TDMST Weekly Round-Up: 2021.03.20

This is the TDMST Weekly Round-Up of news affecting professional truck drivers, written by Vicki Simons for the week ending March 20, 2021.

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

TDMST Weekly Round-Up

1. Regarding autonomous vehicles:

It seems that there are two diametrically opposed views on whether or not truckers will lose jobs when autonomous trucks become more plentiful.

Meanwhile, I disagree that trucks should be completely autonomous, driverless or self-driving — and am sharing these articles as a courtesy to help you keep up with the news.

2. Regarding economy, employment, pay, inflation, predictions:

Economy

Employment

Pay

Inflation

Is inflation threatening economic recovery?

Predictions

3. Regarding VMT, taxes, roads:

VMT

On Wednesday, March 17, 2021, we were sent an email from the American Transportation Research Institute (ATRI) about their new study.

In their Executive Summary — “A Practical Analysis of a National VMT Tax System” — we read the following selected quotes:

New research from the American Transportation Research Institute details the costs of deploying and operating a national vehicle miles traveled (VMT) tax. …

A VMT tax program will move fuel tax revenue collection from fewer than 300 federal taxpayers to 272 million vehicle accounts

Collection costs of 40% for a federal VMT tax would be 300 times more expensive than collection costs for the federal motor fuels tax

Evasion and noncompliance with the program will exceed
$7.87 billion annually

VMT financial transaction costs will be $4.3 billion annually

I am glad that ATRI published estimates.

I am also glad that they wrote the following:

Unintrusive. Privacy must be insured and the data must not be used for any secondary purposes. The goal of the system is to pay for roadways, not track individuals, or overtly control human behavior.

Given how Social Security numbers were never supposed to be used for any other kinds of identification — but often are! — I don’t see how anyone can stop VMT data from being used for:

either tracking purposes;
or limiting travel to certain segments of society — especially if the VMT device “dongle” is somehow in the future connected with:
- a national identification card;
- the Drug and Alcohol Clearinghouse;
- a vaccine “passport”; or
- some other identification product or service.

Also, given that a “dongle” has been defined as “a small device able to be connected to and used with a computer, especially to allow access to wireless broadband or use of protected software,” I don’t see how the powers-that-be will prevent these devices from being hacked.

Those things being said, here are the most recent articles on this topic:

Taxes

Roads

4. Regarding imminent, violations, inspections, whistleblower, and speed:

Imminent

Imminent hazard declaration bars California-based driver

Violations

Inspections

Whistleblower

Driver says trucking company threatened family after he alleged illegal practices
s29755.pcdn.co/news/investigative%3A-driver-says-trucking-company-threatened-family-after-he-alleged-illegal-practices (no longer online_

Speed

‘CMV Enforcement Initiative’ targeted speeding truckers on I-68

5. Regarding accidents:

6. Regarding fuel, classification, rates:

Fuel

Classification

Rates

7. Regarding drugs, COVID-19, testing, lawsuits, and young:

Drugs

COVID-19

Regarding this article — Truckers’ four favorite myths about COVID-19 vaccines — you need to know that the author’s email address includes the URL “kthealthclinic(dot)com.”

So, I did a little digging and it turns out

KT Health Clinic is now offering COVID-19 Antibody Testing; and
Quoting info from that page: “The COVID-19 Antibody Tests is performed in our office via Blood Draw with our certified Phlebotomist. The COVID-19 immune response tests do not diagnose an active COVID-19 infection.”

I am glad that the test is not simply a PCR test, but based on what I’ve learned — that the SARS-CoV-2 virus has not been both isolated AND purified — it makes me wonder what their antibody test is designed to detect.

I did not find any info on their site about their clinic offering “COVID-19 vaccines,” but based on the testing described above, I would need to know more to hazard a guess about a potential conflict of interest.

I hate to say it, but based on the information that I have read from those who are actually in the know about vaccines — and especially the gene therapies masquerading as “COVID-19 vaccines” — the answers provided in the truckers’ article are all propaganda and false.

Do your due diligence.

Thousands of people have either died or been injured — including very healthy people — following receiving a “COVID-19 vaccine.”

You can always choose an injection later, but you can never undo what happens after you receive one!

Testing

OOIDA supports new vision standards for CMV driversNo disrespect meant for those truckers who cannot see out of both eyes, but I don’t think that lowering the vision requirements for truckers is a good idea.
I will be watching to see what happens as a result of this — and especially if the regulation passes and any big truck accidents result.
The problem(s) with hair testing
Watchdog spotlights FMCSA’s, other agencies’ disjointed drug testing verification

Lawsuits

Texas Bills Seek to Address Nuclear Verdicts in Trucking

Young

I realize that there may be some exceptions among younger truckers, but in general, I am not in favor of lowering the age at which a person may begin to drive a big truck because many younger people do not have the maturity to handle a big rig.

8. Regarding ELDs, technology, and electric:

ELDs

Technology

Electric

9. Regarding equipment, maintenance, operations, and recycle:

Equipment

10. Regarding theft, time, and violence:

Time

Time gets wasted at traffic signals; report explores how muchQuote: “According to the report, nearly 7% of the total time of a random trip in the U.S. was spent waiting at one of more than 200,000 traffic signals studied.”

Theft

Suspects arrested minutes after robbing $10,000 worth of cigarettes from truck driver

Violence

Do everything reasonable you can to avoid violence.

Don’t forget to protect yourself!

11. Regarding weather:

Hundreds of drivers reported spending the night on I-40 in Arizona due to winter weather closuresOf those whose comments were captured in the article, one was the following:
“It’s been 11 hours stuck on I-40 WB. This is the slowest crew ever to open the road.”

This is another reminder as to why it is necessary for truckers to keep certain emergency provisions with them on the road.

12. Regarding recognition and awards:

Recognition

We appreciate those who go out of their way to help truckers!

Awards

Congratulations to all truckers who have been issued an award based on achievement.

My husband Mike and I wish you — and all professional truck drivers — safe travels and lots of money saving opportunities on the road.

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