TDMST Weekly Round-Up: 2020.11.21

This is the TDMST Weekly Round-Up of news affecting professional truck drivers, written by Vicki Simons for the week ending November 21, 2020.

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

 

1. Regarding electric vehicles, fuel, and brakes:

Electric vehicles

Regarding the article, Thousands of Electric Vehicles Recalled by GM due to Battery Fires:

We realize that there are differences between electric cars and electric trucks.

However, if electric cars can experience battery fires, is it possible that electric trucks can, too?

Other articles on this topic include:

• Ag retailers: Zero-emission truck plan could 'devastate' agriculture
  
  
• CCJ Daily Dispatch, Nov. 19: DHL deploying four battery-electric trucks in Los Angeles
  
  
• DHL piloting use of heavy-duty electric trucks in US
  
  
• Electric Last Mile Solutions Said to Be in Merger Talks
  
  
• Electric truck benefits vary across Canada: Report
  
  
• Electric vehicles central to Quebec's new green plan
  
  
• Electric-powered trucks rule, vehicle fee advances in Pennsylvania
  
  
• Freightliner's battery-electric trucks pass 500,000 miles of real-world use
  
  
• Nikola continues to see battery-electric and hydrogen future
  
  
• SCE Starts Testing Battery-Electric Freightliner eCascadia
  
  
• Texas electric vehicles and hybrids topic of revenue bill
  
  

---

Fuel

Quote from the article, "UK Announces "Green Industrial Revolution" With Ban On Gas Cars":

In addition to banning gas and diesel cars in the next 10 years, the plan also calls for a 4x increase of offshore wind power capacity in the same period of time. Although it is important to note that the sale of some hybrid cars and vans will still be legal until 2035.

Question: If cars that operate on gasoline and diesel will be banned in the UK in the next 10 years, can the ban on diesel-operated trucks be far behind?

• China Pushes Ahead With Hydrogen, Defying Skeptics Like Elon Musk
  
  
• Daily Infographic: How gas prices are determined
  
  
• Diesel Jumps 5.8¢ a Gallon in Largest Increase of 2020
  
  
• Diesel prices jump nearly 6 cents, according to EIA report
  
  
• DOE/EIA average retail diesel price takes biggest jump in more than a year
  
  
• Restaurant grease for renewable diesel in short supply
  
  
• Trucking Offered Stability in Diesel Revenue
  
  

---

Brakes

Daily Infographic: Semi Trucks' Brakes

 

2. Regarding AB5, Ag HOS, HOS, and breaks:

All of the articles below concern regulations and laws.

AB5

• AB5 follow: Impact from Cal Cartage decision needs to await federal ruling
  
  
• California Appeals Court Rules Motor Carriers Not Exempt From AB 5
  
  
• California Appeals Court Says ABC Test Not Pre-Empted by Federal Law
  
  
• News Alert: State court says applying AB5 to California trucking not preempted by significant federal law
  
  

---

Ag HOS

• Ag, livestock redefined by FMCSA for HOS regs
  
  
• CCJ Daily Dispatch, Nov. 20: DOT redefines ag, livestock for hours of service regs
  
  
• FMCSA Clarifies Ag Products That Qualify for Hours-of-Service Exemptions
  
  
• FMCSA clarifies definitions of ag, livestock in HOS regs
  
  
• FMCSA Clarifies Terms for Ag Haulers, Farmers
  
  
• FMCSA clears up work rules for ag and livestock haulers
  
  
• FMCSA updates ag definitions for hours of service
  
  
• FMCSA's HOS ag rule clears White House review
  
  

---

HOS

• Hours-of-service rules still flummox fleets
  
  
• New data analysis shows early impacts of 'flexible' HOS rule
  
  
• New HoS Rules: No Big Impact on Fleets
  
  
• New U.S. HoS rules not yet having big impact on operations
  
  

---

Breaks

• CCJ Daily Dispatch, Nov. 17: FMCSA blocks another state's rest break laws for truckers
  
  
• FMCSA determines that Washington's break rules are preempted
  
  
• FMCSA rules Washington state can no longer enforce meal/rest break laws
  
  
• FMCSA says Washington has no authority to enforce meal & rest break rules for truck drivers
  
  
• FMCSA Says Washington's Meal, Rest Rules Pre-Empted
  
  
• FMCSA waives another state's meal and rest break law requirements
  
  
• Ninth Circuit hears arguments on California break law preemption
  
  
• The Daily Dash: FMCSA shuts down Washington's break rules; the robots are coming
  
  

 

3. Regarding 5G, technology, routing, and Stop the Tires:

5G

• FCC Reassigns Transportation Safety Spectrum
  
  
• FCC Votes to Shift Part of 5.9 GHz Safety Spectrum to Wi-Fi
  
  
• Truck platooning at risk following Wi-Fi 'supersizing' by FCC
  
  

---

Technology

• How to prevent double-brokered freight fraud
  
  
• KLLM Adds Connected & Solar Carrier Transicold Trailers to Fleet
  
  
• Telematics can help control rising insurance costs
  
  

---

Routing

• Fire chief says truck driver 'followed their GPS to someplace that they ought not to be'
  
  
• Mississippi park rangers ticket multiple truckers for using banned Parkway
  
  

---

Stop The Tires

Well, the proposed days-long strike about which I wrote last week has been "canceled" by the "organizer":

• #StopTheTires? More like stop the protest - WHAT THE TRUCK?!? (with video)
  
  
• Breaking News: Second StopTheTires2020 protest canceled
  
  
• Stop the Tires 2020 calls off Thanksgiving weekend work stoppage
  
  
• StopTheTires2020 founder revokes cancellation, looks to collaborate with other trucking groups
  
  
• Truck driver protest 'StopTheTires2020' canceled
  
  
• Trucker group founder claims some joined to disrupt protest efforts
  
  
• Trucking protests throughout history: What's going to happen now?
  
  

Again, there are better ways to make your point than engaging in a "stop driving" protest.

If you don't like certain laws, get in touch with your lawmakers -- regularly!

 

4. Regarding truck accidents, near misses, and bridge strike prevention:

Truck accidents

The Minnesota State Patrol wants the motoring public's help in finding a truck driver who may have contributed to a 29-vehicle pileup on Thursday, November 12 -- on westbound I-94, east of Monticello, Minnesota -- whom they say may have stopped "in the active lanes of traffic to clear snow from the windshield of his or her truck."

• Numerous trucks in 29-vehicle pileup in Minnesota
  
  
• Troopers say 29 vehicle pileup could be blamed on truck driver clearing snow from windshield on I-94
  
  

If you have to take care of issues like this, please pull safely out of the lanes of travel before doing so.

Once, as I driving through Nebraska in our company-issued truck, the windshield wipers and defroster could not keep up with the amount of snow that was accumulating on the wipers.

I parked our truck on the shoulder of the next nearest interstate ramp and used the kingpin puller (fifth wheel pin puller) to help remove snow and ice from the wiper blades (and affected assembly parts) on both driver and passenger sides.

---

Regarding the article, Semi rear-ended Louisiana trooper before hazmat explosion, police say:

I speculate that at 4:30 a.m. in the morning, the trucker who was involved in this accident may have allowed his truck to veer onto the shoulder of the interstate, thus preceding his impact into "the rear of a fully marked LSP patrol vehicle stopped" there.

This could have been caused by:

• being distracted,
  
  
• being drowsy, or
  
  
• being oxygen-deprived (if he had created an oxygen-deficient atmosphere by wearing a face mask).

If you find yourself getting inattentive behind the wheel of a vehicle, find the nearest safe and legal place to do so -- and park your truck.

Do not persist in driving when you cannot think clearly!

---

Near misses

The evasive action that two different truckers took to avoid a more hazardous outcome is impressive!

• VIDEO: Truck driver forges his own path to avoid traffic jam
  
  
• VIDEO: Trucker makes an insane save after wind nearly topples truck
  
  

---

Prevention

• Nearly 200 trucks stopped during New York bridge strike enforcement effort
  
  

 

5. Regarding COVID-19, reefers for the dead, and vaccines:

I wrote the following on Facebook in response to the posting of the article entitled,

See Coronavirus Restrictions and Mask Mandates for All 50 States:

OK, folks, watch for the number of cases of a respiratory illness to spike in states with mandatory face mask wearing.

The reason why many people are getting sick while wearing face masks is **because** of the masks!

There are a number of issues going on, including (but not limited to):

- the materials in the masks not being healthy;

- the stuff that people exhale not being released away from their faces; and

- (in my opinion, most importantly) the reduced amount of oxygen that is getting through to them (creating an oxygen deficient atmosphere, according to the US Code).

God created the human body with an immune system.

When the immune system is weak, the human body is more likely to get sick.

When the immune system is strong, the human body is less likely to get sick.

I share the following as a courtesy...

COVID-19

• As COVID-19 spikes, CDC updates warnings to truckers
  
  
• CDC reiterates COVID-19 guidance for long-haul truckers
  
  
• CDC updates COVID-19 guidelines for OTR truckers as pandemic worsens
  
  
• P.E.I. tells returning truck drivers to get Covid-19 tests, and isolate
  
  
• States Take Action as COVID-19 Chokes Revenue Streams
  
  
• The Daily Dash: COVID's unexpected impact on the supply chain
  
  

---

Reefers for the dead

• Can COVID 'mobile morgues' be used as trailers again?
  
  
• Indiana Health Department rents reefer trailers as "proactive" COVID-19 mass casualty measure
  
  
• Yes, reefer trailers used to house bodies during COVID-19 can often still be used for food transport, says FDA
  
  

---

Vaccines

Please be aware that, according to the package or insert, some of the ingredients that are being put in vaccines could harm human health.

Due your due diligence regarding any ingredients:

• from other humans,
  
  
• that may alter your DNA,
  
  
• that may cause you to become very sick,
  
  
• that may track or monitor you, or
  
  
• may, in essence, cause you to be owned by some other entity.

I share these articles only as a courtesy:

• Biden transition freeze could harm COVID vaccine logistics, adviser says
  
  
• Can a stressed cold chain successfully execute vaccine distribution?
  
  
• COVID vaccine logistics to start as sprint, turn into marathon
  
  
• Here's how COVID vaccines might be trucked to location
  
  
• New resources help aviation logistics firms plan for COVID-19 vaccine
  
  
• Oil Poised for Weekly Increase on COVID-19 Vaccine Optimism
  
  
• Pharma supply chain faces challenges, even before COVID vaccine distribution
  
  
• The COVID-19 vaccine market gets more competitive - WHAT THE TRUCK?!? (with video)
  
  

 

6. Regarding automation, ELDs and autonomous vehicles:

Automation

The title of this article says it all:

Study: The more you automate driving, the less drivers focus.

---

ELDs

• 13 things Canadian truck drivers should know about ELDs
  
  
• ELDs: One Year Later
  
  

---

Autonomous vehicles

I'm sharing these articles as a courtesy to help you stay informed.

• CCJ Daily Dispatch, Nov. 18: Goodyear to provide tires to autonomous tech firm TuSimple
  
  
• Goodyear, TuSimple to collaborate on autonomous vehicle freight operations
  
  
• Self-driving big rigs: More like the internet than the iPhone
  
  
• TuSimple snags Goodyear Tire in latest autonomous trucking partnership
  
  

 

7. Regarding drugs:

• Agents make $11 MILLION meth discovery in broccoli shipment
  
  
• Border agents discover marijuana valued at nearly $600k hidden in tractor-trailer
  
  
• Friday the 13th border bust: Officers discover more than $11 million worth of meth in broccoli shipment
  
  
• Texas border agents seize $12M in drugs from tractor-trailers
  
  
• Truck driver sentenced to nearly 6 years after one of the biggest fentanyl busts in Nebraska history
  
  
• Truck driver weaves tale of kidnapped wife as excuse for smuggling weed into US
  
  

 

8. Regarding economy, supply chain and roads:

Economy

• COVID-19 Has Changed Shopping for Good, Retail Giants Predict
  
  
• ECONOMIC WATCH: Canadian spot market load volumes increase for sixth consecutive month
  
  
• ECONOMIC WATCH: Consumer spending causing 'unprecedented' rate increases
  
  
• Freight volume eases, but reefer rates rise, DAT reports
  
  
• Manufacturing Sector Improves Despite Persisting COVID Issues
  
  
• October truck crossings rise 5% at Port Laredo
  
  
• Replenishing inventory will keep freight markets strong into 2021: J.B. Hunt
  
  
• The Daily Dash: Has trucking demand plateaued?
  
  
• The market is back,' says DTNA customer experience chief
  
  
• Trailer orders top 50,000 units for second straight month in October
  
  
• Truck arrivals up 2.5% during Nov. 9-15
  
  
• Trucking heads see extended runway for demand
  
  
• U.S.-Canada truck freight rises 1.9%
  
  
• Used truck sales recovery takes a breather in October
  
  
• USPS limps away from FY 2020
  
  
• Walmart posts strong third-quarter results
  
  
• Will this be the discount store decade? - Great Quarter, Guys (with video)
  
  

---

Supply Chain

• 3 ways the supply chain protects freezable freight
  
  
• Dog food, supply chains and how COVID drove new challenges
  
  
• Fleet Forward Experience Wrap: IoT, Electric Infrastructure, and the Supply Chain
  
  
• Supply chain expert details challenges during pandemic— Fuller Speed Ahead (with video)
  
  

---

Roads

• Brent Spence Bridge remains closed after fiery truck crash
  
  
• Fire-damaged Brent Spence Bridge to be repaired, open to traffic Dec. 23
  
  
• Florida task force M-CORES report finds no 'specific need' for toll roads
  
  
• Georgia seeks public comment on I-75 truck-only lanes
  
  
• Kentucky issues commercial truck order during bridge closure, violators can be ticketed
  
  
• North Dakota ranks best in annual highway conditions report; New Jersey at bottom of list
  
  
• Order keeps truckers on detours around closed I-75/71 bridge
  
  
• Reopening of damaged Ohio-Kentucky bridge set for Dec. 23
  
  

 

9. Regarding Thanksgiving holiday and theft:

Thanksgiving

• Expect to share highways with fewer Thanksgiving travelers
  
  
• Pandemic Likely to Cut Thanksgiving Driving in Half
  
  

---

Theft

• Be on the alert for cargo theft during Thanksgiving
  
  
• CargoNet warns of holiday theft surge
  
  
• Fewer cargo thefts, but more volume lost, Sensitech reports
  
  
• Infographic: Thanksgiving Cargo Theft Trends 2020
  
  
• Preventing business identity theft as broker and carrier
  
  
• Thanksgiving Is Coming, And You Know What That Means: Cargo Theft
  
  
• Thieves pose as truck drivers in "highly sophisticated" nut heist
  
  

 

10. Regarding miscellaneous trucking issues:

• New York to deploy 'unmarked vehicles, checkpoints, and roving details' for two week seat belt blitz
  
  
• Border issues, rising insurance costs discussed at TCA's Canadian event
  
  
• $6.8M Verdict For Trucker Who Was Told He'd "Need To Find Another Job" Because Of A Bad Knee
  
  
• Fender Bender Turned Into $32 Million Jury Verdict
  
  
• A step-by-step look at DOT Clearinghouse self-check process
  
  
• Steer Clear' rule revisions now law in Pennsylvania
  
  
• Texas trucking company offers 'Free Tires for Life' program
  
  
• Trucking Companies Raising Pay Could Indicate Trend
  
  

 

11. Regarding competition, rates, recalls, and weather:

Competition

• Amazon crashes online pharmacy business
  
  
• Amazon Opens Online Pharmacy, Shaking Up Another Industry
  
  
• Walgreens CFO Downplays Amazon's Role in Pharmacy Industry
  
  

---

Rates

• Postal Service modestly increases 2021 door-to-door shipping rates
  
  
• Spot market rate mid-month data for reefer, van, and flatbed
  
  

---

Recalls

• Daimler Trucks recall affects Freightliner and Western Star trucks
  
  
• Recalls affect more than 8,000 Freightliners, Western Stars
  
  
• Two recalls announced for certain Freightliner, Western Star models
  
  

---

Weather

• 5 ways weather impacts freight shipments
  
  
• California, Oregon, & Washington issue COVID-19 travel advisories, truckers exempt
  
  
• Heavy snowstorm to slam Western freight markets this week (with forecast video)
  
  
• I-84 in Oregon closed by high winds, heavy snow
  
  
• Ontario prepares 511 app for winter roads
  
  
• Oregon DOT reminds commercial freight haulers about wildfire restrictions
  
  
• Portion of U.S. 95 in central Idaho closed due to wintry conditions, multiple crashes
  
  
• Second day of high-wind warnings in effect for Maryland bridge
  
  
• Snowstorm still slamming the Sierra Nevada (with forecast video)
  
  
• Strong winds hitting high volume freight markets Thursday (with forecast video)
  
  
• UDOT prohibits truck travel on 99 miles of I-80 due to high winds
  
  
• VIDEO: Wyoming winds topple two trucks within seconds of each other
  
  

 

12. Congratulations!

We extend our heartiest congratulations to those named as award winners -- and those who will be:

• CVSA seeks nominations for International Driver Excellence Award
  
  
• CVSA to honor excellent international driver
  
  
• IDEA driver nominees sought by inspection agency CVSA
  
  
• U.S. Army veteran Ray Miller named a finalist in Transition Trucking: Driving for Excellence award
  
  

 

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: 2020.11.21 to our TDMST Weekly Round-Up Trucking Commentary or our Truck Drivers Money Saving Tips home page.

---

---

Recommended Trucker Accessories

• Portable Toilet
  
  
• Cold Food Storage Device
  
  
• Appliances to Cook in Your Truck
  
  
• Powering Your Appliances
  
  
• Navigation Tools
  
  
• Communication Tools

---

---