Truck drivers come face to face with several hazards. Some of them come from our actions, like over-speeding and not doing a thorough inspection before the trip. The good news is that these are avoidable. But there are some road safety issues outside your control, such as poor road conditions or bad weather. To arrive at your destination safely, you must know how to navigate these elements.
We have compiled a list of the safety protocols every truck driver should follow before, during, and after the trip. Read on to learn how to keep your vehicle and freight safe.
Before the Trip
1. Plan Your Trip
Hitting the road is fun, but your safety starts before you kick off. Planning your trip begins with familiarizing yourself with your truck, researching the route, understanding industry-specific regulations, and identifying possible hazards and their remedies.
2. Adequate Rest
Inadequate sleep puts your life and other road users at risk by affecting your decision-making ability and alertness. Sleep at least 6-8 hours, adhering to the rest break regulations before you start the trip to eliminate fatigue.
3. Pre-Trip Vehicle Inspections
A thorough truck pre-trip inspection helps get it ready for the journey. Check all the critical components, from brakes, seat comfort, headlights, and fluid levels to tire quality, to ensure everything works perfectly.
4. Properly Secure the Load
Ensure the cargo is firmly secured to prevent movements that cause uneven weight distribution, which can destabilize your truck.
5. Check Weather Condition
Weather greatly affects your safety on the roads. Keep updated with the truck driver news to know anticipated road conditions and avoid driving into severe weather.
6. Emergency Procedures
Emergency situations like accidents, truck breakdowns, and even fire are prone to happen. By familiarizing yourself with emergency response procedures, you’ll be better positioned to guarantee your safety, the cargo, and other road users.
During the Trip
1. Speed Management
Improve your safety by sticking to the recommended speed limits on the road. Avoid aggressive driving behavior like overlapping; instead, embrace adaptive driving speed, as arriving safely is more important.
2. Check the Weather
Even though you did your homework and know the weather conditions to expect, continuously watch for signs of weather changes. Talk to your fellow drivers to determine what to expect in the route and align your driving behavior with it.
3. Take Breaks
Rest stops during transit can be refreshing, especially when covering long distances. Be sure to incorporate breaks regularly to freshen up and reduce fatigue. Ignoring signs of fatigue could cause issues like sleepiness and poor decision-making while driving, which increases the risk of accidents.
4. Parking Safety
During the breaks, look for a safer space to park your truck. Don’t park on blind spots, ensure the vehicles you park next to are safe, and mark the entry and exit in an emergency.
5. Defensive Driving
Defensive truck driving can improve your safety by lowering the risks of accidents. On top of practicing good driving behavior, the technique requires you to be conscious of the surroundings to reduce the likelihood of being hit by fellow drivers.
6. Wear Your Seat Belt
Lack of restraint is behind more than half of deaths from collisions. Always put on your seat belt to avoid being ejected and suffering a huge impact on the road surface, which is fatal. It keeps you secured to the seat, stopping you from being hit by the steering wheel, dashboard, and cuts from broken windshields.
7. Avoid Distractions
Distractions from texting or calling on your phone, eating, or tuning the radio can cause you to lose focus on the road. Distracted drivers drift off lanes, overspeed, and risk other people’s lives. Be sure to minimize or totally avoid distractions that take your attention from your most important task- concentrating on the road.
8. Communication
It’s important to keep communication lines open with your colleagues, dispatch, and respective authorities. Raise an alarm when you detect issues that could compromise your safety.
After the Trip
1. Post-Trip Inspection
Post-trip inspection is just as important as pre-trip inspection. It allows you to rectify potential damages from the trip and keep them from escalating. The Department of Transportation requires all CMV operators to do a post-trip inspection. It also lists things to check, including tires, steering wheel, lights, brakes, windshield wipers, emergency tools, mirrors, and horns.
Conclusion
Driver safety is a product of the continuous nurturing of good driving behaviors. Keep yourself up to the latest technologies and follow safety tips that minimize accidents. Additionally, observe the local regulations regardless of your experience level, as they could keep you away from danger.
Substance abuse significantly lowers your safety. Driving the truck after even a few sips of alcohol or other drugs could impair your judgment in ways you can imagine. They also slow you down, which makes fast response impossible in emergencies.
Truck drivers protect themselves, goods in transit, and fellow road users by following these safety measures. Where you are not confident about the safety of some aspects of your truck, consult an expert mechanic for professional advice and solutions.