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TDMST Weekly Round-Up 2024.11.30

TDMST Weekly Round-Up 2024.11.30 is the trucking commentary on news affecting professional truck drivers for the week ending November 30, 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 Black Friday, Thanksgiving, and weather:

Every year in the United States of America, there are a series of “holidays” that are or may be called:

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  • Thanksgiving: the 4th Thursday of November;
  • Black Friday: the Friday after Thanksgiving, typically the busiest shopping day of the year, and the unofficial beginning of the Christmas shopping season;
  • Small Business Saturday: the Saturday after Thanksgiving;
  • Secondhand Sunday (according to one source I read): the Sunday after Thanksgiving, focusing on secondhand gifting;
  • Cyber Monday: the Monday after Thanksgiving and dedicated to shopping online; and
  • Giving Tuesday: the Tuesday after Thanksgiving and dedicated to giving to others, some of whom may be less fortunate than we are.

Watch out for scams and pricing schemes that seem too good to be true.

Review evidence of the trustworthiness of businesses and charities.

In my home state of South Carolina, the Secretary of State publishes a list of “Angels and Scrooges” when it comes to charities (2024 list here)

Black Friday

Please be careful not to drive your big rig into a place where you can’t get back out of.

Thanksgiving

Weather

It is the time of year when the USA has some very cold temperatures, making traveling treacherous.

Please be ultra-careful as you plan your trips and then travel.

Make sure to keep snow chains or devices well maintained and easy to install and uninstall.

Maintain good following distance from the vehicle in front of yours and don’t tailgate.

Here are some of the most recent articles about weather as it concerns the trucking industry:

2. Regarding administrator, politics, tariff, and Trump:

Administrator

I was super thrilled to read about this possibility!

Politics

Tariff

Trump

3. Regarding border, broker, business, capacity, lease, and uptime:

Border

Brokers

Business

Capacity

Lease

Read more about commercial truck leasing.

Uptime

Wordnik defines “uptime” as: “The time during which a device, such as a computer, is functioning or available for use.”

“Uptime” is the opposite of “downtime.”

4. Regarding Canada, CARB, legal, regulations, and regulations: festive:

Canada

Quote from the article in this section:

A judge ruled Friday, Nov. 22, that Pat King was guilty on one count each of mischief, counseling others to commit mischief and counseling others to obstruct police. He was also found guilty on two counts of disobeying a court order. He could face up to 10 years in prison.

Hundreds, sometimes thousands, of protesters clogged the streets of the capital, Ottawa, and besieged Parliament Hill for three weeks in early 2022, demonstrating against vaccine mandates for truckers and other precautions and condemning Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s Liberal government.

You didn’t figure they would let this go, did you?

I wish that Canada had a “freedom of speech” plank in their national government documents.

What’s the next step, I wonder?

CARB

Legal

Quoting this article:
Lawfare: Nuclear Verdicts and the War on Trucking:

A quick internet search reveals a depressing litany of jury awards against fleets in excess of $10 million, the amount that the American Transportation Research Institute defines as a “nuclear verdict.”

And these verdicts do far more damage to trucking than gutting individual carriers. They are driving up insurance costs across the industry and forcing some fleets to leave the industry altogether.

Quoting this article:
Nebraska AG sues truck makers for conspiring to force transition to electric trucks:

…according to a release from Nebraska Attorney General Mike Hilgers’ office, he has filed an antitrust lawsuit against some of the nation’s largest heavy-duty truck manufacturers for an alleged plot to stifle the availability of internal-combustion semi-trucks in favor of electric ones.

In the release issued summarizing the suit, the AG accused California of “imposing a series of regulations designed to essentially eliminate semi-trucks with internal combustion engines.”

Other articles in this section:

Regulations

Regulations: festive

According to Emergency Vehicle Lighting on Wikipedia:

In the United States, colors are generally regulated at the state and local levels, but there are some commonalities.

  • Red: “Almost always denotes an emergency vehicle if the lights are facing forward.”
  • Blue: “Reserved for law enforcement, firefighters and EMS.”

On this basis, please be careful which colors of lights you use on your truck, even for Christmas decoration.

5. Regarding crashes, drugs, fatalities, fire, fraud, theft, theft: Thanksgiving, 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.

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

According to the second article in this section:

The burning trucks were “in close proximity to fuel pumps and the store,” firefighters said.

According to this article:

If you toss a lit match into a puddle of diesel fuel, it’ll go out.

That’s because diesel is much less flammable than gasoline. In a car, it takes intense pressure or sustained flame to ignite diesel.

So, if there was no compression for the other trucks, how in the world did this fire spread to the other trucks?

Or were those other trucks not diesel-powered?

The article stated: “The fire was knocked down within an hour.”

Based on that, it seems unlikely that the trucks had lithium batteries (which would have possibly taken longer to extinguish and definitely much more water).

What is going on with so many truck fires of late?

Are these being set on fire on purpose and burning something other than diesel?

Please share your thoughts through the form below.

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.

Theft

Never take something that doesn’t belong to you unless you have permission from the owner.

With as much surveillance equipment in place in the 21st century, it’s only a matter of time before the thieves are apprehended.

Theft: Thanksgiving

Cargo theft usually always increases around holidays.

Be on your guard.

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.

6. Regarding economy, pay, rates, and tolls:

Economy

Pay

Rates

Tolls

7. Regarding electric vehicles, emissions, fuel, and oil:

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

Oil

8. Regarding guns, inspections, and operations:

Guns

Please be aware of gun restrictions or prohibitions wherever you plan to travel.

Inspections

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

Operations

Please pay attention to how and where you maneuver your tractor and trailer(s).

9. Regarding parking and ports:

Parking

Ports

10. Regarding roads and safety:

Roads

Safety

11. Regarding technology and training:

Technology

Training

12. Regarding charity, Giving Tuesday, recognition:

Charity

Giving Tuesday

Recognition

I recognize those truckers who helped out their fellow human beings in a time of need.

I also recognize those who helped out truckers in their time of need!

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: 2024.11.30 to our TDMST Weekly Round-Up Trucking Commentary or our Truck Drivers Money Saving Tips home page.


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