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Cape Coral Towing & Recovery has been providing SW Florida with semi truck towing, heavy duty towing and recovery services for the past 30 years. We’ve worked thousands of accident recoveries and we want to share some important safety tips for our roadway partners —the commercial truck driver.
We value and respect the hard work and long hours truck drivers put in and we’re well equipped for all your semi truck towing needs.
Commercial Truck Driving Is A Dangerous Career
Every time a truck driver cranks up his or her truck, they are automatically putting themself at great risk. Commercial truck driving is a dangerous profession. In fact, truck drivers come in at number seven for the top 25 most dangerous occupations in America.
Technological advances in recent years are starting to provide more solutions, but the best thing a commercial truck driver can do is to be aware of problem areas and to place a high priority on safety for themselves.
Here’s some reminders and possibly some new information to consider: th
1. Get Enough Rest
Ok, so this seems like a no-brainer, but in reality, it’s a big problem.
Sleep deprivation will affect anyone’s cognitive performance and reaction time. For a semi truck driver, however, sleep deprivation can be deadly. It’s one of the leading causes of commercial truck related accidents.
According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), more than 100,000 annual accidents are caused by sleep deprived drivers.
Drowsy driving occurs when truck drivers attempt to “power through” and continue to drive even though they are aware that they are becoming tired. Nobody WANTS or PLANS to fall asleep behind the wheel, and many believe they won’t. But it’s not a matter of willpower. For a drowsy truck driver, the road can become hypnotic and nodding off can occur. More than half of all truck drivers admit to nodding off while driving on at least one occasion.
When a commercial trucker drives their vehicle when overly tired, they display the same dangerous behaviors as a drunk driver:
- Delayed reaction times
- Decreased visual acuity
- Impaired judgment
- Mental confusion
The Truck Crash Causation Study conducted by the NHTSA and the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) examined 12,000 commercial truck crashes over a 3 year period. The results showed that truck driver fatigue was a major factor in many of the accidents that involved injury and death.
A 2020 article by the New York Times includes this quote from Dr. Bongers, who has a Ph.D. in mechanical engineering, ”Fatigue is highly underreported as an accident cause. For example, he said, a crash might officially be attributed to roadwork, but fatigue may have slowed the driver’s reaction time and decision-making.”
So, what’s the best way to avoid driving while fatigued?
The answer SHOULD be, “Just don’t do it! Don’t drive when you feel fatigued, right?” but it’s not that simple.
Inexperienced truck drivers might choose to rely on their willpower or a couple of Red Bulls to get them to their destination.
Follow the FMCSA Hours of Service Rules. They require truck drivers to take at least one 30 minute break after 8 cumulative hours of driving and require drivers to be off duty for a minimum of 10 hours per day.
Keep track of the hours of sleep you’ve gotten vs. the number of hours your body needs. There are plenty of apps that are great for this. By tracking your sleep and only driving when you’re well rested (as much as humanly possible) you’ll greatly increase your level of safety on the road. Here’s a few apps that may help.
Sleep Tracking Apps Perfect for Truck Drivers
2. Get Rid of Distractions
Distracted driving accounts for a huge number of traffic accidents and while texting and driving is illegal, mobile device usage still comes in as the number one cause of accidents involving distracted driving.
The solution for this is making the commitment to go hands free and don’t deviate from it. With a headset or dashboard connectivity, all of your calls can be made through voice commands, allowing you to keep your hands and eyes on the wheel. Also, it’s the law.
The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration identifies three distinct types of driving distractions:
- Visual – Taking your eyes off of the road.
- Manual – Removing your hand or hands from the steering wheel
- Cognitive – Allowing your mind to drift from the task of driving
Below is a list of tips you may not have considered, but can greatly increase your chances of a safe trip:
- Pre-program your radio before hitting the road.
- Ignore billboards and other distracting advertisements.
- Avoid eating and drinking while driving.
- Look up any truck stops, fuel stations, restaurants or other potential stops before heading out.
- Adjust your seat, mirrors and interior temperature before you start driving.
- Minimize passenger distractions: Whether Fido is your commercial trucking co-pilot or you’ve decided to bring a human passenger (or co-worker) on the trip with you, be sure to think ahead about the extra stops or needs they may have and prepare ahead.
Animals should always be secured in approved carriers or harnesses (seat belts for dogs). The last thing you want is an animal freely roaming around the interior of your truck. It’s unsafe for them and for you.
- Declutter your interior: We all can’t be the most organized, but having extra clutter in your truck can become a temptation to “just reach under this paperwork to see if what I’m looking for is under it.” Everything within your immediate reach should be clearly visible. If you need to locate an item, pull over in a safe area.
3. Never Drive Impaired
When we hear the word impaired, we usually think of alcohol or drug related driving, but there are plenty of situations that can greatly impair our ability to drive at top performance.
- Reduced visibility due to weather conditions: Making the decision to pull over and wait until a storm passes can be the smartest decision you make.
- Reduced visibility due to windshield or side mirror debris: We’ve all driven through things that, for whatever reason, greatly reduced our ability to see through our windshield or mirrors. Whether you have an entire army of bug guts on your windshield or you’ve just driven through a dirt storm, pull over to correct the situation.
- Sound Impairment: You should be able to hear emergency vehicles approaching on the roadway. This means adjusting the music or other sounds within your cab to ensure you’re not driving while sound impaired.
Commercial truck driving will likely always be considered a dangerous career, especially when compared to working in an office / desk environment, but we can definitely work together to make the roads a safer place.
4. Practice Defensive Driving
Always be aware of your surroundings and drive predictably (according to the rules of the road). You may not be able to control other drivers, but you can greatly minimize the risk of being involved in an accident when you drive defensively.
Commercial Towing | Heavy Duty Towing | Semi Truck Towing
Cape Towing & Recovery is based our of Cape Coral, Florida and is ready to serve you for all your roadside assistance, semi truck towing and heavy duty towing needs.
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Cape Coral Towing and Recovery is your reliable and affordable choice for heavy duty towing, semi truck towing & recovery, vehicle delivery and emergency roadside assistance in SW Florida.
Whether you need a winch out or recovery after an unfortunate collision, Cape Coral Towing & Recovery offers affordable semi truck towing services to all of Lee County and the surrounding area.
