Conventional truck emission accounting methods based on average activity levels and static emission factors are increasingly inadequate for dynamic regulation and policy comparison at high spatiotemporal resolution. This review synthesizes recent progress in dynamic truck emission estimation from four perspectives: multi-source data support, key feature extraction, physics-constrained emission modeling, and governance-oriented applications. The literature was collected from Web of Science Core Collection and ScienceDirect for the period 2014–2026, supplemented by backward reference checking, and was analyzed through a progressive framework linking data, features, models, and governance tasks. Unlike previous reviews that usually discuss emission inventories, conventional emission models, or data-driven prediction methods separately, this review highlights an integrated governance-oriented chain that connects multi-source data fusion, mechanism-related feature construction, physics-constrained modeling, and environmental management applications. Existing studies suggest that multi-source data, including GPS trajectories, on-board diagnostics (OBDs), on-board monitoring (OBM), portable emissions measurement system (PEMS) measurements, traffic flow monitoring, and road network attributes, provide an important basis for representing real-world operating processes. Meanwhile, key features have expanded from surface-level variables such as vehicle velocity to mechanism-related factors, including payload, road grade, engine operating conditions, vehicle-specific power, and roadway context. Truck emission modeling has also evolved from unconstrained or weakly constrained approaches toward frameworks that place greater emphasis on physical consistency, interpretability, and result credibility. In parallel, application scenarios have extended from emission quantification to high-emission vehicle identification, dynamic inventory development, hotspot detection, policy comparison, and transport optimization. These developments can support policymakers, transportation planners, and environmental agencies in moving from aggregate emission accounting toward targeted and process-based truck emission governance. Current research, however, still faces challenges related to data consistency, model generalizability, uncertainty propagation, and real-time application. Future work should focus on standardized datasets, hybrid AI–physics modeling frameworks, uncertainty-aware validation, real-time deployment in intelligent transportation systems, and improved links between dynamic estimation and practical environmental management.
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