It is the most wonderful and busy time of the year. People are traveling all across the country to spend time with their loved ones during the holiday season. While the holidays may look different this year for some families, it remains the same for truck drivers. Online Christmas shopping has been the preferred way of shopping this year, and truck drivers are working extra hard to make sure your packages get delivered on time, and your local stores stay stocked.
Traveling during the Christmas season gets a little chaotic and dangerous. With the wintry roads and holiday rush, it makes it much more difficult for truck drivers to be safe and do their job. We put together some safety tips to help keep truck drivers and other passenger vehicles safe this holiday season.
Safety Tips for Truck Drivers
Plan your trip
Planning your trip is essential during this time of the year. With everyone traveling, truck parking will be full, hotels will be booked and the traffic will be busy. Planning your stops and routes will help make your trip much more smooth. Also, planning your trip and giving yourself enough time helps you avoid rushing to get to your destination.
De-ice your truck
Allow yourself enough time before you start your route to clean off the ice and snow from your truck. Ice and snow on your windshield and mirrors make it difficult to see and create a safety hazard. Do not allow the snow and ice to create additional blind spots.
Give yourself enough time
This tip goes along with planning out your route. If you are worried about running into traffic or arriving late, then leave early and give yourself plenty of time to get to your destination. You want to avoid speeding, especially during the holidays when there are more cops and vehicles on the road.
Allow enough space in between vehicles
Tailgating is a serious safety concern for every vehicle on the road. It is especially dangerous for large trucks due to the weight and momentum of the vehicle. The average vehicle traveling at 60 mph needs at least 240 feet to come to a safe stop. Commercial truck drivers need much more time and space to come to a complete stop, especially if the roads are wet or icy.
Watch your HOS
We know that the holidays are demanding, but it’s important to remember not to exceed your hours of service. By law, truck drivers cannot exceed more than 11 hours of driving in 24 hours. If you are getting close to your 11th hour, make sure to take care of yourself, pull over, and get the rest you need. To be safe on the road, drivers need the proper nutrition and amount of sleep.
Check out our previous blog post here
