TDMST Weekly Round-Up 2023.09.30 is the trucking commentary on news affecting professional truck drivers for the week ending September 30, 2023, written by Vicki Simons.
We welcome your comments, thoughts and feedback on the items of your choice below.
1. Regarding shutdown, speed limiters, and strike:
Shutdown
According to a September 28 article:
As of Thursday, Congress still had not passed any of the 12 appropriations bills that set discretionary spending levels. With the new fiscal year beginning on Sunday, lawmakers have until Saturday night at midnight to enact legislation to fund programs covered by the appropriations process — or there will be a full government shutdown.
The article also goes on to list “the basic plans of 10 federal government agencies involved with freight in the event of a full shutdown,” including the FHWA, the FMCSA, and the NHTSA.
Finally, the article states, “Because goods movement is considered a pillar of the U.S. economy, the supply chain should be relatively unscathed — assuming a shutdown ends sooner rather than later.”
What do you think?
To what degree do you think that a shutdown of the federal government will impact the trucking industry?
Please comment through the form below.
- Government shutdown looms over supply chains
- Government shutdown would negatively impact transportation safety, NTSB chief says
- How will a government shutdown affect freight railroads?
- Senate Leaders Have a Deal, but Shutdown Still Expected
- Shutdown Nears Despite Lawmakers’ Incremental Gains
- Shutdown’s Economic Risks Grow the Longer It Lasts
- What happens to the FMCSA and the trucking industry if the government shuts down?
- What would a government shutdown mean for me? SNAP, student loans and travel impacts, explained
Speed limiters
According to a September 29 article:
Federal regulators surely ruffled some feathers this week after publishing on Monday the FMCSA’s intent to pursue a speed limiter mandate at 68 mph, and then quickly [retracted] it before the end of the day.
What are your thoughts about speed limiters on big trucks?
Please comment through the form below.
Thanks.
- 68 mph: DOT report sheds light FMCSA’s speed limiter intent
- 68 mph: DOT report sheds light FMCSA’s speed limiter intent
- FMCSA announced a 68 mph maximum speed limiter mandate proposal – Then took it back
- FMCSA pulls back top speed from speed limiter proposal
- OOIDA rallies members to oppose speed limiters
- Speed limiters proposal top speed set by FMSCA
- Where is FMCSA with New Regs on Speed Limiters, New-Entrant Exams, AEB?
Strike
What impact has the autoworkers’ strike had on freight that you haul?
Has it been more plentiful, lacking, or about the same?
Please comment through the form below.
Thanks.
- Biden hits the picket line, AI in supply chain and Rail Safety Week recap
- Biden Visits UAW Picket Line in Michigan
- Buttigieg Says Both UAW, Big Three Automakers Can Win
- During UAW strike, Biden makes history as first sitting US president to visit picket line
- GM Next After Canadian Autoworkers OK Deal With Ford
- UAW Adds Two More Strike Sites, Idling 7,000 Workers
- UAW escalates; California paves path for autonomous trucks; cargo theft spikes – WTT
- UAW strike is growing, again
2. Regarding autonomous vehicles:
Autonomous vehicles
First, I strongly oppose the operation of self-driving, autonomous, and driverless commercial motor vehicles on the same roads as the motoring public.
Second, I share these articles as a courtesy to help our readers stay current with the topic.
Third, I was greatly surprised to find that the California governor vetoed the bill to require autonomous trucks to have a human in them.
Hmm…
- Autonomous trucks bill receives California governor’s veto
- Autonomous trucks target carrier capability augmentation
- Autonomous trucks: Close encounters of the dangerous kind
- AVs will augment drivers, not replace them
- CA governor vetos bill requiring drivers in autonomous trucks
- California bill to have human drivers ride in autonomous trucks is vetoed by governor
- California governor blocks bill that would have blocked autonomous trucks
- California Governor Vetoes Driverless Truck Ban as Uber Freight Plans AI Expansion
- California governor vetoes driverless trucking bill
- California governor vetos bill to outlaw self-driving semi trucks without a human in cab
- Governor vetoes autonomous trucking ban in California
- Newsom Vetoes Bill Requiring Human in Autonomous Trucks
- Newsom Vetoes California Autonomous Truck Bill
- Waabi and Uber Freight team up to deploy autonomous trucks
3. Regarding electric vehicles:
Electric vehicles
Before you buy an electric commercial motor vehicle, please do your due diligence.
- Adiona Tech report highlights need to electrify trucks
- Bettaway Launches EV Tractor Rollout to Support Arizona Tea
- BP Pulse completes phase 1 of electric truck charging depot, supporting OK Produce
- Briefly:Energy and logistics companies partner on battery EV testing
- Carter Express Helps Nestlé Go Green With EV Yard Tractors
- Daily Infographic: The United States surpassed two million on-road light-duty electric vehicles in 2021
- eLeapPower integrates EV charging components to reduce costs for OEMs, fleets
- Electric vehicles fees topic of Florida bill
- Electrifying fleet facilities can take two years or more: FedEx Express manager
- Excitement Builds for Mack’s Medium-Duty Electric Truck
- Flipturn swims into fleet electrification integration
- Kriete Truck Center opens Wisconsin’s first Mack BEV dealership
- Mack’s Kriete Truck Centers Aims Big on Electric Trucks in Wisconsin
- Pa. Turnpike Aims for EV Chargers at Every Plaza by 2027
- VIDEO: Trump calls electric semis a ‘disaster’ for the trucking industry
- Voltera CEO on charger bottlenecks: ‘We can’t blame the OEMs anymore’
4. Regarding drugs, fraud, smuggling, and theft:
Drugs
Never, ever haul illegal drugs, no matter how large an incentive you’ve been offered.
- Big Rig Search Leads Border Agents To $5 Million In Marijuana
- Trucker convicted on drug charges; faces 10 years to life in prison
Fraud
The article below indicates that the owner of a Tennessee truck stop feels stuck that he can’t get out of a contract with a “fraudulent semi truck towing company.”
However, I believe that there are legal moves that can be made, if only he will use them.
In the meantime, beware of parking in truck “no parking” zones.
Smuggling
Never ever haul human beings as if they were cattle or cargo, no matter how big of a payoff you’ve been offered.
Each person is made in the image of God and needs to be treated with respect.
Theft
Do your best to keep thieves from stealing anything ranging from your tractor to your trailer, and from the cargo you’re hauling to your personal possessions.
- Annual cargo security summit notes cargo thefts are rising
- Cargo theft on the rise
- Cargo thefts from trucks, warehouses spike during Q2
- CargoNet: Cargo thefts rise nearly 60%
5. Regarding business and ELDs:
Business
- Consistency in communication is key
- Facing the staggering cost of inaction
- Insurtech: Fleets Reap Insurance Savings, Improve Safety
- Life’s a lot easier’: Owner-ops find sweet spot with two trucks
- Why a profit plan is a necessity for owner-operators
ELDs
I don’t recall ever seeing before how an ELD removed from the official list was put back on it. Hmm…
- Best ELD for Owner Operators
- FMCSA Reinstates KSK ELD
- KSK ELD reinstated to FMCSA’s Registered Devices list
6. Regarding delivery, inspections, and parking:
Delivery
- Consumers willing to pay premium for fast, precise peak deliveries
- Daily Infographic: Grocery delivery makes It to the mainstream
- In the world of online ordering and shipping, faster delivery is making a bit of a comeback
Inspections
According to the first article linked in the section just below, “the focus area for this year’s Operation Safe Driver Week” was speeding.
While I encourage you to read the entire article, two other quotes are:
- “Speeding accounts for nearly one-third of all fatalities on roadways”; and
- “A total of 4,592 warnings and 2,634 tickets/citations were given to commercial motor vehicle drivers, and officers issued 1,164 warnings and 1,860 tickets/citations to passenger vehicle drivers.”
Please remember that if you keep yourself and your rig in perpetual readiness for an inspection, you’ll never be caught off-guard.
- CVSA Releases 2023 Operation Safe Driver Week Results – CVSA — Commercial Vehicle Safety Alliance
- Federal report says lack of OSHA inspections puts warehouse workers at risk
- International Roadcheck results: Carriers have room for improvement
Parking
- 3 new Ohio Sheetz locations offer diesel lanes, truck parking
- CBS Evening News Report Examines Ways Lack Of Truck Parking Is Dangerous
- Sheetz adds truck parking to Ohio with three new locations
- Sheetz Opens New Gas Station In North Jackson, Ohio, With Free Truck Parking
- Sheetz opens three new locations this week; adds 120 truck parking spots
- Truck parking gains traction at the federal level
- Truck Parking Projects on Docket, Secretary Buttigieg Says
7. Regarding crashes, fatalities, and fires:
Crashes
Please look through these articles to see if there is anything you can learn to help you prevent being involved in a similar crash.
- 16 car, one semi truck pile up crash leaves multiple people injured on Florida highway
- Briefly: Driver survives having their car crushed under big rig’s trailer
- Chicken-hauler overturns on Claxton, Georgia, street
- Four semi truck and one car pile-up causes only minor injuries in Washington
- Gentle train vs. semi truck stuck on tracks crash in Odessa, Texas
- High-dollar chopper damaged after truck driver misjudges Louisiana bridge’s height
- No one was seriously hurt after car and semi truck left twisted across a Portland freeway
- Spilled Milk Proves Truckers Are Truly Essential Workers
- Truck driver crosses over center line, totals both rigs in this video
- Truck driver ignores signs, police, gets stuck in New York City tunnel
- Truck gets wedged in tunnel between Manhattan and Brooklyn after ignoring warnings
- Trucker vaults out passenger window of burning semi truck as door sticks
- VIDEO: Car clips FedEx truck, sends it rolling into previous crash site
- Watch a semi truck jackknife on I-35W in Minneapolis, Minnesota
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?
- Driver dies after rig crashes, catches fire in rural Arkansas
- Pedestrian fatally struck by truck delivering to grocery store
- Traffic deaths declined 3.3% in the first half of the year, but Fed officials see more work ahead
- Truck driver dies in hospital hours after insisting he stay with his wrecked cargo
- Trucker dead after semi truck collided with a cow in the road in Texas early Monday
- Trucker killed in crash in Elizabethtown, Kentucky, Friday morning
Fires
Is it just me or do more truck fires seem to be happening these days?
How many of these are electric trucks?
Hmm…
- Driver OK after tanker truck full of fuel explodes in Utah
- Exploded reefer burned truckload of specialty pumpkins in Texas this weekend
- Fiery 17-vehicle pileup shuts down I-84 in Oregon
- Tanker fire in Utah send smoke and flames high into the sky
- Trapped trucker rescued by a Navy veteran as rig burns after wreck with car
- Truck set on fire, explodes, in video captured in Brampton, Ontario
8. Regarding Run on Less and technology:
Run on less
- Range, Charging Data Surprising in NACFE Run on Less – Electric Depot
- Run on Less Event Sees Big Improvements, Pleasant Surprises
Technology
- AI provides carriers tools to do more with less
- DAT Launches AI-powered Identity-Verification Solution
- Dexterity AI, FedEx test trailer-loading robots
- Dexterity AI, FedEx unveil robotics trailer loading technology
- Diesel Laptops Releases Fault-Code-to-Part-Number Tool
- Driving connection creates data optimization, Trimble CEO Painter says
- Ecosystems: The importance of alliances in supply chain technology
- FedEx announces partnership with AI Robotic truck loading company
- FedEx leverages AI to improve trailer-loading process
- FedEx Testing AI Truck-Loading Robots
- FreightWaves and Decision Spot partner to bring high-frequency data inputs to strategic supply chain planning
- GAO: FMCSA Falling Short in Making Complaint Data Accessible
- Heartland Express Deploys Isaac In-Cab Technology
- How AI has the ability to help prevent accidents on the road
- Integration allows Ditat TMS carriers to more easily find loads
- Ransomware a threat to the trucking industry
- The crucial role of cyber liability insurance for your business
- The vital role of visibility and traceability in food safety
- Trimble Looks to Future of AI in Trucking
- Trucking job platform provides needed alternative to expensive old school recruiting methods
- Uber Freight Adds AI Tools to Better Compete in Cargo Market
9. Regarding economy, pay, and tolls:
Economy
- 3.7 million Class 8 vehicles on U.S. roads in 2021
- ACT Research says rebalancing is ‘progressing’ in trucking’s spot market
- August market update released by OOIDA Foundation
- Current market conditions offer opportunity to strengthen intermodal relationships
- DAT load posts show decreases, according to latest report
- Economic Trucking Trends: Shippers pinched by fuel costs, vocational orders driving truck market
- Fresh Del Monte’s Tricont Logistics sees 200% growth in 3 years, rebrands
- Mack’s market outlook remains upbeat
- Trailer industry easing into order season, ACT reports
- Trucking sees ‘green shoot’ in August
- Used Class 8 Sales Rise 4.65% in August
- Used Class 8 tractor retail sales rebounded strongly in August, ACT reports
- White Paper: 2023 Corporate Global Trade Survey Report
Pay
- Driver Poll: Is your compensation as a truck driver fair for the work you do?
- IRS per diem rate for truckers staying flat in 2023-24
- UAW Targets 30% Wage Bump to Satisfy Workers, Grow Members
- Unifor targets DHL locations in wage dispute
Tolls
10. Regarding fuel and oil:
Fuel
- Average US diesel prices decrease for first time in weeks
- Daimler Fuel Cell Truck Completes Long-Distance Run
- Daimler Truck’s GenH2 sets single-hydrogen-fill run record
- Diesel Price Drops 4.7¢ to $4.586 a Gallon
- Diesel prices rebound in some regions, reports say
- First Element soon to open world’s largest hydrogen station for heavy trucks
- For 1st time since July, benchmark diesel price heads downward
- Hydrogen-powered Daimler truck passes 1,000 km on single fill
- Is Renewable Diesel Trucking’s Fuel of the Future?
- Knight-Swift encouraged by renewable natural gas engine tests
- New York Steps Up as Unlikely Diesel Supplier
- Nikola begins production of hydrogen-fueled trucks
- Nikola launches new hydrogen fuel cell electric Class 8 rig
- Quantron announces partnership for North American hydrogen fueling infrastructure
- Though average weekly diesel prices have eased, bigger picture shows increasing gains
- Weekly Fuel Report: September 26, 2023
- Weekly NTI Update: September 25, 2023
Oil
11. Regarding brokers, ports, and selling:
Brokers
- Broker dodges liability in $18M verdict, had no ‘control’ over carrier
- Broker transparency rulemaking delayed
- Brokers must bring operations, accounting teams together to boost cash flow
- OOIDA calls long delay in truck broker rate transparency rule ‘BS’
- Zerobroker raises $6.5M to bring shippers closer to carriers
Ports
- August volumes fall 28% from year-ago highs at Port of Savannah
- Port Houston sees falling container traffic in August
Selling
In the top article listed in the section just below, we read:
Know what red flags for sellers to be aware of when selling commercial trucks to fight fraud. Here are some more tips for spotting a scam.
That’s great advice and I encourage you to read the whole article.
- Scammers & Spammers: What to Do If You Encounter Phonies When Selling Your Truck
- Top Tips For Selling Your Used Light-Duty Truck
12. Regarding awards and recognition:
Awards
We applaud every trucker who is in the running for a trucking award.
- Finalists announced for 2023 Transition Trucking: Driving for Excellence Award
- Finalists selected for 2023 Transition Trucking award
Recognition
We recognize those truckers who helped out their fellow human beings in a time of need.
- Goodyear to recognize more commercial truckers for their Highway Hero Award
- Keith Rahn honored as TCA Highway Angel for preventing drunk driver from leaving accident scene
- Trucker honored for helping PA trooper detain drunk driver
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: 2023.09.30 to our TDMST Weekly Round-Up Trucking Commentary or our Truck Drivers Money Saving Tips home page.