[legion]

Lots of good articles out there:

https://www.smart-trucking.com/glider-kits.html

Statistics were released recently, revealing what those in the trucking industry already knew. The 2012 year production, Class 8 trucks, were experiencing an incidence of repair rate of almost 50%, meaning that half of all new trucks built last year had already suffered breakdowns and downtime in the first year of service.*

The majority of these breakdowns were related in some way to their new emission efficient engines and the surrounding plumbing. This came as no surprise to anyone who has been involved in trucking for any serious length of time.*

The average owner operator, when buying a new truck, cannot afford breakdowns or downtime in the first year of service for a brand new piece of equipment. The financial hit from such a breakdown could be enough to put an owner operator out of business…. the down payment plus the payments on a new truck, AND the down time involved, can easily sink an owner operator.

Experienced owner operators knew that buying a new truck in 2012 was not a smart business move and didn’t buy. If their equipment needed to be replaced, they looked for alternative solutions.

https://www.overdriveonline.com/gliders-101-five-common-questions-about-glider-kits-answered/

Despite the industry’s lackluster truck sales since the recession, Cookeville, Tenn.-based Fitzgerald Glider Kits has seen sales double each year since 2010, and it expects the trend to continue in 2014.

Though Fitzgerald concentrates its builds and engine programming on fuel economy and maintenance ease, its sales point to a growing trend for its owner-operator customers: the desire to run a new truck powered by a pre-exhaust gas recirculation engine.

https://www.npr.org/sections/thetwo-way/2017/11/16/564655569/epa-moves-to-shield-older-semi-truck-engines-from-emissions-rules

The Environmental Protection Agency wants to change how it classifies "glider vehicles" — heavy trucks that are built by pairing a new chassis with an old diesel engine and powertrain. The move would keep the EPA from imposing Clean Air Act emissions standards on the trucks.