Truck accidents, more so than auto accidents, are likely to cause major injuries. The truck driver can lose his job or be suspended during investigation. Truck driving safety is crucial to avoid the accident before it happens. Avoid law suits, lost loads, lost income, and the possibility of losing your insurability by avoiding dangerous equipment and driving habits.
Truck accidents, because of the large vehicle size and weight, are likely to end in death, physical injury and mental anguish. It is difficult for the driver of a heavy piece of road equipment like the fully loaded diesel tractor/trailer combo to live with the knowledge that a life or more than one life has been lost during a highway accident that involved him or her as a commercial truck driver. It is even harder for the family to live with the loss of the major breadwinner when a trucker’s life is lost in a traffic accident.
Truck accidents can not always be avoided. Accidents do happen. But it is wise to practice good driving and good equipment maintenance and upkeep to avoid the potential of becoming involved in an avoidable accident.
Don’t like profits drive you. Sure, it’s nice to make a good paycheck, or to make extra profit if you are an owner/operator. But when you do so at the cost of good driving practices, you may end up costing yourself more than you can make. Lack of sleep is a common cause of trucking accidents. Sometimes the one who lacks the sleep is not the trucker themselves, but another driver on the highway who falls asleep and drifts into the path of the trucker. If the trucker is fully rested and alert, the accident may be avoided by quick response times. However, if the trucker is also tired and lacks sleep, the likelihood of everyone walking safely away is much lessened.
Tire condition and tire air pressure – be sure you are running the correct tire pressure recommended by the tire manufacturer and that the tire tread is in good condition. Bald tires can blow and pieces of rubber fly into other vehicles causing accidents. Load weight – is your load weight within recommended and legal limits? If you are overloaded, it simply isn’t worth the extra stopping time that will be incurred when running heavy.
Cab clutter – is the cab of your tractor neat and organized? At no time should you be groping through a bunch of clutter trying to find your map or paperwork or soft drink. If you simply must locate something, stop at the next rest area and look for it in a safe manner. Drifting over the line is much too easy when reaching across the cab to find a missing article. If the driver passing along side you isn’t alert, an accident, ruled to be a trucking accident, will occur. It’s just easier and safety to be organized and if you lose something, wait and stop.
Cell phones – if you need to take a call or make a call, wait until you can stop. It’s easy to return a call from your next rest stop and avoid the grief of a trucking accident plus the increase in your insurance or your loss of insurability. In fact, some states have made using a cell phone while driving illegal and it is expected that more states will follow.
Use safety equipment – is your load secured properly? Are your doors closed snugly and locked? Is your tarp, if not in use, secured to your truck? Is your seat belt on and properly adjusted? A shifting load can distract a driver and cause the vehicle to be hard to control, not to mention the potential loss of the load. Tarps, if not secured properly, can come loose and flap into another vehicle’s field of vision causing a trucking accident. A seat belt, while sometimes uncomfortable and constricting, can save your life if you do get into a trucking accident.
