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TDMST Weekly Round-Up 2025.01.25

TDMST Weekly Round-Up 2025.01.25 is the trucking commentary on news affecting professional truck drivers for the week ending January 25, 2025, written by Vicki Simons.

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

TDMST Weekly Round-Up

1. Regarding emissions – CA/CARB, emissions – other, future, stranded/abandoned, Trump, and weather:

Emissions – CA/CARB

The issue of emissions is huge and I plan to continue following it.

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For another perspective, you may want to read some articles about emissions from TheNewAmerican.com.

Emissions – other

Future

Quoting the article in this section:

Matt Wolfe, vice-president and general manager, aftermarket, SAF-Holland said his company has actively looked at second and third sources to buy product from in places less impacted by tariffs.

Sometimes the margins cannot be absorbed, he said, and the price increase must be passed along to customers.

Chip Stuhr, president of Stemco, said prices generally go up with tariffs. “You’ve got this balancing act of passing on cost increases and fleets saying they will not take them,” he said.

What are your thoughts about tariffs?

Please comment through the form below.

Stranded/Abandoned

There is a large difference between:

  • being stranded, one definition of which is:
    “left without the means to move from somewhere”;
    which I interpret (in this case) as something that happened to truckers beyod their control; and

  • abandoning one’s truck, one definition of “abandon” being:
    “cease to support or look after (someone); desert”;
    which I interpret (in this case) as the truckers having made the decision.

I describe on this post how “Arrow Trucking [shut down] in December 2009,” leaving many truckers stranded.

I also wrote “Abandon a Truck? Abandon Your Future in Trucking!“

Those things having been said, here are the articles:

Trump

Please be aware that just because someone more favorable is in office does not mean that everything he/she does in office is constitutional.

Those in one political party need to be held accountable every bit as much as someone from another political party.

It’s called being impartial and just.

Weather

The area where I live in South Carolina has been afflicted with multiple storms since near the end of September, including:

  • Hurricane Helene;
  • Winter Storm Blair; and
  • Winter Storm Enzo.

If you are not yet prepared, I’m going to strongly encourage you to have in place:

Here are the articles…

2. Regarding fire – batteries, fire – CA, fire – Teslas, and fire – truck:

Fire – batteries

More and more evidence is piling up that at least the lithium kind of batteries which are being used in some electric vehicles are dangerous from a fire point of view.

Please see the electric vehicles section below.

Fire – CA

Some people want to call the fires in California as “wild fires,” but I don’t buy that story, especially after reading that a reservoir that was supposed to be filled with water, to be used in such an emergency, was empty!

Fire – Teslas

Fire – truck

3. Regarding rates, tariffs, taxes, tickets, and tolls:

Rates

Tariffs

According to one source:

A tariff is a tax on the import or export of goods between countries. Tariffs are a way to regulate foreign trade and protect domestic industries.

Taxes

Tickets

Tolls

Well, Rhode Island is at it again!

4. Regarding autonomous vehicles, batteries, electric vehicles, fuel, and oil:

Autonomous vehicles

I totally oppose the operation of self-driving, autonomous, or driverless commercial motor vehicles on the same roads as the motoring public — but I share articles on this topic with my readers to help us stay current on the topic.

Batteries

Electric vehicles

Before you buy an all-electric Commercial Motor Vehicle, please do your due diligence by asking some questions and getting answers.

Fuel

Oil

5. Regarding crashes, fatalities, fraud, Ice Pick Bandit, smuggling, and theft:

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.

Fatalities

I express my deep sympathy — and offer my 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?

Fraud

Never attempt to deceive, misrepresent something, intentionally pervert the truth, or pretend to be someone else for the purpose of trying to get something valuable.

Ice Pick Bandit

Smuggling

Never ever transport people made in the image of God as if they were cattle or cargo — no matter how large of an incentive you’ve been offered.

Theft

Never take something that doesn’t belong to you unless you have permission from the owner.

With as much surveillance equipment in place in the 21st century, it’s only a matter of time before the thieves are apprehended.

6. Regarding border, brokers, business, employment, and recalls:

Border

Brokers

Business

Employment

Recalls

7. Regarding chips, safety, technology, and towing:

Chips

Safety

Technology

Towing

8. Regarding congestion pricing, economy, and inflation:

Congestion pricing

Economy

Inflation

9. Regarding FMCSA – hazard, FMCSA – inspectors, FMCSA – SMS, FMCSA – testing, and FMCSA – women:

FMCSA – hazard

FMCSA – inspectors

FMCSA – SMS

Many people are familiar with the acronym SMS, which to them means Short Message Service or the ability to send and receive text messages between mobile devices.

According to this article, however, SMS stands for “Safety Measurement System.”

FMCSA – testing

FMCSA – women

10. Regarding high crash zone, infrastructure, roads, and routing:

High crash zone

According to the article in this section:

Several cows are dead after a livestock hauler flipped on a notoriously dangerous curve in North Carolina on Tuesday morning.

I want to know why such a dangerous curve was allowed to be built in the first place!

Don’t they have road engineers to properly design these things?

Infrastructure

Roads

Routing

These two articles are just more evidence of the need for truckers to be able to navigate themselves according to a “truckers atlas.”

If one must use a GPS unit for navigating a commercial motor vehicle, that device must programmed that way.

11. Regarding intermodal, leasing, legal, parking, and truck stops:

Intermodal

Leasing

Legal

Parking

Truck stops

12. Regarding awards and recognition:

Awards

Congratulations to all truckers who have:

  • demonstrated skill and achievement in their work as professional truck drivers;
  • been given a tangible reward; or
  • been nominated for or given an award.

Articles:

Awards – recognition

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

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: 2025.01.25 to our TDMST Weekly Round-Up Trucking Commentary or our Truck Drivers Money Saving Tips home page.



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