TopMark Funding’s 2023 Year in Review

Another year has come and gone. It feels as though it has gone by so fast, and yet not fast at all. If you want a quick rundown of what the trucking industry went through in 2023, here are the biggest articles from each month.

January

For the most populous state in the nation, January was both a blessing and a curse. Suffering immense drought, California received torrential downpours, and a State of Emergency had to be declared to help those impacted. Suffering a flood and a drought at the same time is doubly intense, as the hardened soil refuses to accept the water and it pools on the surface. Should similar rainfall happen this year, California’s soil will be softer and more accepting of the water

February

While our most popular article was the question regarding the best semi-trucks for 2023, the news that rocked the shortest month of the year was a State of Emergency regarding eight different states and how they needed additional fuels to keep warm. Hopefully, next February will be a bit warmer.

March

The biggest news for the start of Spring was updates to the CVSA’s definition of an hours-of-service violation. In short, falsifying logs will still lead to a fine, but may not lead to removal from service provided that the driver has obtained enough quality sleep time between when the violation occurred and when it has been caught. While fines are still a pain to manage, at least truckers are now better able to maintain an income.

April

From a news perspective, the most popular article was when President Joe Biden visited the Cummins Plant in Minnesota to talk about the importance of the electrolyzer. If you would like to learn more, you can either read the article or hear it from the horse’s mouth in a YouTube video:

May

Are you a trucker with glossophobia, or fear of public speaking? Well, you have no need to fear, as the U.S. Department of Transportation’s idea of an oral exam was taking a swab of saliva to quickly, cheaply, and efficiently determine if a driver was under the influence of mind-altering substances. As of the time of this annual review, no updates for the oral exam changes have been brought to light.

June

The most popular article for June was regarding a State of Emergency in South Dakota regarding a lack of petroleum fuels, but contrary to the one in February, the Declaration was for economic purposes. This may have been a piece of the puzzle that led to the FMCSA later revising its terms for Emergency Declarations.

July

One of the most helpful estimations we have seen in the trucking industry was the American Transportation Research Institute’s estimation of operating a truck to be over $2.25 per mile. Your actual mileage may vary, pun entirely intended.

August

California and regulations make a dynamic duo, as the California Air Resources Board announced changes to registering transportation refrigerated units, including paying a fee to do so. Near the end of 2023, the fee portion of the regulatory changes was declared unconstitutional and what happens next currently stands in purgatory.

September

The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) is the single most significant regulator of commercial truck activity, so we were shocked to hear that the FMCSA got into hot water with another governmental agency. As a summary, the Governmental Accountability Office said the FMCSA has fourteen points where it could clean up its act, including but not limited to making the wordage easier to understand for those who speak English as a second language.

October

With a dash of poetic irony, the FMCSA announced in October that it would be slowing down on implementing speed limiters, with the exact speed limit for trucks being established at a later date. With how popular speed limiters are with regulators, it has become a question of not if speed limiters will be forced upon trucks, but when and to what extent.

November

November News was the Biden Administration announcing grant funding for 235 projects in 2024 to the tune of $82.6 million dollars. Unfortunately for citizens of Alaska, Iowa, North Dakota, and Rhode Island, those states were not included in the grant funding.

December

The most popular news for December was similar to November’s but eighteen times larger in scope: the United States Department of Transportation announced $1.5 billion in grant funding for 2024. The application process ends on February 28th, 2024.

Conclusion

With the new year just around the corner, it will be interesting to see where the trucking industry is a year from now when we do the annual roundup for 2024. Will hydrogen establish a solid foothold in the trucking space? Will speed limiters become required for all trucks? Will humans establish contact with aliens? Nobody can tell the future, but it is easy to see the stepping stones from the past that led to the present day.

ABOUT TOPMARK FUNDING

TopMark Funding is a top-rated semi-truck financing and trailer financing company located in Roseville, CA. We specialize in commercial trucking and heavy equipment. Our mission is to become your long-term financial partner by helping you grow your trucking business and fleet.

We’re not here for the short-term, we’re on the long-haul with you!

We have financing options for trailers, semi-trucks, commercial trucks, and small businesses. We have great rates, low down payments, and flexible monthly payments regardless of credit history.

Learn more about Trailer Financing.

Fill out the contact form or give us a call at (866) 627-6644. One of our truck financing specialists will contact you as soon as possible to go over your truck lease needs and learn more about you and your business financing goals.