TDMST Weekly Round-Up 2025.04.26

TDMST Weekly Round-Up 2025.04.26 is the trucking commentary on news affecting professional truck drivers for the week ending April 26, 2025, written by Vicki Simons.

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

TDMST Weekly Round-Up

1. Regarding imports, port fees, tariffs, trade, trucking conditions:

Segments of the trucking industry in the USA are bracing for some really hard times due to the “tariffs” imposed by President Trump.

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According to “Twelve states sue the Trump administration over ‘tax hikes’ through tariffs“:

The lawsuit is filed by the attorneys general of New York, Arizona, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Illinois, Maine, Minnesota, Nevada, New Mexico, Oregon and Vermont.

A trade imbalance does not create a so-called “national emergency”!

For a much better and more thorough explanation about the problems with Trump-issued tariffs, please see this list of at least 10 resources (so far) from Peggy Hall.

From Wikipedia, “Tariffs in the second Trump administration”

Although the US Constitution grants Congress the sole authority to levy taxes, including tariffs, Congress has passed laws allowing the President to impose tariffs for national security reasons unilaterally.

So, it appears that, once again, Congress abandoned the restraints in the Constitution.

Where is Congress on correcting the problems that it created?

Imports

Port fees

Tariffs

Trade

Trucking conditions

2. Regarding border, bridges, business, containers, roads:

Border

Bridges

Business

Containers

Roads

3. Regarding congestion pricing, economy, lottery, rates, tolls:

Congestion pricing

The issue at stake here is that — according to the Tenth Amendment — states have the right to impose what they want — and to suffer the economic consequences thereof.

The powers not delegated to the United States by the Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the States, are reserved to the States respectively, or to the people.

As rough as it may sound for the trucking industry outside New York to handle congestion pricing, the federal government of the United States has no authority to intervene in this matter.

Economy

Lottery

Let’s hope that this trucker has financial discipline.

Rates

Tolls

4. Regarding autonomous vehicles, electric vehicles, emissions, fuel, fuel mileage:

Autonomous vehicles

I most definitely oppose the operation of autonomous, driverless, or 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.

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

Fuel mileage

Sadly, the article in this section does not provide any detail as to by how much mileage is improved.

5. Regarding crashes, drugs, fatalities, fire, fraud, theft, 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 first article in this section:

According to the ISP report, when the vehicle stopped, the driver noticed the brakes on one side of the tractor were glowing red and started on fire.

So, it appears as though this fire was caused by a mechanical problem.

How could this have been prevented?

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.

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 employment, exemption, health, Mack, operations:

Employment

Exemption

Health

Mack

Operations

According to the first article in this section:

Altamirano was arrested and is currently being held on $500,000 bond for criminally negligent homicide charges. He is a resident of Mexico.

The article linked regarding this trucker’s country of origin does not list him by name, but does name other truckers from Mexico who have had legal trouble in the USA.

7. Regarding ATRI, FMCSA:

ATRI

In a nutshell, according to this page from the American Transportation Research Institute (ATRI), these are the 2025 ATRI Top Research Priorities:

  • Rising Insurance Costs and Self Insurance Motivations;
  • Efficacy of Entry-Level Driver Training on Safety Outcomes;
  • Safety Impacts of In-Cab Monitoring;
  • Capitalizing on Telematics Data;
  • Understanding the Prevalence and Impact of Cabotage Violations

Regarding that last point, this article — Cabotage: Protecting American Trucking Jobs From The B-1 Visa — gives a really good overview of the topic.

FMCSA

As a reminder, the FMCSA is an unconstitutional agency of the United States.

8. Regarding inspections, insurance, language, politics:

Inspections

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

Insurance

Language

As I wrote on March 15, 2025:

If a professional truck driver is driving in the United States of America — where road signs are in English — I believe that he/she must be proficient in English.

Do you agree or disagree?

Please comment through the form below.

Politics

9. Regarding routing, safety, securement, tires, towing:

Routing

Regarding the second article in this section, every problem associated with routing — when truckers take unapproved truck routes — is clearly preventable.

Please see these posts on this site:

Also, never drive in floodwaters!

Safety

Securement

Tires

Towing

10. Regarding supply chain, technology, :

Supply chain

Technology

11. Regarding truckers, weather:

Truckers

Weather

12. Regarding awards:

Awards

Congratulations to all professional truck drivers who have been recognized for their skill and achievement in trucking!

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: 2025.04.26 to our TDMST Weekly Round-Up Trucking Commentary or our Truck Drivers Money Saving Tips home page.


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