Delivery Trucks: Specialist OEMs, Dealer Networks, and Heavy-Vehicle Rules
Executive summary
Commercial trucks are not simply a larger version of the passenger-car market. Specialist manufacturers such as PACCAR (Kenworth, Peterbilt, DAF), Daimler Truck (Mercedes-Benz Trucks, Freightliner), and Volvo Trucks assemble vehicles, while major components such as engines, transmissions, and axles may come from specialist suppliers. The trade data is geographically dispersed: exports were about $192.7 billion, with an exporter HHI of 793. Mexico represented 19.4%, the United States 11.2%, China 7.5%, Germany 7.1%, and Thailand 6.1%. This geographic dispersion is compatible with concentrated production among specialist manufacturers.
PACCAR reports that virtually all completed trucks are sold through independent dealers. The reviewed sources did not establish a single semiconductor-like bottleneck. Instead, the evidence highlights dealer-network dependence, upcoming heavy-vehicle emissions and safety rules, and specialized demand in mining supply transport and port logistics.
Supply chain
PACCAR says it purchases major components such as engines, transmissions, and axles from suppliers, with long-term supply agreements involving Cummins, Eaton, ZF, and Magna. DAF also manufactures PACCAR-branded engines and axles for heavy trucks. Cummins reports heavy-duty diesel and natural-gas engines in the 310–615 horsepower range and names PACCAR, Traton, and Daimler Trucks among its major customers. A change in engine specifications can therefore affect multiple OEMs.
Michelin reported that more than 80% of its 2025 tire-volume decline came from original-equipment truck and agricultural tires, particularly in North America. This supports the existence of a heavy-truck OE tire market, but does not establish a contract or volume for a named truck manufacturer.
PACCAR produces light, medium, and heavy commercial trucks at facilities in the United States, Europe, Australia, Brazil, Canada, and Mexico. Its Kenworth facility in Chillicothe, Ohio, added a 46,000-square-foot robotic chassis-painting facility in 2025. Daimler Truck describes its Wörth plant as its largest Mercedes-Benz truck assembly site, with a designed shipment capacity of up to 470 trucks per day and more than 750,000 CKD kits supplied for local final assembly over time. These are company-disclosed operating or designed figures, not market-wide production totals.
Downstream uses and regulation
PACCAR describes long-haul commercial and consumer-goods transport, as well as off-highway applications. A Volvo Trucks customer case documents two FMX trucks transporting concrete for reinforcement work at Sweden's Renström mine. This is a specific materials-transport example, not evidence about mine haul trucks or the mining industry as a whole. The U.S. EPA's Clean Ports Program includes drayage trucks among equipment used in port logistics, but does not identify supplier contracts or vehicle counts.
The U.S. EPA's stricter standards for new heavy-duty vehicles and engines apply beginning with model year 2027. EU General Safety Regulation requirements for new truck types include driver-assistance and detection systems, with additional blind-spot and tire-pressure requirements for trucks and buses.
The European Commission states that the current End-of-Life Vehicles framework does not cover lorries, buses, or motorcycles. The reviewed evidence did not establish truck recovery volumes, recyclers, material-specific recovery rates, or fleet retirement flows. Passenger-car recycling rules should not be presented as current truck-recycling requirements.