Tag: trucking safety

Defensive Truck Driving Fundamentals | Trucking Safety

Bob Holtzman

According to the Centers for Disease Control, motor vehicle accidents consistently rank in the top three causes of death each year for every age group. Many people are scared of flying, but the real danger in today’s world is actually driving or riding in a car. Defensive driving isn’t just a class that people take after they get a ticket. Defensive driving tactics are ways to prevent accidents from occurring. When you consider that 1 in 4 fatal work injuries involves a vehicle accident, you can see why commercial vehicle defense driving is so important to your business.

One key element in defensive truck driving is to be aware. Distracted driving is one of the biggest reasons people get into accidents. Commercial vehicles are often much heavier and larger than standard vehicles. It takes more control and more time to handle your vehicle. You cannot control what any other driver does. But you can be defensive in your own driving.

Be Prepared

Before you ever get into your vehicle, you should make certain that it is in safe driving condition. Keep an emergency kit with you, medical supplies, water, a blanket and other items that are important to your survival if you are in an accident. Know the conditions of the places where you’ll be driving. It’s much different driving through a sand storm in Arizona than in the mountains in Kentucky. But don’t stop there.

On the road, stay alert:

  • Make note of safe areas where you escape potential accidents
  • When you spot dangerous behaviors of another driver, remove yourself from their vicinity. Change lanes, slow down, speed up and move around them if it’s safe.
  • Use a technique known as “high eyes driving.” Don’t fixate on the car in front of you. Look at the road horizon to know what’s up ahead. This will give you ample time to react if there is an emergency ahead of you.
  • Minimize lane changes. A driver who stays in his or her own lane at a steady speed will rarely experience a rear end accident. The most common accidents occur when vehicles change lanes.

Avoid Road Rage

Even calm and reasonable people can get frustrated on the road. If you’re worried about meeting deadlines or are subjected to another driver’s bad driving, it can make you uneasy. Don’t give in to temptation and try to teach the other driver a lesson when you see someone behaving dangerously on the road. When you get stressed, put in music to help you relax. Contact your dispatcher to explain the situation. Remember your limitations. It’s better to be a little late than to get in an accident or even get a traffic ticket. Stay calm and don’t give in to your emotions when you’re on the road.

Create Space Around You

When driving at high speeds, you need to give other drivers plenty of space. Don’t tailgate other drivers. In bad weather, make sure to give extra room between your vehicle and the one in front of you. Slow down when a driver cuts in front of you. It might be frustrating, but it’s better than rear-ending another car.

Keep Other Vehicles in Your Sight

As a commercial vehicle, you are probably very visible to other drivers. However, the same cannot be said of them. Install mirrors on your vehicle to avoid blind spots. Not every driver on the road realizes that you may not be able to see them. Don’t make sudden lane changes or exit without signaling. You have to drive defensively to avoid accidents.

Know When and How to Swerve

Sometimes, you have to make quick judgements to avoid a deer in the road or run into another car. Understand that you may have to kill an animal to prevent humans from being injured. Know how to handle the vehicle if you do have to swerve to avoid an accident. When you swerve, you need to correct your vehicle to avoid ending up on the side of the road. Take a defensive driving class that lets you practice handling your vehicle under hazardous conditions.

Avoid Driving Impairments

As a commercial driver, you are aware that drinking or using illicit drugs will get your licensed revoked. However, there are other impairments you may not think about. Some over-the-counter medicines can cause drowsiness, such as antihistamines, cold and flu medications and even antidiarrheals. Combining some medications can also cause your driving to be impaired. Don’t do any activity that takes your eyes and ears away from the road. Eating, drinking, talking on the phone and changing the radio station are considered distractions. And focus on the road when you see an accident. Turning your head away to glance at the damage can leave you vulnerable to another accident.

Defensive driving is really about focusing on the road and other drivers while you’re in the vehicle. Something all drivers should be doing anyway. Unfortunately, you can’t rely on them. You can only control your own vehicle.

Keep Truck Brakes Working in the Winter | Trucking Safety

Bob Holtzman

The winter temperatures and elements are hard on any vehicle. The extra moisture in the air and on the roads wreaks havoc on every system in your rig. When water gets into the air brake system, it can cause corrosion and freezing, taking your rig out of commission for hours, maybe even days. The salt and chemicals used to keep roads free of ice and snow can get into the air brakes and cause corrosion and damage.

Frozen truck brakes and winter damage are preventable, though. How can you keep air brakes working in winter? You’ll need to take steps to winterize your rig and watch for damage. Preventative maintenance is key.

A Clean Air Supply

Whether you have foundation drum or air disc brakes, you should drain the air tanks of moisture and contaminants. When the air temperature shifts 30 degrees Fahrenheit or more, moisture can accumulate. If you experience this shift in a 24-hour period, you should check the air system after driving for another week.

Winterizing Drum Brake Components

Check the chamber housings for damage and corrosion. Corrosion attracts corrosive materials, leading to failure of the housing. Check that the chamber’s dust plug is correctly installed. Lubrication is an enemy of corrosion. All components in the drum brake need to be properly lubricated, the automatic slack adjusters, clevis pin connection points, cam tubes, shafts and bushings.

Any worn rubber seals can cause air to escape and moisture to invade the system. Get your rig checked before you drive in the colder months. Remember that it gets much colder in the mountains as early as September and can stay colder until May or even June, depending on the elevation. Always consider your route and the conditions under which you be driving.

Air Disc Brakes Winterization

Visually inspect the ADBs. Look for cuts and tears in the boots. A small tear allows moisture and contaminants to enter the caliper, causing it to corrode. Replace if necessary. Make sure the pads move freely in the carrier. If not, you’ll need to remove them, clean the carrier surface with a wire brush and then replace the pads. Check the thickness of the pads and rotors. Minimum rotor thickness is 37mm; friction thickness is 2mm or greater.

Replace Cartridges

If you drive in harsh or cold climates, replace the air dryer cartridge before the season. This prevents moisture from getting into the system and causing frozen truck brakes. Make sure to replace it with the right cartridge. An oil-coalescing cartridge needs to be replaced with a similar product to maintain the quality of the air.

Examine the air dryer’s purge valve. Look for signs of corrosion or an accumulation of grit. Clean it or replace it if necessary. This simple maintenance item can prevent malfunction during the harsher winter weather and save you time and headaches down the road.

What About Using Alcohol?

A traditional solution to treating frozen brakes is to add alcohol. Most experts agree that while this may solve your immediate problem, it will lead to long-term issues. It can damage the seals. Some air brake systems have an alcohol evaporator, which does keep air lines and reservoirs free of ice. However, you should only use approved products in this component. Check with your mechanic before trying to unfreeze air brakes using an alcohol product. It will be frustrating to be stuck, but if your vehicle is down for maintenance later, you haven’t saved that much time.

Driving Tips for Winter Safety

If you’re driving with air brakes in the winter, you have to keep the system dry and the pressure up. Make sure to allow even more stopping distance on wet and slippery roads than you would on dry roads. If your system doesn’t have antilock brakes, pump lightly on the brakes to maintain steering control.

Always check your truck before heading out on the road. Make sure the minimum operating pressure is no less than 100 psi for a truck with an air-brake system. It should not take longer than 2 minutes for air pressure to rise from 85 psi to 100 psi.

If you’re inexperienced in driving under winter conditions, check with your company to see if they have some training or another driver who can work with you to let you gain confidence in handling the rig in snow, ice, sleet and/extreme cold. It’s important to know how to handle mountains, country roads and city byways under wet and cold conditions. While it can be humbling to ask for help, if it saves your life, your truck and the lives of others on the road, that should be your concern.

Check all the components of the air brake system regularly throughout the winter to ensure proper performance. Poor maintenance can result in senseless deaths and injuries. It’s important to stay on top of brake maintenance all year long, but even more important in winter months. Take good care of your truck, and it will take care of you.

How Long-Haul Drivers Can Stay Awake While Driving

Bob Holtzman

Though many long-haul drivers may have been lured into the industry by dreams of the open road and freedom from the stress of a 9-5 job, the job of road warrior is anything but a dream. Instead, it is filled with many different types of stress that differ greatly from those in the jobs they may have previously held.

Turning Wheels Mean Dollar Signs

One of the most stressful parts of driving long-haul is often seen plastered on t-shirts, coffee mugs and posters in truck stops across the country. Though the grammar may make some people cringe, the well-known saying “If the wheels ain’t turning, you ain’t making no money” is one that is known across all aspects of the industry. In essence, it means that anytime the truck is not moving, it is not making any money for the owner.

This leads trucking companies to come up with creative solutions, such as assigning two drivers to the same truck, each sleeping while the other is driving. It does not matter, however, if drivers are alone, or if they have a partner sleeping in the back of the rig. The long miles drive across the country can feel even longer than they really are, no matter how excited they were to begin driving a big rig for a living.

Boredom Leads to Mental Exhaustion

Current log book regulations mean that gone is the day that a driver could make his way across the country only taking cat-naps. Instead, drivers today have enforced limits on how long they can drive before they are required to take a specific length of time off-duty. There is much heated debate about whether or not the current system of hourly regulations really work out best for those who are behind the wheel, but currently they stand as law.

On average, a trucker drives anywhere between 2,000 – 3,000 miles each week. Even with enough sleep or off-duty time, the long miles put in by truck drivers can lead to a very real mental exhaustion which can, if not recognized and planned for, lead to a driver falling asleep behind the wheel. No matter if they spend those miles listening to talk radio, to music, or talking on the phone via Bluetooth headset (drivers are not permitted to hold their cell phones while they drive), the passing miles and the hypnotic hum of the tires on the road can still lead to boredom and mental exhaustion.

Tried and Trusted Tips to Avoid Falling Asleep

Thankfully, drivers are typically willing to share with each other the tips and tricks that keep them from falling asleep while driving. Following is a list of ways that have been found to work for those who are looking for better ways of staying awake.

  • Healthy Food – Though it is so tempting to indulge in fast food meals while driving, many have found that healthy meals consisting of protein and complex carbohydrates help them stay awake for much longer than foods that are full of fats, salt and sugars. Healthy snacks work as well. Instead of grabbing a candy bar, truckers who want to stay awake prefer trail mix, or a bag of almonds. Having a mini-fridge and a small cooking oven in the truck are not only convenient, they enable drivers to eat much more healthy foods overall.
  • Switch up the Listening – Drivers should change up listening selections while driving. Alternate between music, talk radio, podcasts and digital books. This way, the brain will be entertained instead of falling into a bored, sleepy slump. And if all else fails, turning up the volume to ear-splitting levels and singing along seems to work as well.
  • Cat Nap – Taking a short nap before starting on a long drive can be incredibly beneficial. In fact, studies show that a nap that is under an hour can power you enough to stay awake for many more hours than had you taken a nap that lasted for a few hours. Drivers who find themselves becoming drowsy on the road can always pull over and grab a 20-minute power nap in order to make it to the needed destination.
  • Get Out and Move – Sitting for extended periods of time can be hard on a body too. Any time drivers feel sleepiness sneaking in is a good time to find a spot for some safe exercise. This can be as little as a few laps around the truck or as extensive as some push-ups, squats and a quick jog. Getting that heart rate up means the blood will be less-sluggish upon return to the drier seat.
  • Don’t fall for Caffeine – Good hydration is very important to staying alert. Unfortunately, sodas that are readily available in every truck stop do not aid to overall hydration. Even worse is the fact that drinking too much caffeine while driving can make a driver need to find a restroom much more frequently than if they had simply stayed with water.

No matter the reason for getting into the long-haul industry, the end result is typically the same after many miles driven. Being prepared to combat sleepiness and stay wide awake, no matter how long the road ahead, should be the goal of every road warrior.

Commercial Trucking Tips: Avoiding Common Parking Lot Accidents

Bob Holtzman

When you drive trucks for a living, you are constantly aware of the ways that other drivers on the road contribute to possible hazards that you will have to cope with. It’s just part of the territory, and developing a good sense of the pitfalls that come with the open road is just part of the job. What many truck drivers lose sight of, even the experienced ones, is how common parking lot accidents can be and how much extra time and trouble they can cause. It’s easy to overlook the dangers of parking lots, too, because the speeds are lower and traffic tends to be lighter than it is on the road. That shouldn’t lull you into letting your guard down, though. Instead, follow through with these tips for avoiding common parking lot accidents so that you can make sure your vigilance on the road has total follow-through.

Parking Lot Accidents Are Widespread

The first step toward grappling with the dangers in parking lots is realizing just how common parking lot accidents can be. Recent research has found that two-thirds of all trucking accidents involve a collision with a stationary object in a parking lot. That is an incredible number, and it doesn’t even include the number of accidents that involve slow-moving vehicles, pedestrians, or slips and falls when the driver is loading and unloading. On the one hand, these numbers show just how important it is to maintain vigilance in parking lots. On the other hand, they also speak to what a great job most drivers do with vigilance on the roadways. To get a better idea about how to put a stop to parking lot accidents, it helps to look at common accident types.

Basic Types of Parking Lot Accidents

Once you understand the types of accidents, it becomes easier to understand how a few basic trucking tips can help you prevent them all. That’s because the various types of accidents you might encounter all have a few common root causes that you can address with time and patience. Here are the types of accidents you might encounter in a parking lot:

  • Collisions with stationary or even fixed objects
  • Vehicle collisions
  • Intersection crashes
  • Slipping and falling
  • Liftgate injuries
  • Entry and exit injuries

What’s important to realize is that while there are several kinds of parking lot accidents, they can be easily grouped into those involving the truck and those involving only the driver.

Avoiding Accidents Involving the Vehicle

When you are looking to make sure you are safer on the road, your attention and diligence are the main attributes you need to work on. Avoiding distractions is about more than just making sure you have a clear view, though. It also means making sure you have a clear mind. A large number of parking lot accidents happen because drivers are working on other pieces of their job while driving. Whether it’s calling ahead to provide your next 30-minute delivery notification, prepping paperwork, or attempting to rebalance your priorities as you consider the rest of the day’s deliveries, you need to make sure you are putting it aside until you are actually done driving the truck. Otherwise, you are engaging with distractions instead of focusing on the road.

It is not easy to avoid these distractions, because your schedule is likely to be tight and delivery times stacked on top of one another, but if you have an accident, it will do more than delay your next delivery. It could throw your entire schedule for the day off, and it could also lead to consequences with your employer if the accident is determined to be your fault; OR EVEN WORSE. That’s why it is important to make sure you focus on the drive through the ENTIRE drive, even in parking lots at the end of the trip.

Trucking Tips for Avoiding Injuries Outside the Vehicle

The other major accident type, accidents that involve the driver but not the truck, can be harder to prevent. That’s because sometimes, these accidents are due to mechanical failures or to the state of the facilities you are unloading at. In those cases, it is important to have a combination of diligence to avoid any foreseeable accidents and great insurance coverage for when you can’t possibly foresee the accident.

That means you will need to find a carrier who offers you all the coverage your trucking business needs. The coverage needs to include vehicle collision coverage, but they also need to include:

  • Cargo liability coverage
  • Workers compensation and other employee coverage
  • Vehicle damage coverage

Only by making sure you have complete protection from an insurance provider like Western Truck Insurance Services at  www.TruckInsure.com  can you be sure your business is protected in the case of accidents of any kind, from the loading dock to the open road and back again, and considering all the possible pitfalls in between.

How to Avoid Collisions with Deer

Bob Holtzman

Collisions with deer result in billions of dollars in vehicle damage and almost 200 fatalities every year. While there is always a risk of coming into contact with these animals, autumn can be an especially dangerous time, as it is deer mating season and there are more of them around. Drivers should be aware how to avoid collisions with deer in order to be better prepared on the road.

Smaller vehicles definitely take the brunt of damage when they come into contact with large animals. However, deer collisions can result in loss of revenue for large commercial trucking companies as well. Not only is there damage to the fleet vehicles, but also to the loads that are being transported. Situations in which the driver swerves to avoid hitting the animals can be especially dangerous, as the size of the truck can result in flipping of the rig or collision with other vehicles.

Stay Alert in High Risk Areas

Although deer sightings can occur anywhere, there are certain areas that tend to have a higher incidence of animal presence. In order to avoid collisions with deer, staying extra alert in these situations is important. The following circumstances call for increased vigilance:

  • Signs – areas with higher animal populations typically have signs along the road, warning drivers of their presence. Keep speeds at a minimum and scan the area regularly.
  • Mating season – the mating season for deer is at the beginning of fall in many areas of the country. The season for moose and elk is during September and October, and horses tend to mate more in the spring and summer.
  • Less-populated states – states and regions that have fewer people tend to have heavier animal populations, and extra care should be taken
  • Past sightings – drivers who spend a lot of time on the road may notice a pattern of areas in which there are more deer or other large animals
  • Higher activity times – deer tend to be out more during the early morning and early evening hours, and these are often the times it is harder for drivers to see
  • Be aware of the pack – deer typically travel with others. If one is crossing, keep in mind there are probably others behind and drive with caution.

General Safety Precautions

Staying alert in situations in which more deer may be around is a good start to avoiding deer collisions. However, there are other tips that all drivers can follow in order to stay safe on the road.

When driving on a multi-lane road, staying in the center lane is the best place to steer clear of hitting an animal. This allows for a larger space for deer, and gives the driver more time to respond in the event a deer does run onto the road.

Drivers should refrain from swerving. This results in a loss of control and an increased chance of collision with another vehicle. Because deer are unpredictable, swerving can even cause the driver to end up in their changed path.

Drivers should make use of their horn if a deer is sighted. A long blast can frighten the animal and keep them off the road. Hood whistles and other deer scaring alerts have been shown to be ineffective in keeping accidents to a minimum.

To help avoid collisions with deer, drivers should not rely on their headlights. They should not be in overdrive, nor should they be flashed to warn deer. Light can actually temporarily paralyze the deer, in which case they wouldn’t move off the road in time. Also, if the driver needs to stop, applying the brakes slowly and smoothly is the best method.

Although it does not necessarily prevent a collision, wearing seatbelts at all times is important. If the brakes are used forcefully to stop, the safety belt will help prevent injuries. In the unfortunate event of an accident with a large animal, seatbelt use can prevent much more serious effects such as flying through the windshield.

In the Event of a Collision

While following the above guidelines can greatly cut down on the chances of collision, there are times when impact cannot be avoided. If this occurs, there are certain steps drivers should take.

  1. When it is safe, drivers should pull over to the side of the road, allowing other vehicles to move by.
  2. Passengers should remain in the vehicle with the hazard lights on until it is safe.
  3. If the deer is alive, leave it alone. It could be injured and confused, making it dangerous to approach.
  4. Police should be contacted as well as ambulance services if there are injuries to the driver or passengers. Alert them to the presence of the deer in the case of it being a hazard in the road.
  5. Commercial truck drivers should contact their supervisor to report the accident, and drivers of personal vehicles should call their insurance company.

Teens and Big Trucks: Should They Be Allowed to Drive?

Bob Holtzman

Should teens be able to drive big trucks? Right now you can’t drive a rental car until 25, but you can start driving 80,000 pound trucks at 21 interstate and intrastate(in most states) at 18. If a new law passes, younger drivers may soon be able to drive heavy trucks across state borders. Proposed regulation wants to change the age limit for interstate trucking to 18, with some provisional conditions. What do you think? Will this new regulation help get more drivers on the road or is the safety risk much too great?

The Risks of Younger Drivers

Younger drivers are notorious for getting into accidents. Drivers aged 16-19 have the highest annual crash rate and that’s just behind the wheel of a car, not a heavy truck. In states where 18 year olds are allowed to drive 80,000 pound trucks, younger drivers are 4-6 times more likely then 21+ drivers to get in an accident. Safety experts worry this plan could lead to disaster on the road.

While younger drivers are more likely to get in an accident, they are already on road and driving big trucks. In most states current regulation only keeps them from crossing borders, not from driving. Proponents of the law argue that the regulation changes make sense. Right now teens can drive hundreds of miles around a state, but can’t drive 10 miles across a border.

The Benefits of Younger Drivers

There is a need for more drivers and allowing younger drivers to drive interstate could lower recruiting costs and increase the number of applicants available. With transportation costs on the rise, some hope that younger drivers could help slow the rising prices in transportation (contract costs increased 3-5% this year). The law would potentially give fresh out high school graduates more job opportunities.

The Proposed Regulation

The proposed regulation would allow the FMCSA to create a 6 year pilot program allowing younger drivers to cross state lines. The regulation would allow states to enter into agreements with each other allowing the younger drivers. States would be free to place limits on these drivers (like limiting types of cargo, limiting routes, creating hours they can drive, etc.).

The regulation has passed the Senate, but still needs approval from the House of Representatives.

What do you think about this proposed regulation? Should we allow more teen drivers on the road?

 

Hours-of-Service and Safety- Are the New Rules Working?

Bob Holtzman

Those HOS (hours-of-service) rules can certainly get in the way, but the good news is, they seem to be working. The Government Accountability Office (GAO) recently released a report examining the most recent round of HOS changes (implemented in 2013) and the FMCSA responded to the report and agreed to move forward with the changes.

Positive Impact of HOS Changes

The GAO examined data from the first 18 months of the new HOS regulations. Here’s what they found:

  • Reduction in Drivers Working 65+ Weekly Hours– Drivers in the sample were 24-29% less likely to work more than 65 hours per 8 day week. The number of drivers working over 65 hours was 12% before the rule and decreased to 6% afterwards.
  • Fewer Hours Worked Per Week– The GAO found that the drivers in their study worked about 1.1 to 2.5 fewer hours each 8 day week after the new HOS rule was implemented. This ranges from 2-4.8% fewer hours.
  • Fewer Restarts- Drivers in the sample took fewer restarts per 8 day week (approximately 6.1-6.5% fewer).
  • Less Fatigue– Drivers that comply with the HOS requirements should experience a lower peak fatigue level, especially in the earlier days in their work cycle.
  • No Increase in Early Morning Crashes– They also found no increase in crashes during the 5 a.m. to 9 a.m. window, a worry that many critics of the regulation originally had.

There was little change in the number of crashes reported (and a possible decrease in the number of fatalities).

Other Ways to Stay Safe on the Road

Hours of Service rules are the law and they may help you to be safer on the road, but they aren’t the only way to increase your safety on the road. Here are a few other simple changes you can make based on recommendations and statistics from the GAO report.

Drive During the Day- The study found that drivers driving a nighttime schedule were on average much more fatigued than drivers working during daylight hours. To reduce fatigue, drive during the day if you can. If you must drive at night, here’s a great presentation from the NHTSA (National Highway Traffic Safety Administration) about drowsy driving.

Be Aware of Danger Times- The report found that crashes were more likely to occur when the roads were icy rather than dry, foggy rather than clear, and during dawn rather than daylight hours. Although you should be vigilant at all times, difficult road conditions do increase your risk of an accident. Be extra careful if you must drive during these times.

Don’t Speed– The most commonly cited reason for driver-caused crashes in 2012 was speeding. If you’re guilty of driving too fast, slow down.

It looks like the new HOS rules are here to stay. Have you noticed any changes (positive or negative) due to the changes in the HOS rules?