will levy tariffs on all imported heavy-duty trucks.
"In order to protect our Great Heavy Truck Manufacturers from unfair outside competition, I will be imposing, as of October 1st, 2025, a 25% Tariff on all 'Heavy (Big!) Trucks' made in other parts of the World," he wrote. "Therefore, our Great Large Truck Company Manufacturers, such as Peterbilt, Kenworth, Freightliner, Mack Trucks, and others, will be protected from the onslaught of outside interruptions. We need our Truckers to be financially healthy and strong, for many reasons, but above all else, for National Security purposes!"
All the major North American heavy-truck manufacturers are global companies but have assembly operations in the U.S.
Companies that supplement assembly with operations in Mexico are generally allowed to bring those trucks into the U.S. tariff-free under the U.S.-Mexico-Canada free trade agreement – a deal Trump signed in 2018 that went into effect in 2020, replacing the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA).
International Motors, while absent from Trump's list of "Great Large Truck Company Manufacturers," manufactures its powertrains in Huntsville, Alabama, and has truck assembly plants in Escobedo, Mexico, San Antonio, Texas, and Springfield, Ohio. Volvo, also not on the list, builds trucks in Dublin, Virginia, and powertrains in Hagerstown, Maryland. Volvo also has a new plant under construction in Monterrey, Mexico, scheduled to open next year.
RK Logistics grows in Phoenix area
RK Logistics Group has doubled its presence in the greater Phoenix market with an 80,000 square foot temperature-controlled warehouse in Tempe, growing RK's local footprint to nearly 158,000 square feet.
The facility is equipped for storage of a variety of commercial and industrial products, and features material handling equipment and trained personnel to support efficient management of inventory and rapid fulfillment of orders. It has 25 dock doors for loading and unloading of freight, 30-foot clear-height ceilings, and over 200 parking spaces for trucks, trailers and autos.
