Year in review: Top tank truck stories from 2025

Most trucking industry stakeholders were bullish on Trump 2.0 heading into 2025, particularly when it came to rolling back unreasonable timelines for zero-emission vehicle adoption. And their confidence was confirmed when President Trump revoked the California Air Resources Board’s waivers for Advanced Clean Trucks, Advanced Clean Cars II, and the Heavy-Duty Omnibus in June, effectively eliminating California’s stranglehold on national policy.

The good news continued to pour in this fall, with the Department of Transportation embarking on crackdowns of illegally issued non-domiciled CDLs and “CDL mills” and a long-overdue overhaul of the electronic-logging device vetting process—all of which could help reduce the lingering overcapacity suppressing freight rates, opined Greg Hodgen, American Trucking Associations chairman and Groendyke Transport CEO, in a recent appearance on EndeavorB2B’s The Fleet Lead podcast with host Jason McDaniel, Bulk Transporter editor.

However, those positive developments were negated by Trump’s haphazard tariff deployments, which made planning impossible for stakeholders across the supply chain—turning 2025 into a year of “uncertainty” marked by a record-long freight recession and government shutdown. And, unfortunately, ACT Research is forecasting that strong headwinds—including private-fleet contraction, sticky “recessionary-level” rates, and macro-level economic anxiety—threaten to prolong challenging conditions for truckers well into next year.

“Recent clarity regarding EPA ’27 is welcomed, but as we have reiterated, truckers buy trucks when they make money,” reported Ken Vieth, ACT president and senior analyst. “While regulatory clarity is helpful, at current low levels of carrier profitability and returns on investment, barring an unforeseen shift in economic fortunes, a tractor prebuy is highly unlikely but could spur some marginal activity later in 2026, as supply-demand conditions for carriers improve.

“Additionally, the trucking industry is contending with recently enacted §232 tariffs that placed a 25% levy on the value of foreign content in imported medium- and heavy-duty trucks and buses. With the for-hire market entering a third consecutive year of generationally low profitability, and freight rates generally moving sideways, tariff-driven equipment cost increases will help to constrain already weak new U.S. vehicle demand.”

Tank truckers are responding by turning to new technologies to optimize operations and improve utilization of existing equipment, a trend Bulk Transporter noticed while attending the 2025 Insight Tech Conference in New Orleans. And Trimble’s latest Transportation Pulse Report predicts those efforts will continue in 2026 as fleets increasingly incorporate artificial intelligence and connected digital ecosystems into their transportation management systems.

“The true value of AI lies not just in the technological innovation itself, but how quickly and effectively it can be operationalized and integrated throughout your supply chains,” said Jonah McIntire, Trimble chief product and technology officer for transportation and logistics. “The companies that embrace AI across their systems, partners, and people, will deliver faster, smarter, and more efficient operations and better business outcomes for their customers.”

Faster, smarter, and better are all adjectives that truckers—and the commercial vehicle media outlets covering them—hope to hear more next year. And the savviest operators already are preparing for the upswing that surely must be coming, eventually. So, before we start fretting over the future, let’s review 2025 by recapping the year’s most-viewed articles, which includes uplifting stories about OEM innovation, fleet resilience, and award-winning safety success.

1a. Made in America: STE advances tanker manufacturing with highly automated facility 

1b. Beloit’s biggest bet: STE celebrates new tank trailer manufacturing facility

STE’s first-of-its-kind greenfield tank trailer manufacturing facility, and the grand opening that followed, attracted the most eyeballs in 2025—and even drew the interest of President Trump. And, considering the family-owned, America-first company calls the facility the largest single investment in North American tanker manufacturing in history, that isn’t surprising.

2. Lease-purchase abuse: Bad-actor carriers a bulk problem, too

This 2024 story continued to drive traffic this year, indicating the problem—and widespread interest in identifying solutions—remains.

3. Jack Olsta founder’s philosophy fuels expansion of facilities, upfit services

One of the tank trailer segment’s most highly regarded equipment and services providers lost its founder in 2024, but it didn’t lose the industry’s respect—or its commitment to grow its offerings.

4. Cummins introduces fuel-agnostic X10 engine

Tank truckers aren’t looking for electric vehicles, but they are searching for flexible solutions that simultaneously advance sustainability and fuel economy.

5. SWTO 2.0: 7-Eleven’s private fleet transforming fuel supply, support services

As a dedicated hauler that serves one of the country’s largest fuel retailers, SWTO transitioned its operation into a highly agile, commercially driven business by redefining its mission and overhauling its strategy.

6. Stronger together: Tank truckers celebrate NTTC's 80th anniversary in Tampa

National Tank Truck Carriers kicked off a milestone year with strong PAC fundraising efforts, critical workforce committee updates, tank truck industry market analysis, and the introduction of a new FMCSA truck crash causation study in Tampa.

7. Holding the line: G&D/Hoffman celebrates significance amid trying times

The Illinois-based tank truck carrier delivered a powerful message about holding the line amid trying times—a message magnified by the presence of Heisman Trophy winning quarterback Tim Tebow and family ownership’s refusal to cancel their signature employee appreciation event.

8. Elemental passion: Tremcar expands U.S. operations

The Canadian tank trailer manufacturer is strengthening its ability to serve U.S.-based customers and the aluminum tanker market.

9. On course: Hazards can’t stop PAR’s eagle-eyed expansion

Another for-hire tank truck carrier in Illinois is navigating both internal and external challenges while maintaining a family atmosphere and achieving remarkable growth in the chemical transportation sector.

10. TerraVest acquires Heil, Polar Tank parent

Another manufacturer based in Canada not only acquired EnTrans International’s well-known tank trailer brands, it also absorbed LBT and Tankcon FRP in a series of transactions that reshaped the OEM landscape.

11. Tanking control: Busch Farms establishes tank-cleaning facility

Establishing a new tank wash in 2025 is daunting. But carriers who forge ahead can reap multiple benefits, as this Midwest food-grade hauler is proving.

12. Fast forward: 10 years in, Kwik Equipment’s founder isn't slowing down

Rapid innovation is the key to pulling ahead in a fast-evolving environment, and this Houston-area manufacturer is expanding its presence in the specialized equipment space by focusing on the future.

13. Redemption arc: Fueled by Fulghum, STS Tank Leasing is flourishing 

Cody Fulghum’s single-minded determination is furthering his family’s legacy, and establishing one of the fastest-growing tank trailer equipment and services providers in the Houston area.

14. Overwhelming accomplishment: NTTC crowns NA safety champions

MBH Trucking claimed its first Heil trophy, Trimac Transportation captured its fourth championship, and LSP Transport won its first private-fleet title after previously snaring a carrier crown.

15. Trimac finalizes Watt & Stewart acquisition

The Canada-based carrier continued to grow in 2025, which started with the addition of this flatbed carrier and culminated with the acquisition of leading chemical hauler Service Transport Company.