This is the TDMST Weekly Round-Up of news affecting professional truck drivers, written by Vicki Simons for the week ending November 17, 2018.
We welcome your comments, thoughts and feedback on the items of your choice below.
1. Thanksgiving is next Thursday (November 22, 2018). We cover on our site a Thanksgiving trip, dinner, and prayer.
Following Thanksgiving are Black Friday and Cyber Monday.
While it is advantageous to buy things at a discount, please do not allow yourself to become so indebted when buying Christmas gifts that it takes you a long time to pay off the purchases.
Sometimes the most valuable gifts are things that you can’t buy. Just saying.
Meanwhile, stay on your guard regarding potential cargo theft over the Thanksgiving holiday.
My husband Mike and I wish all professional truck drivers and their families a blessed Thanksgiving.
2. An October 29, 2018, article stated, “Bestpass has saved commercial fleets more than $100 million in toll-related savings.”
Truckers, how much money have you saved with “toll management providers”?
Please write and submit a service review on our site.
3. On the equipment/legal front:
– The state of California will have new emissions standards starting with “year-model 2022 engines” per a November 16, 2018, article.
– The most recent recall about which we’ve read regards a “brake light issue” on Freightliner Cascadia tractors.
– A November 16, 2018, article stated, “Tires built for trucks after 2021, when GHG Phase 2 kicks in, will have to be more efficient, with less rolling resistance, but they will still have to meet fleets’ expectations for tread wear and tire life.”
4. The voters have spoken and as was reported on November 14, 2018, “Trucking’s top elections beneficiary [Rep. Jeff Denham lost his] re-election bid”.
Even so, this does not mean that the ATA has backed off their desire to keep truckers from being paid for all of their work. Keep your eyes open on this issue.
5. “Over the last 7 years, American Central Transport’s (ACT) has transitioned from a pay-for-performance model in 2011 to program built around annual raises and bonuses”, reported a November 13, 2018, article.
Other pay strategies were also described.
Meanwhile, a November 16, 2018, article stated that “Better ‘pay would solve most’ critical issues”.
And another article said that “Blockchain Can Improve Driver Pay and Recruit the Best Truckers“.
6. A recent winter storm in the New England states led to “250 crashes” in Pennsylvania.
There is a time to drive and a time to refrain from driving.
Whiteout conditions and black ice are among the times to refrain from driving.
7. Remember the fatal crash that occurred after a bus rear-ended a truck after the trucker was stuck in traffic, fell asleep at the wheel, and didn’t start rolling again when other traffic did?
The trucker was charged with manslaughter.
Fast forward to 2018. A November 15, 2018, article stated regarding a situation on I-40, “The interstate shutdown left many drivers stranded for more than 10 hours. Many truck drivers found themselves stuck in traffic for so long that they simply went to sleep in their trucks on I-40.”
I saw no mention in the article that trucks stopped on the road caused additional accidents. Be that as it may, I wonder how truckers who started a 10-hour sleeper berth break while sitting still — and had to get moving again — were able to log that.
Meanwhile, a November 14, 2018, article states, “New guidance from the Commercial Vehicle Safety Alliance (CVSA) tells inspection officers that they must leave truck drivers alone when they are off-duty or in the sleeper berth.”
Other articles about this are here and here.
8. The truck that hit the ceiling tunnel and caused a two-hour traffic delay in Boston was “cited for a load that was too wide and too high”, stated a November 9, 2018, article.
Separately, a November 13, 2018, article covered the situation when “Two large spools were knocked off a semi truck and left in the middle of a Houston highway”.
Measure the height of your load and never travel on a road where an underpass in the lane of travel is shorter than your load.
If you need one, get and use a 25-foot metal tape measure like the one shown here from Amazon.com, with which we have an affiliate relationship.
9. The “Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) has finally offered up some extra clarification on how personal conveyance regulations should be followed and enforced”, says a November 12, 2018, article.
10. The Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) supposedly wants to hear about truck parking, although it seems to me that they already know what this situation is.
A recent accident that was clearly the car driver’s fault is being blamed on “a lack of adequate truck parking”.
And a trucker was reportedly “attacked” over supposedly taking up two truck parking spots. Violence is never the answer and the attacker was arrested and charged.
We encourage all truckers without an oversized load to park in only one parking spot. Take a few extra minutes to center your rig in your parking space. Do unto others as you would have them do unto you.
11. Pay attention to your lane of travel and be particularly on guard when driving in the dark.
A truck driver “struck an unoccupied vehicle in the emergency lane at about 6 a.m.”, resulting in the truck overturning over an embankment.
We hope that the trucker makes a full recovery.
12. A November 15, 2018, article covered how lawmakers in Kentucky want to “establish an emergency contact or next-of-kin registry for holders of drivers’ licenses and nondriver identification cards”.(a)
That’s part of the reason why we have Medical Emergency forms available through our site.
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: 2018.11.17 to our TDMST Weekly Round-Up Trucking Commentary or our Truck Drivers Money Saving Tips home page.
Reference:
a. www.landlinemag.com/Story.aspx?StoryID=73312 (no longer online)
