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TDMST Weekly Round-Up 2026.03.28

TDMST Weekly Round-Up 2026.03.28 is the trucking commentary on news affecting professional truck drivers for the week ending March 28, 2026, written by Vicki Simons.

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

TDMST Weekly Round-Up

1. Regarding Fuel, Iran, Oil, Postal Service, and Taxes:

Based on the principle found in Genesis 14 in The Holy Bible, every person, every family, every community, every municipality, every county/parish, every state, and every nation has the Creator-endowed right of self-defense.

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That God-given right of self-defense was the impetus behind our Founding Fathers writing what became known as the Second Amendment to The Constitution of the United States.

Although I am of the opinion that the president of the USA launched an illegal and immoral war of aggression against Iran, it is most definitely unconstitutional because, according to The Constitution, only Congress has been granted the right to declare war, and in this case, Congress did no such thing.

The price of fuel has risen sharply, as shown in these charts:

Now for the articles…

Fuel

Iran

Oil

Postal Service

This is another situation where the American people will pay for the war of aggression against Iran.

Taxes

Anytime the state of Georgia speaks of suspending the state motor fuel tax, the price of fuel must be pretty high!

2. Regarding Dalilah’s Law, Language, and Politics:

Dalilah’s Law

In a nutshell, Dalilah’s Law would stop any state from granting CDLs to illegal aliens.

While this sounds like another one of those “states rights” situations, The Constitution of the United States says (in part) in Article IV, Section 4:

“The United States shall guarantee to every State in this Union a Republican Form of Government, and shall protect each of them against Invasion…”

There are immigration laws on the federal books to prevent an invasion from illegal aliens, laws which clearly have not been upheld.

Language

I am glad that this situation regarding truckers who cannot read, write, or speak English is getting the attention it deserves.

This is part of “General qualifications of drivers [who drive a commercial motor vehicle]” 49 C.F.R. 391.11(b)(2):

Can read and speak the English language sufficiently to converse with the general public, to understand highway traffic signs and signals in the English language, to respond to official inquiries, and to make entries on reports and records;

Now for some of the most recent articles on this topic…

Politics

3. Regarding Amazon, Business, Canada, Capacity, and Chameleon Carriers:

Amazon

Business

Canada

Capacity

Chameleon Carriers

For background on chameleon carriers, please read:

The Anatomy of a Chameleon Carrier Empire. How They Build It.

4. Regarding Autonomous Vehicles, Carbon, Electric Vehicles, Emissions, and EPA:

Autonomous Vehicles

I most definitely oppose the operation of autonomous, driverless, or self-driving 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.

Carbon

Electric Vehicles

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

Emissions

EPA

5. Regarding Cheating, Crashes, Drowsy Driving, Drugs, and Fatalities:

Cheating

What good does it do for big trucks to be equipped with Electronic Logging Devices if those who run them “cheat” the system?

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.

Drowsy Driving

For your convenience, here’s a post on this site on this topic:

Drowsy Driving: Dangers, Statistics, and No Substitutes

Now for the article…

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.

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

6. Regarding Fines, Fire, Fraud, Staged, Theft, Tolls, Trade, and Violations:

Fines

Fire

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.

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.

Staged

According to one source:

A “staged” truck crash is an intentional, premeditated collision orchestrated by fraudsters to fraudulently claim insurance money, often targeting commercial vehicles.

Criminals maneuver a car to force a truck into an accident, typically using tactics like the “swoop and squat” (cutting off and braking) or “sideswipe” to blame the truck driver.

Be on your guard regarding these kinds of maneuvers.

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.

Tolls

Trade

Violations

A lot of violations are found during truck inspections while others are spotted on the road.

Make it your aim as a trucker to do everything in compliance with the law and regulations — even if your trucking company is trying to get you to compromise.

For your convenience, please review these posts:

Now for the news articles on this topic:

7. Regarding Clearinghouse, Economy, Employment, Idling, Pay, Rates, and Tariffs:

Clearinghouse

Well, I would be laughing if this wasn’t so doggone predictable.

Here’s another government program that has been hacked or folks have done an end-run around.

The subtitle of the article reads:

Drug-positive CDL truck drivers were paying $100 to $500 to have their federal violations wiped from the FMCSA Clearinghouse by a network of fake SAPs operating a multi-level marketing scheme.

Not knowing what “SAP” stood for, I searched until I found the link to SAPList.com, where I found out that SAPs stands for “Substance Abuse Professionals.”

A telling clause in the article is: “the largest known fake SAP network operating inside the FMCSA Drug and Alcohol Clearinghouse”.

What?!?

The largest known fake network?

You mean there’s more than one?

How did any fake networks get set up inside this Clearinghouse?

Are there absolutely no standards set up to vet each SAP individually on its own merits?

The article is lengthy. Another paragraph:

The Clearinghouse fraud network operating inside the FMCSA Drug and Alcohol Clearinghouse is not a collection of independent scammers. It is a self-replicating recruitment chain that converts its own victims into its next sales force. Here is how it works, step by step, based on the documentary record reviewed for this investigation. …

This really must stop!

Economy

Employment

Idling

You may wish to review the 9-post series on idling on this site.

Pay

Dated March 28, 2026, the article in this section opens with:

Owner-operator income gained less than 1% on average among business services firm ATBS’s clientele in 2025, yet strong year-over-year performance for owner-ops in the last months and market signals this year so far suggest a trucking recovery in the offing.

Owner-operators:

  • Is this what you’re experiencing?
  • How are you dealing with the fuel price increase?
  • How are you passing along the price increase?
  • How are your customers dealing with this?

Please share through the form below.

Rates

Tariffs

For a much better and more thorough explanation about the problems with Trump-issued tariffs, please search for the word “tariffs” in Peggy Hall’s Substack archive.

There’s also a short video on Telegram with this description:

Peter Schiff on Trump’s punitive tariffs against U.S. allies and why all tariffs are paid by the American people, not foreign manufacturers

Now for the articles on this topic…

8. Regarding Inspections, Insurance, Repair, Report, and Statistics:

Inspections

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

Insurance

Please regularly review your truck insurance to see if it is just right to meet your needs without being too expensive.

Repair

Report

Statistics

9. Regarding Legal, Low Clearance, Parking, Permits, and Technology:

Legal

Low Clearance

When it comes to truck routes, I have addressed this issue on this posts on this site:

Now for the articles in this section:

Parking

Permits

Technology

10. Regarding DoorDash, Ports, and PrePass:

DoorDash

I knew someone who drove for DoorDash when a situation like this current one occurred in the past.

Ports

PrePass

11. Regarding Roads, Safety, Speed Limit, Supply Chain, Truckers, and Wheel Separation:

Roads

Safety

Speed Limit

Supply Chain

Truckers

Wheel Separation

There’s a huge hole in this article, namely, what happened to the driver of the big rig that lost the dual wheels?

Unless the photo in the article — of the rig missing dual wheels — was imported from somewhere else, I have to believe that:

  • the trucker was pulled over somewhere; and
  • law enforcement had to intervene.

Other questions I have:

  • Did the trucker receive a ticket or fine, and if so, what were the details?
  • What kind of insurance claim was filed?
  • Could the wheel separation have been prevented by the trucker doing a pre-trip inspection or was there some mechanical failure?
  • Did the trucker lose his job over this?

If you know the answers to any of these, I’d like to hear from you through the form below.

Thanks.

12. Regarding Awards, Charity, Events, Recognition and Events:

Awards

I will be excited to see who wins this truck!

Charity

I am thankful that people are willing to donate toward helping to relieve the suffering of others!

Events

Upcoming truck events — and activities at those events — are listed here:

Recognition

Thank you to everyone who helped out their fellow human beings in a time of need, whether it was the trucker doing the helping or the trucker being helped.

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: 2026.03.28 to our TDMST Weekly Round-Up Trucking Commentary or our Truck Drivers Money Saving Tips home page.


Factor with more freedom. Non-recourse + no annual contracts. DAT Outgo.
Factoring that pays faster. Super fast funding speeds. DAT Outgo.
Rate Match Guarantee. We'll meet or beat your current rate. DAT Outgo.
Factor smarter, faster, and save. Keep more of what you earn. DAT Outgo.