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TDMST Weekly Round-Up 2025.09.20

TDMST Weekly Round-Up 2025.09.20 is the trucking commentary on news affecting professional truck drivers for the week ending September 20, 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 awards, awards – recognition, and NTDAW:

Awards

Congratulations to every truck driver who has achieved a milestone of professionalism and/or safety!

DAT TruckersEdge - Most Loads. Best Rates. Serving Owner-Operators Since 1978. 10% off your first 12 months. New customers only.

Awards – recognition

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

Thank you.

NTDAW

While I’m glad that truckers are recognized during National Truck Driver Appreciation Week, I dislike the fact that this “appreciation” seems to be restricted to one week out of the year!

I think that my trucking commentaries prove that I appreciate truckers all year long.

In case you need it written out: Truckers, thanks for your hard work year-round!

Please take advantage of discounts, freebies, and other goodies of your choice this week. 🙂

2. Regarding Amazon, business, FedEx, FedEx Freight, FHWA, FMCSA, and repairs:

Amazon

Business

FedEx

FedEx Freight

FHWA

What do you think will happen as a result of this?

FMCSA

A data outage at the FMCSA?

Repairs

This article breaks down repairs that truckers can do themselves versus those that need more intense or more specialized help.

3. Regarding brokers, Canada, tariffs, and trade:

Brokers

Canada

Tariffs

Trade

4. Regarding autonomous vehicles, electric vehicles, emissions, fuel, fuel cell, and fuel economy:

Autonomous vehicles

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

Electric vehicles

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

Emissions

Fuel

For reference purposes on the “definition” of “messy middle”:

NACFE to Hold ‘Messy Middle’ Testing in September

Fuel cell

Fuel economy

The article in this section mentions “two things” that one can control about fuel economy:

  • Station Selection and
  • Fuel Consumption.

A table in the article contrasts the cost of fuel between two speeds: 62 mph and 70 mph.

There’s a whole lot more on the page, but I must point out here that if it was the case that truckers were looking only at fuel economy, it seems to follow that all trucks would be traveling more slowly than what I’ve observed.

Traveling more slowly creates another level of considerations and costs.

Just saying.

5. Regarding crashes, drugs, fatalities, fraud, theft, u-turn, and violence:

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.

Drugs

Never ever haul or take illegal drugs.

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.

Theft

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

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

U-turn

This crash/fatality was completely preventable.

I express my deep sympathy — and offer my condolences — to the families of those whose loved ones died in this crash.

Violence

It is never right to perpetrate violence upon someone in an unprovoked manner.

All perpetrators of violence must be dealt with in a just legal manner.

6. Regarding economy, employment, Federal Reserve, private fleet freight, rates, recalls, tolls, and truck dwell:

Economy

Employment

Federal Reserve

The Federal Reserve (which is neither federal nor a reserve):

  • is unconstitutional;
  • needs to be audited; and
  • must be abolished.

Supposedly the CPI Inflation Calculator lets a person know how the buying power of the dollar has shrunk over time.

I used the calculator with these dates:

  • January 1913 (the year that the Federal Reserve was instituted); and
  • August 2025 (the most recent month when calculations were available as of this writing).

According to the calculator, the buying power of the U.S. dollar — during that time frame — has shrunk to only $0.03.

It’s been stuck at 3 cents for quite some time.

A better gauge, I think is the price of an ounce of silver, a precious metal that is one of two precious metals mentioned in Article I, Section 10, of The Constitution of the United States:

“No State shall… make any Thing but gold and silver Coin a Tender in Payment of Debts.”

As of this writing, in the last 12 months, the price of silver has risen from under $29 per ounce to over $43 per ounce.

Using an online calculator to calculate the percentage increase from $29 to $43: 48.27%

A post from September 17, 2025, says (with a chart):

“U.S. Dollar has now lost more than 10% of its value this year”.

BTW, also according to The Constitution — in Article I, Section 8 — only Congress has the power “To coin Money, regulate the Value thereof, and of foreign Coin, and fix the Standard of Weights and Measures”.

One organization wants to End The Fed in order to restore constitutional money.

Some states have started to “fight back” against “The Fed” by looking at studying/establishing a “repository” to store gold, silver, and other metals for the state’s reserves and for investments.

I wish my home state of South Carolina would take more definitive action on this, but the most recent legislation I found was simply a joint resolution to create a repository study committee (introduced during the 2021 – 2022 legislative session) which got stuck in committee.

Here are the articles in this section.

Private fleet freight

Rates

Recalls

If your tractor or trailer is under a recall, please have the work attended to as soon as possible.

Tolls

Truck dwell

According to GoRamp.com:

Dwell time in trucking is the time truck drivers spend waiting to drop off or pick up inventory, typically at a loading dock or facility. It’s a critical metric in the logistics sector, pinpointing where time—and, therefore, money—is lost or gained in the transportation segment of the supply chain.

Dwell time begins when a truck checks in at a facility, and ends when it is released and checks out. The length of this period demonstrates how efficiently a shipper can (or can’t) move goods in or out of its segment of the chain. The saying, “a chain is only as strong as the weakest link,” aptly applies here.

According to the article in this section:

The Ports of Los Angeles-Long Beach said local truck dwell averaged 2.73 days in August, down from 2.87 days in July.

What do you think about this?

Please comment through the form below.

7. Regarding ELDs, food service delivery, hazmat, and HOS:

ELDs

How many times will the FMCSA reject the use of certain ELDs after they once previously required only self-certification of the products?

Others within the trucking industry were speaking out against the Electronic Logging Devices “mandate” long before December 4, 2017, but you may read my commentary on the mandate.

In TDMST Weekly Round-Up: 2017.12.09, I quoted Indiana’s Attorney General, Curtis Hill, regarding the self-certification provision regarding ELDs.

I also asked, “In what other industry besides trucking has the government ever mandated the purchase of a ‘self-certification’ product?”

So, I’m truly distressed for every trucker who invested in a “self-certified” ELD that used to be on the approved list, only to later have that certification revoked!

If you are such a trucker, I want to hear from you about how expensive this was for you.

Food service delivery

The subtitle or caption of this article reads:

Local food service trucking isn’t just another driving job — it’s a high-pressure, physically demanding grind where drivers face tight delivery windows, heavy case counts, and long days of manual labor, often through the night, in challenging conditions. Here’s what you need to know before stepping into the cab.

If you’re in food service delivery, I’d like to hear from you, please.

Hazmat

HOS

8. Regarding inspections, insurance, issues, language, and legal:

Inspections

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

Insurance

Issues

Language

Legal

9. Regarding health, Lyft, parking, safety, trip planning, Uber/Uber Freight, and veterans:

Health

The statistics in this article are revealing.

Lyft

If you want a ride through the Lyft rideshare app, be aware that your history of tipping may help decide if the driver wants to give you a ride!

Parking

Safety

Trip planning

Uber/Uber Freight

Veterans

10. Regarding net zero, politics, privacy, regulations, and technology:

Net zero

A search for the meaning of “net-zero” might make it sound quite positive.

For a more in-depth look:

From the last article in that bullet list, we read:

In this interview with The New American, Trump’s economic advisor Ambassador Carla Sands, discusses the NetZero agenda adopted by the Biden administration and provided for by the Inflation Reduction Act of 2022 and its devastating consequences for America’s and global economy; the suicidal deindustrialization of the West; America’s energy independence; the unscientific vilification of carbon dioxide (CO2); and the planned, orchestrated nature of the climate change scam.

So, please educate yourself on this.

Politics

Privacy

Read about one trucker’s experience when he encountered a situation that “crossed a line … between due diligence and invasion of privacy.”

I applaud this trucker for resisting this invasion of privacy!

Have you encountered something similar?

Please contact me to let me know your experience.

Regulations

Technology

11. Regarding qualifications, railroad crossings, testing, training, and truck testing:

Qualifications

Railroad crossings

Testing

Training

Truck testing

12. Regarding switch, unexpected, and weather:

Switch

Switching seats with another driver while a big rig is in motion?

Be aware that there are surveillance cameras in many places these days!

Also, this trucker had more issues that just swapping seats with someone else.

Unexpected

Well, one doesn’t expect the shoreline to collapse out from underneath one’s truck, but I have to ask this question:

Since there was no road there — and no apparent reason why the trucker needed to be there — why was the trucker so close to the shoreline to begin with?

Weather

Weather conditions can change at any moment, so please monitor weather where you travel and be prepared to adjust your plans.

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: 2025.09.20 to our TDMST Weekly Round-Up Trucking Commentary or our Truck Drivers Money Saving Tips home page.


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DAT TruckersEdge Load Board: Most Loads. Best Rates. Serving Owner-Operators Since 1978. 10% off for 12 months * New customers only.
For all that truckers do all year long... thanks!
Get 35+ FREE downloads for truckers now! Get links to everything from a spending diary to a beginner budget; from 3 packing lists to 2 to-do checklists; and MUCH MORE!
BIT Air Scale: Real load weights anytime, anywhere. 99% accurate weights (proper calibration). Customers: reduced scaling by 80%(+).
Portable Solar Charger Power Bank, 63200mAh, Dual Outputs & Dual Inputs, Charge via USB, Solar, or Hand Crank, 4 LEDs Flashlight, Fast Charging Battery Pack, for Truckers, Outdoor Camping, Survival Gear. This is the exact unit Vicki bought, uses, and recommends. Buy Now. #ad
Rand McNally 2026 Deluxe Motor Carriers' Road Atlas - spiral-bound, laminated, with reliable truck routes. Buy now. #ad
Own a piece of Atlanta for as little as $100. The only real estate portfolio that creates wealth for You and its Residents. Roots. Referred by Investor ID 52797.
BougeRV 12 Volt Refrigerator w/ 23 Quart Cover, Truck Fridge, Portable Freezer Compressor Cooler, 12/24V DC, 110~240V AC, -7F-50F. 4.6 Star Rating. Best Seller. Buy Now. #ad