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10/31/2025

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10/30/2025

Drivers speaking up are mostly against FMCSA’s emergency rule restricting non-domiciled CDLs, public comments show
https://cdllife.com/2025/drivers-speaking-up-are-mostly-against-fmcsas-emergency-rule-restricting-non-domiciled-cdls-public-comments-show-2/

Regulations.gov
https://www.regulations.gov/document/FMCSA-2025-0622-0001/comment?sortBy=postedDate&sortDirection=desc

10/27/2025

Sent by email from ATRI on October 26, 2025:

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For the Third Year in a Row, the Economy is the Trucking Industry's Top Concern

San Diego, CA – Today, the American Transportation Research Institute (ATRI), the trucking industry’s not-for-profit research organization, released its 21st annual Top Industry Issues report that identifies the trucking industry’s leading issues. This year’s list includes the Economy, Lawsuit Abuse Reform, Insurance Cost and Availability, and Truck Parking. The list also debuts four first-time issues including English Language Proficiency for Drivers and Artificial Intelligence in Trucking.

“We’re in the third year of this extended freight recession and the pain is real,” said Andy Owens, A&M Transport President. “Operating costs climbed to their highest ever at the same time that freight pricing has bottomed out. ATRI’s annual analysis is so critical for our industry to not only quantify the issues, but more importantly, to understand what we can collectively do as an industry to address each.”

While the Economy retained its #1 spot, Lawsuit Abuse Reform and Insurance Cost and Availability each rose one spot, to be the #2 and #3 top concerns, respectively. The lack of available Truck Parking dropped two spots this year to the #4 concern and Driver Compensation held on to its #5 position.

Driver Training Standard had been on the list of truck driver concerns since 2019, but this year garnered enough votes across all respondents to become the #9 overall top concern. Among truck driver respondents, it was ranked 7th.

Over 46 percent of the survey respondents were motor carrier executives and personnel, truck drivers represented 30 percent, with the remaining 23 percent made up of other freight stakeholders. Among truck driver respondents, Driver Compensation, Truck Parking and English Language Proficiency were the top three concerns, while motor carriers ranked the Economy, Lawsuit Abuse Reform, and Insurance Cost and Availability as their top three concerns.

Over 4,200 trucking industry stakeholders participated in this year’s survey, a 14 percent increase over the 2024 survey. Respondents included motor carriers, truck drivers, industry suppliers, driver trainers, and law enforcement, among other groups.

The complete results of the annual survey were released as part of 2025 American Trucking Associations’ Management Conference and Exhibition. The full report can be found on ATRI’s website here.

ATRI is the trucking industry’s 501c3 not-for-profit research organization. It is engaged in critical research relating to freight transportation’s essential role in maintaining a safe, secure and efficient transportation system.

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Atlanta, GA • Minneapolis, MN • Washington, DC • Sacramento, CA

TruckingResearch.org
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10/25/2025

TDMST Weekly Round-Up 2025.10.25 is the trucking commentary on news affecting professional truck drivers for the week ending October 25, 2025, written by Vicki Simons.

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

1. Regarding California and language:
Both of the sections below have to do with illegal aliens obtaining CDLs -- even "non-domiciled CDLs" -- in order to drive commercial motor vehicles in the USA despite not being able to communicate in English.

California
The state of California is having to "face the music" about issuing CDLs to those who should not have received them.
#20251025

TDMST Weekly Round-Up 2025.10.25 is the trucking commentary on news affecting professional truck drivers for the week ending October 25, 2025.

10/19/2025

TDMST Weekly Round-Up 2025.10.18 is the trucking commentary on news affecting professional truck drivers for the week ending October 18, 2025, written by Vicki Simons.

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

1. Regarding CDLs, DOT medical cards, ELDs, and language:

CDLs

The articles in this section are related to the articles in the Language section below.

The third paragraph from the second article in this section reads:

In addition to calling on Congress to close regulatory loopholes, ATA said it raised concerns about cabotage – the illegal practice of foreign carriers conducting domestic freight movements – which the association said poses an ongoing threat to the viability of U.S. carriers.

Quoting from the fourth article in this section:

The Secure Commercial Driver Licensing Act of 2025 was introduced in the U.S. Senate on October 16, with a companion version to be introduced in the House on October 17.
#20251018

TDMST Weekly Round-Up 2025.10.18 is the trucking commentary on news affecting professional truck drivers for the week ending October 18, 2025.

10/19/2025

TDMST Weekly Round-Up 2025.10.11 is the trucking commentary on news affecting professional truck drivers for the week ending October 11, 2025, written by Vicki Simons.

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

1. Regarding CDLs, language, and shutdown:

CDLs

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

Let's hope that the action matches the attention!
#20251011

TDMST Weekly Round-Up 2025.10.11 is the trucking commentary on news affecting professional truck drivers for the week ending October 11, 2025.

10/11/2025

TDMST Weekly Round-Up 2025.10.04 is the trucking commentary on news affecting professional truck drivers for the week ending October 4, 2025, written by Vicki Simons.

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

1. Regarding shutdown, tariffs, and trade:
Shutdown
On my personal Facebook profile, I asked the question:

"Who hurts the most when the federal government shuts down?"

There are so many unconstitutional agencies, bureaus, commissions, departments, etc., a lot of which are listed here:
A-Z index of U.S. government departments and agencies

Are you aware that nowhere in The Constitution of the United States is transportation ever listed?

Transportation is a state issue!

So, I wonder what would happen if we scaled down and eliminated these unconstitutional parts of the federal government:

- U.S.
#20251004

TDMST Weekly Round-Up 2025.10.04 is the trucking commentary on news affecting professional truck drivers for the week ending October 4, 2025.

10/11/2025

TDMST Weekly Round-Up 2025.09.27 is the trucking commentary on news affecting professional truck drivers for the week ending September 27, 2025, written by Vicki Simons.
I welcome your comments, thoughts and feedback on the items of your choice below.

1. Regarding future, HOS, and NTDAW:
Future
The opening paragraph of the article in this section reads:

As the U.S. trucking industry transitions out of the low point experienced in early 2023, the road to recovery in 2025 remains complex. According to recent analysis from ACT Research and other transportation data sources, the trucking sector is undergoing a gradual rebalancing influenced by macroeconomic pressures, regulatory uncertainty, and evolving freight market dynamics.

What are you seeing in the trucking industry?
Please comment through the form below. Thanks.
#20250927

TDMST Weekly Round-Up 2025.09.27 is the trucking commentary on news affecting professional truck drivers for the week ending September 27, 2025.

10/11/2025

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.

1. Regarding awards, awards - recognition, and NTDAW:
Awards
Congratulations to every truck driver who has achieved a milestone of professionalism and/or safety!

- HyLife's Bulacso named 2025 Canadian Driver of the Year
- Samsara releases its inaugrual Verified Safest Drivers list

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

Thank you.
#20250920

TDMST Weekly Round-Up 2025.09.20 is the trucking commentary on news affecting professional truck drivers for the week ending September 20, 2025.

10/09/2025

From a press release from ATRI dated October 8, 2025:

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New ATRI Research Confirms the High Costs of Cargo Theft to Industry

Washington, D.C. – The American Transportation Research Institute (ATRI) today released new research on the growing problem of cargo theft. The research obtained detailed cargo theft data from motor carriers, logistics service providers (LSPs), insurers and other stakeholders to understand and quantify the scale and causes of cargo theft, covering:

How and where cargo theft occurs;
The financial costs of cargo theft to the industry;
Cargo theft prevention strategies;
Strengthening partnerships with law enforcement; and
The role of insurance in shaping cargo theft risk management.

The report also includes a series of case studies documenting the real-world cargo theft experiences of shippers and motor carriers.

The research documents the high cost of theft to both motor carriers – who average more than $520,000 in annual theft losses, and to LSPs – who average more than $1.84 million in annual losses. The annualized cargo theft cost to the industry is as high as $6.6 billion, or more than $18 million per day.

“Unfortunately, we’ve reached a point where cargo theft has become a standard cost of doing business for trucking companies, with consumers ultimately footing the bill for many billions of dollars in losses. Something must be done to stop these costly crimes,” said Ben Banks, TCW, Inc. President. “ATRI’s new research on cargo theft puts real-world numbers to the issue and will hopefully motivate stakeholders to act quickly on solutions.”

The report goes on to recommend counter-strategies that include:

The development of security culture within motor carriers and across the supply chain;
Enacting model state legislation, including specific cargo theft penalties; and
Developing a federal-level centralized cargo theft reporting agency.

The full report is available on ATRI's website here.

ATRI is the trucking industry’s 501c3 not-for-profit research organization. It is engaged in critical research relating to freight transportation’s essential role in maintaining a safe, secure and efficient transportation system.

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The link to the report is here:

The Fight Against Cargo Theft: Insights from the Trucking Industry