Instant Pot Pro 10-in-1 Pressure Cooker, Slow Cooker, Rice/Grain Cooker, Steamer, Sauté, Warmer, Over 800 Recipes, Black, 6 Quart, 1200 Watts. Perfect for Truckers! Black Friday Deal -41% Now! #ad

TDMST Weekly Round-Up 2024.11.23

TDMST Weekly Round-Up 2024.11.23 is the trucking commentary on news affecting professional truck drivers for the week ending November 23, 2024, written by Vicki Simons.

I welcome your comments, thoughts and feedback on the items of your choice below.

TDMST Weekly Round-Up

1. Regarding predictions, roads, routing, Thanksgiving, and theft:

Predictions

Toward the end of every year, prognosticators predict what the coming year will be like or hold.

DAT TruckersEdge - Most Loads. Best Rates. Serving Owner-Operators Since 1978. 10% off your first 12 months. New customers only.

The predictions regarding the trucking industry in 2025 have begun.

Roads

Routing

Yes, the roads that were washed out or undermined due to flooding from Hurricane Helene have brought havoc to North Carolina.

I know full well how horrible it is to have to travel hours “out of route” (based on the previously approved truck route) to get from Point A to Point B.

But so that you don’t wind up with a heavy fine or having to get pulled out of a ditch or ravine, please make sure that you stick to truck routes.

You may want to check with your fleet manager or dispatcher to make sure that you’re being paid for all extra miles you’re having to travel due to being re-routed.

Thanksgiving

Thursday, November 28, 2024, is Thanksgiving Day in the USA.

In order to help retailers and stores prepare for Christmas, this is the time of year when Christmas freight is moving and many OTR, long haul, and regional truckers will be working.

Since I have taken multiple Thanksgiving trips on the road as a trucker, I understand what truckers on the road at this time of year are going through.

If you cannot be at home, please touch base with your home support team members sometime on Thanksgiving Day.

One option, which allows users to both hear and see each other, is the video conferencing Zoom cloud meeting app, which is available for both Android and iOS devices.

Just because you’re out on the road does not mean that you can’t enjoy a lovely Thanksgiving dinner right in your truck.

If you have a battery-connected inverter or APU in your truck, a crock pot or slow cooker, and a hot pot, you can create a meal complete with cooked turkey, sweet potato casserole, and the works.

You will need to do some advanced planning, but since you’re already skilled as a trucker in making on-time pick-ups and deliveries, planning a fancier-than-usual meal in-truck should be a snap!

If your company offers — and you plan to earn — holiday pay for driving through some part of the Thanksgiving holiday, make sure you understand and abide by all of the rules.

Once again, I am offering our Thanksgiving Prayer on behalf of truckers.

Here are some Thanksgiving-related articles:

Theft

Please be aware of the potential for cargo theft from trucks parked over the Thanksgiving holiday.

It sounds wrong, but it’s helpful to look at your rig the way a would-be thief would look at it.

Look for potential weaknesses that can be compromised or breached, which you can reinforce to help make it harder for theft to occur.

A starting point is installing a good king pin lock or Enforcer on any dropped trailer.

Consult with your fleet manager or dispatcher for other tips to help reduce the potential for cargo theft.

2. Regarding brokers, FMCSA – brokers, parts, ports, and tires:

Brokers

FMCSA – brokers

Parts

Ports

Tires

3. Regarding autonomous vehicles, batteries, electric vehicles, emissions, fuel, and hydrogen:

Autonomous vehicles

I most strenuously oppose the operation of self-driving, autonomous, or driverless self-driving commercial motor vehicles on the same roads as the motoring public — but I share articles on this topic with our readers to help us stay current on the topic.

Batteries

Electric vehicles

Before you buy an all-electric Commercial Motor Vehicle, please do your due diligence by asking some questions and getting answers.

Emissions

Fuel

Hydrogen

4. Regarding border, business, collaboration, and insurance:

Border

Business

Collaboration

Insurance

5. Regarding bonuses, clearinghouse, congestion pricing, economy, rates, scam, tolls, and trade, :

Bonuses

Clearinghouse

Do you see the Drug and Alcohol Clearinghouse to be a good thing or a bad thing?

Congestion pricing

I am laughing because the only way to “reduce traffic congestion,” in my opinion, is to:

  • either push congestion to other times around the clock, which could effectively make the plan backfire;
  • or simply get rid of people or their vehicles, the results of which will reduce the tax base altogether, thus also making the plan to “raise money” backfire.

Economy

Rates

Scam

Be on the alert for scams and how clever some scam artists are in making people become their victims.

Tolls

Trade

6. Regarding crashes, distracted driving, drugs, fatalities, fire, fraud, smuggling, and violence:

Crashes

Please look through these articles to see if there is anything you can learn to help you prevent being involved in a similar crash.

Distracted driving

You may wish to read my article:
Distracted Driving: Beware of Attention Diverters That Can Be Fatal.

Drugs

Never ever haul or take illegal drugs.

Fatalities

I express my deep sympathy — and offer my condolences — to the families of those whose loved ones died in these crashes.

Can you learn anything from the articles below that would help prevent being involved in a fatal large truck crash?

Fire

Even though it is part of your pre-trip inspection to make sure you have a fire extinguisher in your tractor, double-check to make sure that it is fully charged.

Also, please be aware that standard fire extinguishers may or may not be able to put out a lithium battery fire.

Fraud

Never attempt to deceive, misrepresent something, intentionally pervert the truth, or pretend to be someone else for the purpose of trying to get something valuable.

Smuggling

Never ever transport people made in the image of God as if they were cattle or cargo — no matter how large of an incentive you’ve been offered.

Violence

It is never right to perpetrate violence upon someone in an unprovoked manner.

All perpetrators of violence must be dealt with in a just legal manner.

7. Regarding ELDs, FMCSA – CSA, parking, regulations, solar, and technology:

ELDs

Others within the trucking industry were speaking out against the Electronic Logging Devices “mandate” long before December 4, 2017, but you may read my commentary on the mandate.

In TDMST Weekly Round-Up: 2017.12.09, I quoted Indiana’s Attorney General, Curtis Hill, regarding the self-certification provision regarding ELDs.

I also asked, “In what other industry besides trucking has the government ever mandated the purchase of a ‘self-certification’ product?”

So, I’m truly distressed for every trucker who invested in a “self-certified” ELD that used to be on the approved list, only to later have that certification revoked!

If you are such a trucker, I want to hear from you about how expensive this was for you.

Please comment through the form below.

FMCSA – CSA

Parking

Regulations

Solar

If you have a solar power unit on your tractor or trailer, I’d like to talk with you.

Please contact me. Thanks.

Technology

Of all of the technology articles listed in this section, one of them contains an image that truly alarms me.

In How a moonshot is giving voice to truck parcels, there is an image of someone holding a smart device up toward the side of a truck — as if it were an X-ray machine — and able to “see” what is loaded on board!

If this technology exists, I can just imagine the explosion of cargo theft that may take place — especially with certain kinds of high value loads! — and how much harder it will be for truckers to thwart would-be thieves.

Please be on guard.

8. Regarding inspections, recalls, safety, uptime, and violations:

Inspections

If you keep yourself and your rig in perpetual readiness for an inspection, you’ll never be caught off-guard.

Recalls

If your tractor or trailer is under a recall, please have the work attended to as soon as possible.

Safety

Uptime

Violations

You can seriously keep from having violations made against you and your rig with regular pre-trip inspections and other checks.

9. Regarding weather, weather – bomb cyclone, weather – flood, weather – funding, and weather – roads:

Weather

Weather – bomb cyclone

Weather – flood

Weather – funding

Weather – roads

10. Regarding legal – crashes, legal – death, legal – discharges, legal – EV, legal – fraud, legal – logs, legal – misclassification, legal – nuclear, and legal – Ponzi:

Legal – crashes

Legal – death

Legal – discharges

Don’t dump anything where you’re not supposed to!

Legal – EV

Quote from the article in this section:

Nebraska’s Attorney General has filed a lawsuit against multiple commercial vehicle manufacturers for an alleged plot to force consumers into transitioning to electric trucks.

Legal – fraud

Legal – logs

Legal – misclassification

Legal – nuclear

Legal – Ponzi

11. Regarding politics, politics – states, and Trump:

Politics

Politics – states

Trump

Folks, please don’t get excited about President-elect Donald Trump making this appointment — because the U.S. Department of Transportation is unconstitutional and needs to be disbanded, with all responsibilities kicked back to the states!

12. Regarding employment and shortage:

Employment

Shortage

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: 2024.11.23 to our TDMST Weekly Round-Up Trucking Commentary or our Truck Drivers Money Saving Tips home page.