This is the TDMST Weekly Round-Up of news affecting professional truck drivers, written by Vicki Simons for the week ending June 3, 2023.
We welcome your comments, thoughts and feedback on the items of your choice below.
1. Regarding equipment error, inspections, roadside assistances, and safety:
Equipment error
If you’re experiencing this kind of equipment error, please contact your fleet manager or dispatcher right away and seek a fix.
- NHTSA investigating reports of ‘false positive’ automatic braking events in certain trucks
- US opens probe into Freightliner trucks automatically braking without obstacle in road
- US safety agency to require automatic emergency braking on new vehicles and set tougher standards
Inspections
If you keep yourself and your rig in perpetual readiness for an inspection, you’ll never be caught off-guard.
- 10% of CMVs placed out of service in Canada during CVSA’s Brake Safety Day
- Brake safety inspection event puts nearly 800 trucks out of service
- California Highway Patrol to kick off ‘Maximum Enforcement Period’ patrol
- Check Call: Stop! It’s Brake Safety Day recap time
- Cops will crack down on speeding during this year’s CVSA driver-focused blitz
- CVSA Inspectors Sideline 773 Vehicles
- CVSA removes more than 750 commercial trucks from service during brake inspection blitz
- CVSA sets dates for Operation Safe Driver Week
- CVSA’s Operation Safe Driver Week to focus on speeding
- Hundreds of out of service orders issued in Arizona during Roadcheck
- Nearly 800 trucks sidelined during unannounced inspection blitz
- Unannounced brake inspection blitz leads to 679 CMVs out of service
- Unannounced Brake Safety Day nets nearly 800 out-of-service trucks
- Wyoming reports over 1,000 violations during CVSA safety blitz
Roadside assistance
It would be helpful to know whether or not you have this kind of service before you need it.
- Progressive Introduces Truck Roadside Assistance Coverage
- Roadside Assistance is Now Available for Heavy Trucks Through Progressive
Safety
- Carriers urged to focus on safety as another truck hits overpass in B.C.
- Driver Poll: Do fleet safety scores factor into your job decisions?
- Lytx data shows fleets improving safe driving behaviors
- Shaw: NS is ‘going to be the gold standard in safety’
- VIDEO: Trucker takes a stand for safety when company won’t do anything about bad steer tire
The video embedded in the last article just above is extremely important (language warning).
Please see this group of related articles on our site the subject:
- Refuse to Drive a Truck When These Situations Happen
- Out of Service Truck: Trucker Stages a Showdown
- Captain of the Ship Policy and Unsafe Working Conditions
- Whistle Blowing Truckers: STAA Law on Retaliation, Vindication
2. Regarding autonomous vehicles, batteries, electric vehicles, emissions, and fuels:
Autonomous vehicles
I absolutely oppose the operation of self-driving, autonomous, or driverless commercial motor vehicles on the roads with the motoring public, but I share these to help you stay current with the topic.
- Autonomous tech firm Embark to be acquired
- CA State Assembly votes to ban driverless trucks
- California driverless truck ban heads to state Senate
- Daimler Truck to partner with Toyota on climate and self-driving tech
- Self-Driving Trucks Becoming Common on North Texas Roads
- Self-Driving Trucks Need Human Operator Under California Bill
Batteries
- Jaguar Recalls I-Pace EVs Due to Fire Risk in Batteries
- Stellantis’ Battery Plant Subsidy Likely to Top Volkswagen’s
Electric vehicles
If you are considering purchasing an electric commercial motor vehicle, please do your due diligence ahead of time.
- California Dems lobby DOT for $700M electric truck charging project
- Can EPA’s electric truck proposal survive political scrutiny?
- Electric truck incentives plentiful today but won’t last forever
- Electrifying medium-duty trucks is a class act
- Ford EV Owners to Get Access to Tesla Supercharger Network
- Hyundai, LG to Build EV Battery Plant in Georgia
- Mack’s MD Electric now eligible for HVIP voucher in California
- Trucks-as-a-Service Model to Help Drive EV Adoption by Fleets
- US, EU Agree on Heavy-Truck Charging Standard
Emissions
- Advanced Clean Fleets rule: Like it or not, it’s time to get ready
- Clean Truck Bill Overturned – Biden Awaits Veto Opportunity
- Cummins to buy two French low-emission tech plants
- Daimler Truck, Toyota Strike Deal to Advance Zero-Emissions Truck Tech
- EPA Seeks Information by June 5 for Clean Energy Programs
- Manitoba, federal governments invest $38.2 million to reduce emissions
- Senators petition EPA to withdraw Phase 3 GHG regs
- Trains and trucks
- Zero and Lower-Emissions Commercial Vehicles at ACT Expo [Photos]
- Zero-emission big rigs to play key role in new world vision for environment
Fuels
- AAA retail diesel average now $3.954
- Alternative Fuels and the Future of Internal Combustion Engines
- Average diesel prices see 6th straight week of declines
- Canadian Fleet Adding Fuel-Cell-Electric Kenworth Trucks
- Carbon negative bio-LNG could gain traction in the U.S.
- Daily Infographic: EIA expects lower crude oil prices for the second half of 2023 and for 2024
- Daily Infographic: How the world commutes
- Daily Infographic: US gasoline prices are down from 2022 heading into Memorial Day weekend
- Diesel price hike viewed as way to boost alt fuel adoption
- Diesel Prices Slip 2.8¢ to $3.855
- GM, Stellantis Fined for Missing Fuel Efficiency Targets
- How summer driving season fuels demand for tanker shipping
- Marine Atlantic delays fuel surcharge hike by six months
- Midwest Governors Urge EPA to Revise Biodiesel Volumes
- Startup Verne Aims for Hydrogen Breakthrough in Trucking
- Weekly Fuel Report: May 30, 2023
- With another 2.8-cent drop, diesel has fallen 16 of past 17 weeks
3. Regarding airbags, crashes, drugs, fatalities, and weather:
Airbags
- NHTSA Turns Up Pressure on Air Bag Inflator Company
- Only YOU Can Make the Decision If Your Truck Is Equipped With Airbags
Crashes
Please glance through these articles to see if you can learn something about what triggered each crash so that you can avoid being involved in a similar situation.
- 13-year-old seriously injured exiting bus after semi truck rounds corner
- Cab of truck left balancing vertically after wreck with overpass
- Double-tractor wreck pushes rig off of overpass
- Family of five in hospital following wreck with semi truck
- Man flips family car before running into path of oncoming semi truck
- Mustang driver collides with mobile home being transported by truck
- Ohio DOT cams capture semi tumbling off bridge in double fatality crash
- POLICE: Minivan smashed into semi truck wheels, killing 16-year-old passenger
- POLICE: Trucker arrested for striking two motorcyclists
- Tractor-trailer strikes, seriously injures teen exiting school bus in Gray, Maine
- Traffic brought to standstill by multi-semi wreck
- Truck driver receives citation for striking 13-year-old exiting bus
- Unmanned semi truck smashes into home all by itself
- UPDATE: Truck driver in crash that killed seven indicted on 13 charges
- Video shows school bus pulling out in front of truck prior to T-bone crash in South Carolina
- Video shows tanker truck crashing into South Carolina school bus, injuring 18
Drugs
Never ever haul illegal drugs, no matter how big of an incentive you may have been offered.
Furthermore, never take narcotics prior to driving any vehicle, particularly a commercial motor vehicle.
- Driver arrested after Oklahoma cops find nearly $3 million worth of cocaine in big rig
- Former Quebec trucking company VP pleads guilty to cocaine trafficking
- Loophole Closed in Reporting Driver Drug/Alcohol Violations
- Officials find $38 million in meth in a semi’s load of kale
- Truck Driver Positive Tests for Marijuana Up 9.2% in Q1
- Unlicensed big rig driver charged after cocaine found inside truck during Oklahoma bust
Fatalities
We express our deep sympathy and extend our condolences to the families of those who passed away in large truck crashes.
If you even suspect that you’ve hit a vehicle or person, don’t be a coward, but rather stop, call, and report your suspicions.
- Fatal crash involving 3 big rigs snarls Memorial Day traffic on Interstate 70 near Plainfield, Indiana
- Four dead following crash involving two tractor trailers, four cars
- POLICE: Truck driver knew his actions killed fellow driver following hit-and-run wreck
- Semi truck’s roll off interstate leaves two dead
- Three rig, four car crash claims life of one
- UPDATE: Motorist in fatal, deer-related crash with semi denies stopping darkened car in roadway
Weather
4. Regarding business, insurance, legal, and records:
Business
Insurance
It would be helpful to know more about this.
Legal
- Man arrested for illegally booting trucks in Georgia, report says
- National tort reform needed to protect trucking industry against nuclear verdicts
Records
5. Regarding distracted driving, move over, operations, platooning, and politics:
Distracted driving
Move over
Operations
In the next-to-last article in this section, there’s a video showing a type of retaliation from a trucker.
This is unprofessional and is never acceptable.
I am confident that eventually, the trucker will be caught and held responsible for his actions.
- Inconsiderate wiggle wagon pulls in front of driver with the green light
- Results from a new study shows when and where riskiest driving occurs
- Unsafe driving behavior gets mid-July focus
- Watch this trucker key a Tesla for being in the way
- WATCH: FedEx driver pulls a VERY last-second exit
In the last article in the section just above, there’s a video showing a trucker making a very dangerous maneuver that could have ended badly for 3 reasons:
- Depending on the load in the truck whose driver made the quick exit — and depending on the kind of exit it was — that kind of quick response could have led to a rollover crash;
- The vehicle from which the video was being recorded was obviously a car and it was “fortunate” that the car driver had the opportunity to move to the right lane of the exit ramp and make room for the fast-maneuvering trucker; and
- Things could have turned out very badly had the vehicle in the left lane of the exit ramp been a fully loaded big truck with another vehicle on his right side!
Platooning
For safety reasons, I disapprove of platooning.
6. Regarding ELDs, regulations, speed limiters, and technology:
ELDs
Regulations
- Arrow Truck Sales exits Texas because of state regulations
- Automatic emergency braking center of NHTSA investigation
- Feds plan to require that all new cars be equipped with automatic emergency braking systems
- FMCSA, DOT Agencies Talk Automatic Emergency Braking
- NHTSA investigating ‘false positive’ automatic emergency braking activiations
- NHTSA probes Cascadia automatic emergency braking
- NHTSA to Require Automatic Emergency Braking on New Vehicles
- NHTSA’s Advisory Panel on Underride Protection Raises Topics
- Underride committee must remain objective, trucker says
Speed limiters
- DRIVE Act gaining momentum to block speed limiter mandate
- Once the subject of fierce debate, speed limiters are a fact of life in Ontario, Quebec
Technology
- 3 Ways Fleets Can Improve Driver Communications
- 3D printed habitats on Mars, coffee logistics and selling in a down market – WTT
- CDL test waiver shouldn’t be made permanent, FMCSA report says
- Custom driver apps: build one, buy one, or rent one?
- Four Ways Fleet Managers Can Avoid Data Overload
- Four Ways Fleet Managers Can Avoid Data Overload
- Ikea buys US-based supply chain software services platform
- Logistics Providers Work to Set Freight Scheduling Standards
- Online CDL Renewal for Idaho-Based Drivers Begins in July
- Pentesting: a cyber-disaster prevention strategy
- Quebec fleets now losing business to ‘Driver Inc’
- Road safety is getting worse but AI-enabled tech can help
- Safety technology for passenger vehicles considered in New York
- Traffic cams capture semi truck crash and instant explosion in Ohio
- Trucker says dash cam saved him after woman crashed into bushes then tried to blame him
- Using AI to Chat With Your Database
7. Regarding border, brokers, and fraud:
Border
Brokers
- Trailer liability coverage opens new doors for freight brokers
- Trucking industry on alert as double brokering rates rise
Fraud
- Eagle Pass, Texas, trucking company workers arrested for wire fraud
- Employees indicted for scheme to defraud and embezzle $1.4 million from Texas trucking company
- South Florida man pleads guilty in nationwide moving fraud scheme
8. Regarding chain, climate, economy, employment, and trends:
Chain
- 3 reasons you won’t want to miss the Future of Supply Chain
- Daily Infographic: 3 reasons you won’t want to miss the Future of Supply Chain
Climate
- Daimler Truck, Toyota, Others Join Forces on Ecological Tech
- New study ranks CSX among ‘America’s Climate Leaders’
- Seattle Amazon Workers Protest Climate Goals, Layoffs
Economy
- Analysts agree trucking conditions, rates are bottoming, but when will the uptick start?
- April Used Class 8 Sales Down 20% Year-Over-Year
- Consumer Confidence Declines Again in May
- Cross-border freight down year-to-year first time in two years
- Descartes sees February as cycle low point
- Economic Trucking Trends: 3PLs report freight declines are leveling off
- Economic Trucking Trends: U.S. debt ceiling default aside, trucking has its own worries
- Fear of catastrophic shipping accidents rises despite safety gains
- Kentucky Lands Kroger E-Commerce Center
- Key Inflation Measure Increases in April
- OOIDA Foundation says freight rates are bottoming
- Reports shows April truck sales up, but deteriorating conditions could signal a ‘rough ride’
- Retailers’ commentary becoming downbeat
- Rising May Class 8 orders no impact on backlog
- Saia’s Q2 update suggests worst of downturn in rearview
- Tracking back-to-school orders: How do they stack up?
- Trucking conditions still loose, but rebalancing is underway
- Truckload market shrugs off Roadcheck and Memorial Day
- US import demand positioned to find a new bottom in 2023
- Used Class 8 tractor retail sales show 23% drop in April
- What happens if the U.S. defaults on its debt?
- What to look for as logistics industry preps for back-to-school season
- White Paper: The State of Freight — May 2023
- Why a Down Freight Cycle Is Ideal for Tech Investment
Employment
- Add it up: Fewer truck transportation jobs in May than January
- Back-Office Job Demand Remains Steady at Fleets
- Employers Added a Strong 339,000 Jobs in May
- Job Openings Hit 10.1 Million
- Loaded and Rolling: Back-office jobs still in demand; EPA electric truck plan draws concern
- Manitoba provides $400,000 a year to promote trucking jobs, support training
- Supreme Court Rules Against Truck Drivers Who Walked Off Job
- Trucking jobs up slightly, but down compared to January
Trends
9. Regarding overweight fine, parking, recalls, and weights:
Overweight fine
These are two different violations in two different states:
- Connecticut State Police fine overweight-oversize load $15,470
- Ohio troopers catch log truck running 40,000 pounds overweight
Parking
- Arkansas opens truck parking area on I-40 with more than 80 spaces
- Can tech fix truck parking, how air expedite works and the Doritos supply chain – WTT
- FMCSA prevention campaign reaches rest areas, travel centers, etc.
- How can companies weather the truck parking crisis?
- Lack of Truck Parking Alarms Pennsylvania Drivers
- New, commercial truck parking lot opens in West Memphis, Arkansas
- Truck parking facility opens in Arkansas
- Truck parking facility opens in West Memphis, Arkansas with 84 spaces
- Truck parking, rest areas to get upgrades in British Columbia
- Van life, RVs put the squeeze on truck parking
Recalls
Weights
Pay
Quotes from article:
FMCSA must study driver compensation and its effects on safety under the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (IIJA). The FMCSA has entered into a contract with the Transportation Research Board (TRB) to conduct a study on the impacts of various methods of driver compensation, including hourly pay and payment for detention time.
… Research shows [driver detention] costs drivers $1.1-1.3 billion in lost wages and the industry $3-6.5 billion in driving time annually.
10. Regarding pay, surcharges, taxes, theft, and tolls:
Surcharges
Taxes
Theft
- Cargo theft concerns over holiday weekend
- Motor carrier operator indicted for conspiracy, theft
- Trucking company owner indicted for conspiracy to steal interstate shipments from Amazon, Bath & Body Works
Tolls
11. Regarding APUs, team driving, testing, and truckers:
APUs
The top 3 are: fuel savings, reduced engine maintenance, and driver comfort.
Lovely!
Team driving
Testing
- FMCSA wants more regulation of tests for new truck drivers
- Oral fluid drug testing on pause despite June 1 rollout
Truckers
- Look on the sunny side’ can be a mantra for finding good in all things
- Meet day-to-day challenges through physical, mental preparation
- Purr-fect’ match: Jade Transport drivers Ryan and Bernedette Hood love life on the road
- Safety Series: Preparation and patience are keys to coping with construction zones
12. Regarding awards:
Recognition and Awards
We appreciate and recognize the efforts of those who help out their fellow human beings in a time of needs:
We applaud this trucker for his accomplishments of having “driven more than 3 million miles” without either “a preventable accident” or “a violation or citation”!
My husband Mike and I wish you — and all professional truck drivers — safe travels and lots of money saving opportunities on the road.
Return from TDMST Weekly Round-Up: 2023.06.03 to our TDMST Weekly Round-Up Trucking Commentary or our Truck Drivers Money Saving Tips home page.