Driver health depends on safety. Safety impacts other drivers and your business. Truckers should follow these eight safety measures.
Driver health depends on safety. Safety impacts other drivers and your business. The Best Truck Dispatch Services in USA one of the most dangerous industries in the US. Transportation and logistics fleets have significant workplace injury and mortality rates, which are rising. Driver safety reduces accidents, claims, and insurance.
Coaching, training, and rewarding safe truck drivers improves safety. Our best truck driving and fleet safety tips are below.
Defensive driving for truckers
Truckers are encouraged to drive defensively. To avoid catastrophic crashes and injuries, drivers should anticipate risk and make smart decisions. Defensive driving lowers accident risk, saving money on repairs, claims, and insurance.
Defensive driving strategies for your drivers:
Tractor trailer and reefer drivers can’t see cars behind or next to them. Blind spots are areas drivers cannot see. The NHTSA reports 840,000 blind spot accidents annually. Most lane-change incidents occur. Encourage drivers to evaluate blind spots when changing lanes. Tell them to leave room when merging.
The three-second limit prevents front- and rear-end collisions. Truck drivers must wait three seconds once the car ahead of them reaches a road section. Drivers should follow five seconds in heavy rain or wind. Icy roads necessitate 10-second following.
Prepare for emergencies: Long-distance driving can alter suddenly. Prepare your drivers for eventualities like bad weather or breakdowns. Drivers who stock their cabs with water, snacks, a first aid kit, a change of clothes, and blankets may safely and comfortably handle emergencies that may need them to stop off the road or wait for vehicle repairs.
Dangerous road rage. When automobiles cut them off, honk, or abuse them, truckers may tailgate or weave between lanes. Angry drivers risk accidents. Avoid aggressive drivers to reduce road rage.
Use turn signals: Drivers on longer highways or during non-peak traffic may be tempted to change lanes and off motorways without signaling. Non-signaling increases collision risk. Even if they don’t see other cars, drivers must indicate before changing lanes or turning.
When in doubt, slow down: Drivers should always follow the speed limit, but they should also be instructed to slow down in severe weather, poor visibility, or construction zones. Slowing down allows drivers to react to unexpected events like animals on the highway or rain-slick roads. Slowing down reduces accidents.
Preventive maintenance
Vehicle safety is driver safety. Unmaintained trucks and tractor trailers break down more often. ATC Dispatching Vehicle Gateway (VGs) provides real-time odometer, engine, and issue code data.
Your mechanics can develop preventative maintenance programs based on mileage, days, breakdown history, and more. Drivers can avoid breakdowns by maintaining and fixing their automobiles.
Check pre- and post-trip
Before driving, truck checks ensure safety. The DOT demands certain pre- and post-trip inspections. Protect your drivers with inspection tools.
ATC Dispatching Driver App drivers can submit DVIRs from their phones. Drivers can upload images of vehicle issues and follow our app during inspection. Inspections are complete. Your management team can instantly arrange fixes to protect drivers if an unsafe DVIR is produced.
Focus drivers
The FMCSA says distracted truckers cause most accidents. Any distraction is distracted driving. Distractions include eating lunch while driving and gazing at billboards. Texting while driving is most distracting.
Dual-facing dash cams like ATC Dispatching AI can detect driver distractions like smartphone use based on head position. Two coaching options are detected. In-cab or remote coaching enables you provide drivers feedback. ATC Dispatching In-Cab Alerts enable drivers fix issues before managers notice. Inattentive driving, tailgating, seat belt use, and smartphone use can be nudges by safety managers.
Management reviews on-road footage with drivers in person. This video helps drivers avoid distractions and accidents.
Anticipate road conditions changes
Long-haul drivers working long hours across numerous states encounter unknown road conditions. Weather and traffic are the greatest road safety dangers. Stop-and-go traffic causes truck accidents. Snow, ice, hail, and rain impair visibility and slicken roads, increasing accident risk.
ATC Dispatching live weather and traffic map overlays alert dispatchers to unsafe driving conditions. ATC Dispatching dispatchers can rapidly reroute drivers to avoid bad weather and send them their amended routes via our Driver App, reducing laborious back-and-forth calling. Text-to-speech helps drivers focus and safely communicate with dispatch in the Driver App.
GPS fleet tracking
You can always track drivers with ATC Dispatching real-time GPS tracking. Real-time GPS protects drivers during breakdowns and other situations. Helping a broken-down driver requires knowing its location.
You can send a maintenance staff, tow truck, or repair shop to a driver’s location. Quick and accurate failure reaction lowers downtime and puts your fleet back to work. Drivers won’t have to wait long hours off the road, which could increase collision risk.
Suggest breaks
CMV drivers must rest before HOS driving. HOStruck driver restrictions require CMV drivers to take a 30-minute break after eight hours of driving and a 10- to 11-hour break before returning to work to receive enough rest.
Promote road safety over these mandatory breaks. This includes encouraging tired or intoxicated drivers to slow down. This may increase off-duty time yet reduce fatigue-related accidents. Drivers and accident costs are protected.
Reward proactive coaching
Rewarding safe drivers promotes safety. Fleet safety is easy with proactive coaching and rewards. Fleet dash cams teach safer driving.
Dual-facing ATC Dispatching AI Dash Cams record inside and out. Our Vehicle Gateway also detects severe braking, acceleration, and turning. Text or email notifications can occur. Event footage will be sent. This footage teaches safer driving. Our dual-facing dash cams send in-cab training notifications. Managers can review field incidents with drivers through video.
ATC Dispatching enhances driver training and track safety. The ATC Dispatching Driver App calculates a safety score based on severe events, kilometres driven, speeding, and more. Gamify fleet safety by rewarding safe drivers. Our clients gave safe drivers trophies and good parking locations. Recognition matters more than payment.
ATC Dispatching clients with coaching and rewards had 50% fewer accidents and 60% reduced accident costs.
See how All Aboard America uses ATC Dispatching AI Dash Cams to instruct drivers and achieve 85% Safety Scores of 90 or above in the video below.
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