This is the TDMST Weekly Round-Up of news affecting professional truck drivers, written by Vicki Simons for the week ending March 27, 2021.
We welcome your comments, thoughts and feedback on the items of your choice below.
1. Regarding aerodynamics, maintenance, and technology:
Aerodynamics
Maintenance
- 3 tips to extend DPF life and keep filters running clean
- Put winter in the rear-view mirror with springtime maintenance tips from Bendix
Technology
- 3 keys to digitize your truck fleet
- 8 quick telematics takeaways from Geotab executives
- Daily Infographic: Trending Free Mobile Apps 2021
- Lawmaker pressures FCC to rethink proposal affecting truck platooning
- Making Diagnostics Smarter
- Pennsylvania bill would authorize local speed radar use
- Proper utilization of data, personal touch vital in retaining drivers
- The Daily Dash: Virtual truck ride, ransomware attack
- Why fleets shouldn’t dread 3G to 4G transition
- Wondering what’s going on with those new weigh-in-motion sensors in Indiana?
2. Regarding autonomous vehicles, electric vehicles, and fuel:
Autonomous vehicles
I am adamantly opposed to self-driving, driverless or autonomous vehicles, but am sharing these articles as a courtesy to help you stay current on the most recent developments.
- A History of Autonomous Vehicles You May Not Know
- A virtual ride-along in Waymo Via’s latest Class 8 autonomous truck
- Automated vehicle plan falls short of transparency goals, OOIDA says
- Autonomous truck firm Embark joins Arizona DOT to improve work zone safety
- Building an Autonomous Truck Driver
- Can We Trust Autonomous Driving Technology?
- Embark Tackles Autonomous-Truck Work Zone Safety
- Impact of self-driving trucks looms over industry’s workforce, report reveals
- Inside Waymo’s Autonomous Truck [VIDEO]
- Labor to DOT: Scrap Trump administration’s automated vehicles plan
- Podcast: Are Autonomous Trucks a Threat to Driver Jobs?
- Self-Driving Truck Developer TuSimple Files for IPO
- Self-driving truck startup TuSimple files for public ownership
- Self-Driving Truck Takes Reporters On A Virtual Ride-Along
- Self-driving trucks: A 10 billion-mile proof case for Plus
- The Daily Dash: TuSimple to go public, Postal Service’s 10-year plan
- TuSimple Touts Plan to ‘Remove Driver From Middle Mile’ in Pitch to Sell $100M in Stock
- Waymo demonstrates autonomous truck tech
- Waymo Provides Look at Self-Driving Truck Testing
Electric vehicles
Fuel
- Biodiesel helping fleets win freight bids
- Daily Infographic: Winter Fuel Economy
- Diesel Nudges Up Three-Tenths of a Cent to $3.194 a Gallon
- Diesel prices drop in Midwest, hold steady in Lower Atlantic
- DOE/EIA diesel price ekes out 20th consecutive weekly increase
- The Daily Dash: Diesel’s decline, transportation stocks
- Weekly Fuel Report: March 22, 2021
3. Regarding chips, ELDs, emissions, carbon, and events:
Chips
The shortage of chips is hurting more than the vehicle markets.
Why isn’t some alternative being created?
Are vehicle manufacturers going to be forced to go back to making cars without a lot of computers in them?
And what about ELDs? Do they have chips in them? Hmm…
- Automotive Chipmaker Renesas Says Fire Halts Production
- Chip Shortage Could Stall Volvo Truck Production Up to a Month
- Chip Shortage Worsens as Fire Shuts Factory for a Month
- Global Auto Plants Idle as Chip Supplies Dry Up
ELDs
Canadian truckers, please bear in mind your deadlines regarding ELDs for truckers in your country.
Emissions
Carbon
Please bear in mind that:
- “Organic chemistry is a branch of chemistry that studies the structure, properties and reactions of organic compounds, which contain carbon in covalent bonding” (Wikipedia);
- “Almost 99% of the mass of the human body is made up of six elements: oxygen, carbon, hydrogen, nitrogen, calcium, and phosphorus. Only about 0.85% is composed of another five elements: potassium, sulfur, sodium, chlorine, and magnesium. All 11 are necessary for life” (Wikipedia); and
- Plants “breathe in” carbon dioxide and “breathe out” oxygen, while humans breathe in oxygen and breathe out carbon dioxide — and by mass, about 18.5% of the human body is carbon (link).
Therefore, the quest to have a “carbon tax” is, in effect, a tax against humanity and other organic life forms.
Events
My husband Mike and I were looking forward to going to the NACV show this year, but after we got their email saying that attendees had to wear a face mask, we made the decision not to go.
This madness of requiring people to restrict the oxygen they breathe in — and trap carbon dioxide and other debris inside a face mask that will lead to sickness and disease — has got to stop!
4. Regarding accidents, inspections, distractions, and nuclear verdicts:
Accidents
Please learn from these accidents and strive never to get into the same situations.
- Study: Lane-Keeping Tech Can Help Cut Truck-Accident Costs
- Trailer peeled apart when rig squeezes under railroad overpass
- Unlicensed, uninsured trucker causes triple-semi wreck
- WATCH: This avoidable wreck will have you saying “how…?”
Inspections
Always be ready for an inspection — at any time.
- A Year of Pandemic: Number of Roadside Inspections Fell
- Crackdown on Truckers Along I-16 Leads to Almost 100 Cell Phone Usage Citations and DUI
- Hours of service violations on uptrend in Colorado
- More than 300 trucks inspected during Georgia blitz
Distractions
Nuclear verdicts
5. Regarding classification, employment, clearinghouse, and drugs:
Classification
Employment
- ACT’s February for-hire index points to another new low in truck driver availability
- Foreign truckers allege US job offers turned into human-trafficking scheme
- Innovative driver recruiting — Taking the Hire Road
- Jobless Claims Fall to 684,000, Fewest in Pandemic
- Latest corporate climate progress: Plenty of work remains
- Noodling the numbers of Google searches for truck driving jobs
- Sources: Mexican B-1 visa truckers conducting illegal runs in US
- U.S. driver scarcity worsens: ACT Research
- What you need to understand before becoming a CDL driver
Clearinghouse
Drugs
- Border patrol discovers over $1.3 million in narcotics hidden in truckload of spinach
- Trucker Hauling Rock Panel Paste Busted at Southern Border With $1 MILLION of Meth
6. Regarding reflections, economy, consumers, and COVID-19:
Reflections
Let the reader beware that these may be propaganda pieces that have nothing to do with freedom and liberty.
Please practice discernment.
- A Year Later: ATA President Spear Reflects on Pandemic
- A Year of Pandemic: ATA President Spear Lauds Drivers as ‘Soldiers on the Front Lines’
- A Year of Pandemic: Ports Battled COVID in 2020, and now Freight Crunch in 2021
Economy
- ATA Truck Tonnage Falls in February
- Flatbed freight market jumps as vans, reefers level out
- FreightCar America eyes improving opportunities in 2021
- New truck orders far outpacing current production levels
- Retail openings will outpace closures for first time in years
- Softening lockdown restrictions send spot market freight soaring
- Stimulus round 3 provides huge boost to consumer economy — freight volumes are next
Consumers
- Consumer demands are changing — retailers and delivery partners need to listen
- Viewpoint: Buy American — by choice
COVID-19
If you research information from VAERS (Vaccine Adverse Events Reporting System), you will find that thousands of people have died and tens of thousands of people have had adverse reactions following getting a COVID-19 jab.
Also, please be aware of one of the articles listed below states that some COVID-19 “vaccines” are fake.
I have also become aware that due to the “Emergency Use Authorization” (EUA) nature of these “vaccines” — and the clear consent given by those receiving them — some life insurance companies may not pay out upon a covered recipient’s death.
I read on Friday, March 26, 2021, of one fitness center (location unknown) that was going to turn away those who had received the vaccination — at least in part due to their insurance not covering that.
Again, remember that you can always delay taking an injection, but once you receive it, you may never again be the same.
Focus instead on boosting your God-given immune system, so that you will be more likely to survive a virus that you are more than 99% likely to recover from anyway.
- Cargo Transporters Helps Drivers Get COVID-19 Vaccine
- Find a specific COVID-19 vaccine via this web resource
- Medically Necessary: The fake vaccine supply chain threatens the real thing
- Traveling through these states?- List shows where mask mandates are still in place
7. Regarding parking and drop zones;
Parking
I wish that lawmakers would get smart and provide for truck parking adjacent to industrial parks!
Drop zones
These sound like a great idea!
8. Regarding supply chain, mail, and tires:
Supply chain
- Borderlands: Supply chain woes halt more automakers
- Buttigieg vows to help US exporters resolve supply chain woes
- Supply bottlenecks leave ships stranded, motor carriers backlogged and businesses stymied
- Truckload prices jumped as February’s winter weather stressed fragile supply chains
News that mail may take longer to get from Point A to Point B will simply push parcels — and even some letters — to be sent through alternative services.
- Mail Will Be Slower, More Costly Under DeJoy USPS Plan
- Postal Service puts parcels at head of line in reform plan
Tires
9. Regarding politics and VMT:
Politics
- The Cons of the Pro Act
- USDOT Begins Undoing Trump-Era Restrictions on Rulemaking
- Windsor cracks down on illegal truck yards
VMT
Keep watching for more of this “pay for what you use” type services.
- ATRI report calls possible VMT tax ‘costly’ and ‘complicated’; trucking associations weigh in
- USDOT Secretary Signals Support For Vehicle Miles Traveled Tax Despite Privacy Concerns
10. Regarding tolls, taxes, and inflation:
Tolls
- Alabama Leaders Pitch Trucks-Only Toll Bridge
- Alabama officials want to impose truck-only tolls to help pay for a new truck-only bridge
- Bestpass acquires Maryland Motor Truck Association tolling program
- Bestpass Acquires Toll Management Program
- Highway construction firms oppose PennDOT’s bridge toll plan
- Proposed $15 Alabama truck toll is excessive, based on old data, industry experts argue
- Sault Ste. Marie International Bridge toll adjustments begin April 1
- Wyoming Senate advances proposal for I-80 tolls
Taxes
- Alaska bill would double the state’s fuel tax rate
- Federal tax deadline for individuals extended to May 17
- Legislators in 11 states push for more fees on electric, hybrid vehicles
- What you need to know about the tax-filing extension
Inflation
After at least 3 COVID-19 “stimulus” payments having been made — and the money supply having increased greatly — be watching for inflation to escalate into hyperinflation.
If there was ever a need for truckers to look for more income — perhaps a second income — it is now.
- General Mills sees mid-single-digit freight cost inflation
- Logistics warehouse tenants should brace for 10% rate hikes — CBRE
11. Regarding snow and weather:
Snow
Below the listing for this article, please see the listed resources on our website.
TDMST articles about snow on trailer roofs:
- What’s the Answer to This Seemingly Impossible Winter Trucking Problem?
- Addressing Snow Removal from Semi Tractor Trailers
- No Snow Roof – A Solution for Eliminating Snow and Ice on Trailer Roofs
Weather
12. Regarding awards:
My husband Mike and I congratulate all professional truck drivers who have achieved safety milestones or earn some kind of recognition in their field!
- A love of the road dating back to the ’70s earns Scott Smith Minnesota Driver of the Year award
- CVSA honors Werner driver Allen Parker with 2021 IDEA award
- On the road 34 years, Werner driver win’s CVSA’s IDEA Award
- This Illinois trucking company is thanking its best drivers with a brand new Harley-Davidson
- Truck driver with 4 million safe miles in 34 years offers advice to fellow truckers
- Yellow driver Robert Herber achieves 5 million safe miles
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: 2021.03.27 to our TDMST Weekly Round-Up Trucking Commentary or our Truck Drivers Money Saving Tips home page.
