Shop leaders talk tariffs, technology, and plans for 2026

The transportation industry experienced quite a shake-up in 2025. On the regulatory front alone, Congress revoked California’s EPA waivers for the Heavy-Duty Low-Nox Omnibus and Advanced Clean Trucks rules, while the EPA took aim at the 2009 Endangerment Finding that fuels regulations around greenhouse gases. The California Air Resources Board and leading truck OEMs have also waged war against each other through lawsuits and public statements.

The loss of tax incentives and overall confidence in the current technology have pushed electric trucks to the back burner, with diesel and hybrid engines rising again. For example, the all-electric Ford Lightning and Ram 1500 EV are being shelved for range-extended versions that include an onboard gas generator.

Then there's the current freight recession and tariff uncertainty with which fleets have had to contend.

Helping companies prepare and navigate these and many more changes was a big reason we created our 2025 management and equipment benchmark survey. But survey and industry data don't tell the whole story. The boots on the ground experiencing all these changes, however, can.

We sought insights from several experts to see how tariffs, technology, regulations, and more have impacted their businesses and where they’re headed for 2026. These include:

• Steve Wilson, Inland Empire Fleet Maintenance account manager and co-founder
• Jody Pollard, SVP of vehicle aftermarket sales, Rush Enterprises
• Victor Cummins, VP of service operations, Rush Enterprises
• Jerry Greiner, Transervice VP of business operations, procurement, and fleet management

Editorial note: Answers have been edited for length and clarity.

Fleet Maintenance: How have regulatory shifts from the EPA impacted your business?

Jerry Greiner (JG): On a bigger scale, having some uncertainty on what the rules are actually going to be makes it tough to know when we need to buy. Is there going to be a pre-buy? If they change the rule after we've placed an order, can we update our order? But [updated emissions] technology is coming, whether ‘27 regulations cause it to happen or not. [OEMs have] already invested and made the changes, so we're going to get it one way or the other.

Steve Wilson (SW): We really haven't seen a significant change in our business. Everyone welcomes clean air, especially in California, but many in the industry believe fossil fuels will be around for quite a while, regardless of the politics and regulatory agencies. Simply put, most trucking companies can't afford new electric trucks, additionally, the infrastructure doesn't exist yet to support running them.

JP: There's lots of twists and turns, but the reversal of the CRA was in respect to the California regulations. But we know that with California being the sixth largest economy in the world, a lot of our customers have to be very business-centric about how they operate in and out of California. There is still some process being taken in respect to rescind the whole GHG standard and the zero emissions vehicles, so that unto itself has created a little less anxiety on all of our customers saying, ‘I have to go zero emission vehicles.’ It's kind of like giving everyone a level playing field in terms of not having to completely customize their business needs all for California, it's given them more flexibility. And there's downstream implications that our customers have had to deal with on compliance for their vehicles to operate in and out of California. So there's been this cloud and relief factor as it relates to that. But it's not cured some of the main issues that are going on in the regulatory environment. 

FM: How have tariffs impacted your ability to economically source parts?

JG: We used to be able to get a quote and it was good for the year or at least six months. Now, quotes are good for 30 days or less. And I feel at times, the OEMs have maybe used tariffs to try and push people to place orders earlier, because hey, it’s coming. Most of [the uncertainty around tariffs is] what that piece of equipment is going to cost in 30 days, 60 days, or 90 days, and the uncertainty of if you place an order now and then, in 90 days or 120 days when the truck arrives, is there going to be an additional tariff that gets charged on that too?

Jody Pollard (JP): Within this particular market cycle, it's been a little complicated. The natural progression of thinking is that because new equipment isn’t being particularly purchased at this buying cycle, that there would be a lot more maintenance. [But] a lot of customers have made decisions just to park equipment… Overall, I would tell you that most large carriers are [fixing trucks] as an emergency. They are not necessarily repairing because of necessity, because things have been so tight.

SW: Tariffs haven't affected the availability of parts that we've noticed, however, some suppliers are tacking on tariff fees.

Victor Cummins (VC): Under a normal freight environment, we would see a large upswing in service with running equipment longer. But [with the] freight recession and capacity that is hampered, what would normally be a growth opportunity in service is more flat than it is expanding.

FM: How has your business applied Artificial Intelligence, if at all?

SW: Some of our technicians have started using AI in their story writing for repairs, which expedites the process somewhat. We've been using it a bit in marketing and also while writing new procedures, answering emails, etc.

VC: We're pursuing AI technology more on the administrative side of the service department in respect to warranty claims and diagnostics. A good part of that is going to come from the OEs. It's specific to their equipment and warranty contingencies, etc. But we don't actually use AI in the shop environment itself at this point. I can certainly see future opportunity, and we're exploring that and what's the best opportunity and most immediate lift through AI tools.

JG: We have talked about this a lot, and I think this is one area I struggle in, just trying to get a good understanding of how we can use it. I think there’s some potential in data mining and other things. I've really been talking to my warranty manager about how we could use AI to help find potential warranty claims that we could file, I know that it takes him a lot of time to sort through all the repair orders and data. And we were talking about [if AI could] help us write technician notes. 

FM: What are your plans heading into 2026?

SW: Expenses, like rent, and the cost of labor still remain a concern and put a lot of pressure on owners to run their shops as efficiently as possible. Managing employees in the state of California is also precarious at best. Finding the right talent on the shop floor is difficult but very important to us, so we spend a lot of time looking for good technicians. We're optimistic about 2026 and we believe we'll continue to grow. We'll probably spend a bit more on marketing next year and we're changing operational platforms, which will help to run a more efficient shop.

JG: Our customers are asking for more data and more reporting. So one of my priorities for 2026 is to really focus on getting better with our data. My other priority is to continue to control costs, [especially] with tariffs and everything else that’s out there. What can we do to keep costs as level as we possibly can? Do we need to bring in new vendors?

VC: We still struggle, as the industry does, with bringing lower-level techs into the business and creating an environment where they can thrive. I would say that the business itself is a bit more challenging with the current climate. But as a whole, it's really [about] being [a] total solutions provider to our customers. So a lot of it is really dictated on what the customer needs, and right now, that's a moving target.

JP: Our space needs clarity. It really needs to understand the rules of the game in respect to how to operate. Every carrier, every dealer, everyone who works inside this industry specifically, there are so many things inside of our space that are still lingering in terms of clarity.