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TDMST Weekly Round-Up 2023.08.12

TDMST Weekly Round-Up 2023.08.12 is the trucking commentary on news affecting professional truck drivers for the week ending August 12, 2023, written by Vicki Simons.

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

TDMST Weekly Round-Up

Yellow

Please watch to see what happens with Yellow, because I have a feeling that this isn’t the first major player in the trucking industry who will be in financial trouble.

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UPS

Proterra

According to the first article in the section just below:

Proterra — a U.S.-headquartered maker of electric buses, as well as battery systems used by several truck manufacturers — has voluntarily filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection.

Based on the problems I am seeing and reading about with electric vehicles, I have a feeling that this will not be the last manufacturer of its kind to have financial trouble.

Associations

Do you as a professional truck driver agree or disagree with this assessment?

Please comment through the form below.

Thanks.

Business

According to the article linked just below:

Getting the equipment and training to haul specialized loads looks like a big up-front expense. But the higher rates that shippers will pay for those loads to be hauled will cover those costs.

Have you found that to be the case?

Please comment through the form below.

Cargo theft

Please be on your guard regarding all kinds of cargo theft and practice protection as your company, shipper, or receiver specify.

According to the article linked just below:

Much of the increase is due to ongoing shipment misdirection attacks, a kind of strategic cargo theft in which actors use stolen motor carrier and logistics broker identities to obtain freight and misdirect it from the intended receiver so they could steal it, according to a news release.

I would like to learn more about how to protect one’s “motor carrier and logistics broker identities.”

If you know how to do this, please comment below.

AEBs

Please contact your elected officials about this important topic.

Politics

Speed limiters

Please contact your elected officials about this important topic, too.

Economy

Employment

Insurance

Pay

Rates

Tolls

Electric vehicles

If you are planning on buying an electric commercial motor vehicle, please do your due diligence first.

Emissions

Fuel

Oil

Jurisdiction

While I appreciate having “one national standard” for meal and rest breaks, the issue at hand boils down to the Tenth Amendment and states’ rights.

If the states in question want to make things better for their own intrastate truckers, I think they should be allowed.

Law enforcement

I watched the video embedded in the article linked in the section just below.

Like the trucker, I had never heard of a “fog line.”

According to Wikipedia:

The solid white line on the right side is called the ‘fog line’ used to help cars stay in their lane during foggy conditions and help pedestrians stay off the road.

This resource says:

A line painted on a road (usually bright white) that marks the edge of the legally drivable portion.

Huh!

Legal

Inspections

If you keep yourself and your rig in perpetual readiness for an inspection, you’ll never be caught off-guard.

Technology

According to the second article in the section just below:

“Waterfall tracking” means that a visibility provider, like Trucker Tools, automatically assigns the best available tracking method to each individual load based on information provided when the track was created and what the company already knows about the carrier.

Technology – AI

Please be careful about your use of Artificial Intelligence.

Weight

Please note where “automated enforcement” of truck weights is being utilized.

Are there any places between where you pick up heavy loads and the nearest truck scale where you could run into trouble?

Or do you need equipment like that linked below this section?

BIT Air Scale: Real load weights anytime, anywhere. 99% accurate weights (proper calibration). Customers: reduced scaling by 80%(+).

Crashes

Please scan through these articles to see if there is anything you can learn to help you prevent being involved in a truck crash.

Drowsy driving

Do not let trucking companies, fleet managers, dispatchers, and the like pressure you into doing what isn’t right.

If you need to, simply refuse to drive if you’re tired.

Fatalities

We express our deep sympathy — and offer our condolences — to the families of those whose loved ones died in these crashes.

Can you learn anything from the articles below that would help prevent being involved in a fatal large truck crash?

Parking

Ports

Postal service

Recalls

If your tractor or trailer has a recall, please be sure to have the repair work done as soon as possible.

Statistics

See how badly you’re needed, trucker? 🙂

Tires

If you have the “ultra-wide” tires described in the first article below, please consider writing a product review to let others know what you think.

Chains

It’s coming up on that time of year again when snow chains will be required to drive in certain parts of the USA.

What you don’t know can stop you cold (pun intended). 🙂

Safety

Please learn what you can from these articles, but also practice discernment.

Weather

According to the first article listed in the section just below:

Government meteorologists on Thursday revised their outlook for the ongoing 2023 Atlantic hurricane season, now calling for a 60% chance of above-normal activity through Nov. 30, up from 30% originally forecast in May, shortly before the season started.

Truckers who run in areas likely to be affected by hurricanes should monitor the weather (perhaps with a suitable app on their Smartphones) and have provisions with them.

We suggest having an emergency fund, emergency kit, and first aid kit — as well as full tanks of fuel and a fully charged phone.

CBD

This trucker is not the first one we’ve heard of that ran into problems with a drug test falsely picking up THC from a CBD product.

Drugs

Never, ever haul illegal drugs, no matter how big the promised payoff is.

Hostage

I would like to have feedback from truckers about what they would do — and what trucking companies advise their truckers to do — in a potential kidnapping or hostage situation.

Smuggling

No matter how big the promised payoff is, never, ever haul human beings made in the image of God as if they were cargo or cattle.

Appreciation

Truckers should always appreciate the technicians who help keep their trucks in top working order.

Awards

Congratulations to every trucker who has excellent truck driving skills and will be or has been nominated for an award — or has won a championship.

The video embedded in the second article from the bottom, features “a truck driver backing into a super tight spot” and I commend him.

Recognition

We recognize those who helped out their fellow human beings in a time of need.

We also recognize others in this section or highlight how others are recognizing truckers.

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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