TRUCKING FAKE NEWS

BREAKING NEWS! Donald Trump has just resigned the Presidency of the United States. In other news, Prime Minister Mark Carney has just announced that all trucks in Canada must be electric by the end of 2026.

Unbelievable? Well, just as believable that what we read and see on the internet…on Facebook, Instagram, X, Telegram, podcasts, and the hundreds of questionable news outlets? Remember that old joke, “if you believe that, I’ve got a bridge to sell you.”

Some people don’t trust the Toronto Star, or the New York Times because they are too left-leaning…or others didn’t trust the National Post or the Wall Street Journal because we saw them as too right leaning, but that was simply because their biases…but now we see and read outrageous stories that are outright lies masquerading as truth…and thanks to AI they even include video that looks so real and convincing that they fool thousands, and then those thousands share it. I’m normally no conspiracy theorist, but I wonder if it’s a scheme to cause us all to mistrust everything, including mainstream media. I know…there are many who claim that the mainstream media are just as deceptive. It’s true that the mainstream media can be biased…very biased…but I don’t believe that they create untrue stories. Plus, we know who they are, and we can therefore call them out. Meanwhile, most of those basement-dwelling nefarious fake news sites hide under assumed names.

The rise in fake news has even affected people in the trucking industry. Truck News Magazine contributor Jim Park has an example of a story that caused mild panic in Canada’s trucking world. In this TNT Podcast I will talk to Jim about that story. Thanks to Howes Products, makers of Diesel Defender, a diesel Fuel Lubricator & Injector cleaner with advanced IDX4 Detergent

2020 was a scary year and we didn't know if this was the way it was going to be forever. People were dying by the thousands, riots broke out, and truckers were heroes, bringing us everything we needed in spite of the disease raging throughout the world.

Listen to our Trucker Radio news and talk segment from back then, which later morphed into what is now the TruckNewsTalk (TNT) podcast. www.trucknewstalk.com

HARRIET TUBMAN AWARD TO TRUCKERS

I’ve doing some history reading lately, and discovered an event in US history that may sound very familiar in 2025… and there is a connection to Canada.

In 1850, something called the Fugitive Slave Act was passed which penalized police and other officials who did not arrest someone who had allegedly escaped from slavery, even in northern states where slavery was outlawed. Habeas corpus was declared irrelevant. No day in court or jury was permitted and the alleged fugitive from slavery could not testify. The law resulted in the kidnapping and conscription of free Blacks back into slavery, even from free states.

There was one woman who stood out and fought to free slaves and escort them to freedom though the underground railroad. Her name was Harriett Tubman. She risked her life in some 13 missions to rescue approximately 70 enslaved people, including her family and friends, using the network of antislavery activists and safe houses known collectively as the Underground Railroad. During the American Civil War, she served as an armed scout and spy for the Union Army. In her later years, Harriet Tubman was an activist in the movement for women's suffrage.

So how does this fit in a Truck News Talk Podcast? Well, I happily support all organizations that are active in the front lines in the fight against human trafficking…otherwise known as slavery. One of those we all know well as Truckers Against Trafficking…aka T.A.T. TAT! The people at TAT, in an effort to reward observant and caring truck drivers, have developed something called the Harriett Tubman Award. I think it an award befitting a brave woman who fled abusive slavery and violence to save others from the same fate. My guest is Heather Fry, Director of Industry Training at TATnonprofit.org.