Trucking news and briefs for Thursday, March 27, 2025:
Kenworth debuts limited-edition W9 to commemorate end of model’s production
Kenworth's W900 Legacy Edition will be available with paint schemes from previous limited-edition W900 runs from the iconic model's history.Kenworth
To close out a production run of more than 60 years, Kenworth at the 2025 Mid-America Trucking Show unveiled the Kenworth W900 Legacy Edition, a special-edition run of the iconic truck model that will feature just 1,000 units.
More than 280,000 W900s have been sold since 1963, and the final builds will be coming in 2026, Kenworth said.
“Our W900 Legacy Edition is a way to celebrate the history and importance of the truck model with our customers,” said Kevin Haygood, Kenworth’s assistant general manager for sales and marketing. “We will produce 1,000 of these limited-edition trucks, and they’re sure to become a collector’s item. They’ll be powered by the Cummins X15 engine painted in legacy Cummins beige -- an exclusive color for this limited edition.”
Haygood noted that the Legacy Edition is the ninth limited edition in the W900’s history. “In recognition of that, we are bringing back paint schemes from those past trucks and some other fan favorites,” he said
[Related: Kenworth discontinuing W900 models, T800W and C500]
The Legacy Edition is available in Extended Day Cab, 72-inch Flat Top, and 86-inch Studio Sleeper configurations. Each Kenworth W900 Legacy Edition will be serialized -- counting from 1000 down to 0001 -- in order of build date and sequence with a special limited-edition badge on the glovebox.
The interior features a luxurious black Diamond VIT interior with platinum accents. For those ordering a sleeper, vintage tuck-and-roll adorns the sleeper back wall. Ravenwood door and dash trim compliment the Legacy Edition’s styling, while platinum accent stitching and throwback vintage Kenworth logos on trim and headrests complete the package. The Kenworth hood badges take the Legacy Edition into the past as well, utilizing the design that became popular in 1966.
[Related: W9 owners: Add your truck to Overdrive's Reader Rigs gallery]
“There has been a long love affair between drivers and the W900,” said Haygood. “The trucking industry features many generational families and owner-operators who have bought the W900 over all these years. It’s The Driver’s Truck with its bold, long hood and stately appearance. It’s why you see them at so many truck shows -- they’ve won plenty of awards. The W900 also occupies a special place in popular culture. It dodged Smokey and aided Mr. Bond, all while becoming an iconic piece of automotive history.”
Haygood said Kenworth’s W990 will now carry the torch of nostalgia for those who want traditional long-hood styling. “It shares many of the same custom tailoring characteristics of the W900 but in a wider cab configuration, with better aerodynamics,” Haygood said. “It also accommodates current and future emissions-compliant engines and driver’s assistance features through its platform and is set to meet regulations down the road. We hope it will continue the legacy of a bona fide legend -- the W900.”
In Kenworth's booth at MATS, the company is showing its W900 Legacy Edition.Matt Cole
For those in attendance at MATS through Saturday, the Kenworth booth, No. 32025, features the following trucks:
- 2026 Kenworth W900 Legacy Edition 72-inch AeroCab FlatTop Sleeper; 1000 of 1000 produced (serial numbers will count down for this special edition)
- 1982 Kenworth W900A 36-inch sleeper, restored in 2017 with original ‘Cape Cod’ paint scheme in light green, dark green and gold
- 2026 Kenworth W990 52-inch Flat Top Sleeper, customized and painted to match the W900A’s ‘Cape Cod’ paint scheme
- 2023 Kenworth T680 76-inch High Roof Sleeper (Kenworth Certified Pre-Owned)
Wabash’s $462M nuclear verdict reduced
A U.S. Circuit Court has reduced the financial penalty levied against Wabash last year in a fatal 2019 motor vehicle accident in which a passenger vehicle struck the back of a nearly stopped 2004 Wabash trailer.
A St. Louis jury last September reached a $462 million verdict against trailer manufacturer Wabash National in a case stemming from a May 2019 fatal crash in which a passenger vehicle hit the rear of a 2004 Wabash trailer being pulled by now-defunct Akron, Ohio-based GDS Express.
Two men, the driver and a passenger, were killed in the collision, which occurred 15 years after the trailer involved was manufactured in compliance with existing regulatory standards, according to Wabash. Evidence Wabash presented in court showed the car was traveling 55 mph at impact -- 20 mph faster than the current National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) underride standard, and 25 mph faster than the NHTSA standard at the time of the crash.
A Circuit Court last week ordered the punitive damages award reduced to $108 million with the compensatory damages award remaining at $11.5 million.
"Wabash continues to believe both that the damages remain abnormally high and the verdict is not supported by the facts or the law," the company said via emailed statement. "The company continues to evaluate all available legal options."
NHTSA in July 2022 upgraded its safety standards for rear underride protection in crashes of passenger vehicles into trailers and semitrailers by adopting requirements similar to Transport Canada's standard for rear impact guards. With this final rule, the standards require rear impact guards to provide sufficient strength and energy absorption to protect occupants of compact and subcompact passenger cars impacting the rear of trailers at 35 mph. The final rule provides upgraded protection for crashes in which a passenger motor vehicle hits the rear of the trailer or semitrailer such that 50% to 100% of the width of the passenger motor vehicle overlaps the rear of the trailer or semitrailer.
NHTSA in 2023 published an advance notice of proposed rulemaking exploring possibly requiring side underride guards on trailers. Last year the NHTSA Advisory Committee on Underride Protection (ACUP), a group tasked with providing advice and recommendations to the Secretary of Transportation on safety regulations to reduce underride crashes and fatalities related to underride crashes, said it will recommend to Congress that any trailer built in the last quarter century meet IIHS ToughGuard standards. --Jason Cannon
[Related: Wabash hit with nuclear verdict in 2019 underride deaths]
Motion picture hauler seek renewal of waiver from Clearinghouse regs
A group representing companies whose drivers provide transportation services to or from theatrical, commercial, television or motion picture production sites has petitioned the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration for a renewal of a waiver that exempts the group’s members from provisions of FMCSA’s Drug and Alcohol Clearinghouse regulations.
First granted in 2020, the waiver allows members of DISA Entertainment Compliance Solutions (DECS), formerly known as Motion Picture Compliance Solutions, to conduct limited queries of the Clearinghouse before hiring a driver for a project rather than a full query.
Federal regulations do not allow employers to hire a driver without first conducting a pre-employment full query of the Clearinghouse. A full query allows the employer to see any information that exists about a driver in the Clearinghouse. An employer must obtain the driver’s specific consent, provided electronically through the Clearinghouse, prior to the release of detailed information in response to the full query.
A limited query, however, allows an employer to determine whether the Clearinghouse contains any information about the driver but does not release any specific information about the driver. Limited queries require only a driver’s general consent, which is obtained and retained outside the Clearinghouse and may be in written or electronic form. Limited queries can be conducted to satisfy the annual query requirement.
Under the waiver granted to DECS, when conducted a limited query on drivers, if the query indicates that information about the driver exists in the Clearinghouse, the driver would not be permitted to perform safety-sensitive functions unless and until a full query subsequently shows that the driver is not prohibited from operating a CMV.
DECS is requesting a five-year renewal of the waiver. FMCSA is accepting public comments on the request here through April 25.
