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TDMST Weekly Round-Up 2023.02.25

TDMST Weekly Round-Up 2023.02.25 is the trucking commentary on news affecting professional truck drivers for the week ending February 25, 2023, written by Vicki Simons.

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

TDMST Weekly Round-Up

1. Regarding derailment, drugs, suicide attempt, fatalities:

Derailment

According to a February 24, 2023, article entitled Toxic Ohio Train Derailment, Ross Grooters (a locomotive engineer and cochair of Railroad Workers United) blamed the following for the accident:

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  • corporate greed,
  • cutbacks to staffing (fewer people doing a lot more work, faster),
  • precision scheduled railroading (designed to maximize profits, not safety),
  • cutbacks railroad cars, locomotives and tracks,
  • increase in train length and weight, and
  • railroads fighting regulation.

According to the article, Norfolk Southern:

  • has paid $70 million in safety violations since 2000,
  • along with $21 million in environmental violations.

The bottom line is that you need to be extremely careful every time you:

  • get ready to cross a railroad track;
  • go to a rail station for a pick-up or delivery; or
  • drive near a recent train derailment site.

According to this February 25, 2023, article, those in the East Palestine, Ohio, area are experiencing “health woes.”

Here are some other articles about the derailment:

Drugs

Never ever agree to haul illegal drugs in your tractor or trailer, no matter how much you’ve been promised.

Suicide attempts

It has got to be frightening to realize that someone has put himself/herself directly in the path of your moving truck — and there’s no way with your truck’s required braking distance that you can stop in time.

Please be watching out for this and stop safely if you can.

Fatalities

We express our deepest sympathy and extend our condolences to the families of those who passed away.

Please see if you can learn anything from these articles to prevent fatalities in the future:

 

2. Regarding fuel, emissions, electric vehicles, autonomous vehicles:

Fuel

Emissions

According to the article linked just below:

Sometime in the not-too-far future, you won’t be able to buy a new diesel-fueled truck. Maybe as soon as 2035. And I’d wager serious money that some jurisdictions will ban all such trucks from entering their territory.

Do you agree or disagree — and why?

Please share through the form below. 🙂

Electric vehicles

According to the February 20, 2023, article entitled, “EV & ICE Fleet Maintenance“:

One of the greatest advantages of electric vehicles is the reduced cost of ownership.

Now obviously, there are differences between what the writer of that article is referring to and what is referred to in the following citation, but I would like to know exactly how much it costs to replace an all-electric commercial motor vehicles’ battery pack.

Tesla owner says he’s locked out after battery died, replacement costs $26K

Could the cost of replacement eCMV battery packs ever become this expensive — per truck?

Here are other articles on the topic of electric vehicles:

Autonomous vehicles

I adamantly oppose the operation of autonomous, self-driving, or driverless commercial motor vehicles on the same roads as the motoring public, but share these articles to keep you current on the topic.

 

3. Regarding accidents:

There have been a lot of large truck accidents lately, many of which I’ve summarized as follows by topic area.

Please endeavor to learn from these articles so that you aren’t involved in a similar accident yourself:

 

4. Regarding taxes, tolls, rates, employment:

Taxes

Tolls

Rates

Employment

 

5. Regarding training, HOS, pre-trip, ELDs, routing:

Training

HOS

Pre-trip

Don’t forget to look under your trailer when you’re doing a pre-trip inspection!

ELDs

Routing

Learn how to route yourself by a reliable truckers atlas.

 

6. Regarding economy, border, last mile:

Economy

Here are some of the most recent articles about the economy from the trucking industry’s perspective.

Border

Last mile

According to the article linked just below:

…the last mile is now the most expensive portion of the delivery process.

Do you agree or disagree — and why?

Please share through the form below.

 

7. Regarding supply chain, nearshoring, ports:

Supply chain

Nearshoring

Ports

 

8. Regarding technology, Tesla, weight:

Technology

Be careful about using potentially invasive technology, because you may not know the long-term risks.

Please do your due diligence ahead of time.

Tesla

Weight

 

9. Regarding sleeper berth, violence, weather:

Sleeper berth

Violence

Weather

When it comes to bad weather, remember that no load is worth your life!

Here are some resources on our website that you may find helpful:

Additionally, please be extremely careful when driving in strong winds, especially when you are deadheading (hauling an empty trailer).

 

10. Regarding business, capacity, recalls:

Business

According to this February 24, 2023, article, Survey of owner-operators yields interesting results:

“…in 2022 owner-operators who knew their cost of operations earned $1.15 more per mile, and $1,500 more per trip, versus those who did not know.”

See other articles on this topic area:

Capacity

Recalls

 

11. Regarding legal, staged, politics:

Legal

Staged

Politics

 

12. Regarding recognition:

We wish to recognize and thank those truckers who helped their fellow human beings in a time of need.

 

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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