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TDMST Weekly Round-Up: 2020.12.26

This is the TDMST Weekly Round-Up of news affecting professional truck drivers, written by Vicki Simons for the week ending December 26, 2020.

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

 

TDMST Weekly Round-Up

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1. Regarding reviews of 2020 and predictions for future:

This is the last issue of TDMST Weekly Round-Up for this year — and what a wild year 2020 has been!

For your convenience, I have compiled a list of trucking-related reviews of this year and predictions for the future.

Reviews of 2020

Predictions

 

2. Regarding economy:

A December 26, 2020, article — Retail sector’s holiday winners and losers — stated regarding “record e-commerce growth” during the “holiday season”:

Preliminary data from SpendingPulse found that holiday retail sales [in 2020 in the USA], excluding automotive and gasoline, rose 3% this year compared to 2019. Online sales grew 49% year-over-year.

Professional truck drivers were responsible for hauling the freight that was ordered and delivering it.

I am so proud of every professional truck driver who behaved like a true professional, no matter how tough things got!

Other recent articles about the economy include:

 

3. Regarding inspections:

Please be prepared for a truck inspection at any time!

 

4. Regarding fuel, electric trucks:

Fuel

According to a December 18, 2020, article, the North American Council for Freight Efficiency concluded in their report, Making Sense of Heavy-Duty Hydrogen Fuel Tractors:

The future of transportation is electric, and hydrogen will be part of that future. But it’s difficult to see a clear path to hydrogen-powered transportation. Too many variables still must fall into place before an accurate picture comes into view of the true cost of hydrogen and its practicality as a transportation energy source.

They sure seem confident about how vehicles in the future will be powered!

Electric trucks

 

5. Regarding COVID-19:

There are a number of different divisions of articles about COVID-19 this week:

“Cases”

I can’t help but wonder if most of the people who got sick — Amazon shutters NJ warehouse after rise in COVID cases — had been wearing face masks, thus reducing their intake of life-giving oxygen.

Please bear in mind that there are differences between “cases,” “infections” and “deaths” from COVID-19.

Truckers getting a COVID-19 vaccine

I have stated before that I am totally against people receiving any kind of COVID-19 vaccine.

According to a quoted article on GreenMedInfo.com, “What many do not yet understand, however, is that the vaccines that are being developed for SARS-Cov-2 are unlike any vaccines that have ever been used on the human population before.”

The entire COVID-19 response is basically a technocratic agenda in which those who are “at the top” are attempting to control the lives and actions of every human on the planet for their own purposes.

We were not meant to be micromanaged or forced into “taking a jab,” but to honor the Lord.

  • “Whether, then, you eat or drink or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God.”
    — 1 Corinthians 10:31
  • “And whatever you do in word or deed, do all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks through Him to God the Father.”
    — Colossians 3:17

And in Luke 19:13, we learn the principle of using the resources at our disposal until the Lord calls us home.

Be that as it may, I am sharing these articles about truckers and the vaccine as a courtesy.

Financial stability

If it had not been for government officials interfering in the free market — and demanding

  • the closure of businesses that they deemed “non-essential” and
  • certain non-essential workers to stop working there,

many people would not be facing the economic struggles that they face right now.

The title of the article Two Pandemic Assistance Programs Expire Today, Leaving 12 Million Without Benefits gives the indication that people must have government “benefits” to survive when the truth is that the U.S. economy was doing great in February 2020 before government interfered in the economy and people’s lives.

Do you remember Lehman Brothers, which before filing for bankruptcy in 2008, was the fourth-largest investment bank in the United States?

According to Wikipedia: “Lehman’s bankruptcy filing is the largest in US history.”

Regarding the concept of “Too Big To Fail,” Investopedia wrote: “Following the collapse of Lehman Brothers, Congress passed the Emergency Economic Stabilization Act (EESA) in October 2008. It included the $700 billion Troubled Asset Relief Program (TARP), which authorized the government to purchase distressed assets to stabilize the financial system.”

Are we any better off because the government meddled in this at taxpayer expense?

Actually, if you look at the Consumer Price Index and realize that the buying power of the dollar has dropped to 4 cents compared to what it was worth in 1913, what has been going on has been the systematic robbing of the people by the Federal Reserve.

There may be too much dependence on employers for income.

Those of us who need income would do well to determine what people need and find a creative way of providing it (bearing in mind the need to be ethical, honest, and God-honoring).

How a “stimulus” bill leaves trucking “out”

Again, truckers don’t need a “stimulus,” but they do need a legal and regulatory climate where they can earn a good income based on their own efforts.

I am sharing these articles as a courtesy:

Staying healthy

In none of the “guidance” about COVID-19 by so-called top health “experts” has there been a single word about working with our God-given immune systems and doing the things that make for good and natural health.

Like a giant pillar in a palace that supports what is above it, we can support our own wellness through our choices, including:

  • Unhindered, fresh, clean air to breathe;
  • Nutritious food;
  • Adequate sleep;
  • Plenty of pure water;
  • Sufficient exercise;
  • Vitamins, minerals, supplements; and
  • No toxins in our homes or lives.

If you would like to know which supplements my husband Mike and I take and/or use to help boost our immune systems and keep them boosted, please contact us through the form below.

6. Regarding accidents:

Please pay attention at all times when you drive, slow down when weather is challenging, and don’t engage in hazardous behaviors.

 

7. Regarding harm to truckers (injuries, fatalities):

Every time I read an article about how truckers are being injured or killed on the job — even if statistics are supposedly improving — it saddens me.

Do those things that will keep you from becoming a “harmed” statistic.

Injuries

Fatalities

 

8. Regarding roads and politics:

Roads

Politics

Bear in mind that every jurisdiction that has a “quota” is seeking to earn money from those whom they “catch” doing something wrong — and may end up falsely accusing those who have done nothing wrong!

 

9. Regarding technology:

 

10. Regarding tires and BLT:

Tires

BLT

Note: “BLT” here doesn’t refer to a sandwich. 🙂

 

11. Regarding autonomous trucks:

I am sharing these articles as a courtesy, to help you stay informed about this kind of technology:

 

12. Regarding charity:

My husband Mike and I appreciate the gifts and acts of charity that are done toward our fellow human beings.

I am gratefully recognizing those who have offered charity within the trucking community:

If you know of gifts or acts or charity that I have not mentioned, would you please let me know through the form below?

 

Thank you for reading one or more of my trucking commentaries this year.

I wish you a God-honoring new year in 2021!

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: 2020.12.26 to our TDMST Weekly Round-Up Trucking Commentary or our Truck Drivers Money Saving Tips home page.

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