Though the holiday season rings in a festive spirit and cheer to most Americans, it is work as usual for a section of commercial drivers who haul freight through those weeks. This is a time of year when drivers contend with the frustration of being separated from their families and brave inclement climatic conditions that make driving difficult, and even perilous.
Rain, snow, hail, ice or fog enhance risks to roadway mobility and safety and can significantly increase travel times, create congestion and decrease highway capacity — distressing possibilities for drivers who get paid by the hour.
“When truckers drive over the course of several hours, they can go through a variety of different weather conditions. For example, when temperatures drop or if there’s heavy rain, the propensity to hydroplane or lose some control of the vehicle increases,” said Jason Palmer, the COO of SmartDrive, a transport intelligence platform helping increase fleet performance. “It’s important for drivers to know when they are getting into such situations and start slowing the vehicle down during instances where their visibility or control is affected.”
Palmer explained that in his work, he regularly encounters truckers who go roughly 5 mph over the speed limit — which isn’t considered unusual. But set against dangerous driving conditions like low visibility and slippery surfaces, excess speeding can cause drivers to lose control of their vehicles, leading to disastrous consequences.
“Another key focus is to think of cruise control. Fleets need to have tighter control over the operation of the vehicle, and from the best practices standpoint, it is safer to disengage cruise control so that they can more readily manage the operation of the vehicle,” Palmer said.
Fleet management can incrementally improve driver behavior by repurposing recorded incidents from previous years as coaching tools. “Using videos of collisions or near collisions and explaining how to avoid them can help. The goal is not to show or say who the driver is, but to focus on educating drivers to be more aware of the consequences or impact of such different kinds of situations,” Palmer said.
Video tutorials can help cement best practices and help drivers pay more attention to how fast they drive and the changing conditions around the vehicle. Identifying changing conditions is vital, especially during winter, when weather conditions can tend to deteriorate more rapidly.
Apart from training drivers, carriers must also have policies that define how their fleets operate during inclement weather. For instance, vehicles that haul freight during winter must be equipped with all-season tires, snow chains, jumper cables, and tactical flashlights. Trucks should also be modernized with advanced braking and advanced traction control systems, which helps vehicles operate better in harsh winters.
Additionally, companies can leverage data to improve driver safety. “Fleets are starting to bring in weather data and messaging drivers to ensure they understand the weather they may be driving into and also the changing conditions they need to anticipate,” Palmer said. “We are starting to see more real-time information being fed to drivers, and this is a trend that will really help drivers make better decisions.”
Shaun
I hung my keys up about 5 years ago. Glad I did. I originally got into driving for a few reasons, 1 the money was better than what I could make in the area where I lived, 2 I wanted to see the country, and 3 it felt to me like I was doing a good deed for my fellow country person. However I realized as the years went by a few things. Traffic was getting heavier, drivers were not driving as they were way too preoccupied with distractions, and then there were the newer drivers that did not give 2 farts about the person next to them or inline behind them. Look at the truckstops now. I leave you with this thought, when I drove I used a map to find my way around the country, I read ALL the road signs I could because they give great information, I watched the weather and listened to the NOAA weather reports, I cared about the people around me ( yes even the stupid ones ), I cared about my equipment and myself, and I with the up most importance paid very close attention to my surroundings and what I was doing.
So my long story short. There is no amount of junk you can put in a truck, nor is there any amount of training that can be done to replace a driver that actually gives a flip. So in my opinion it wouldn’t matter if you put a manager in the jump seat of every truck with every gadget known to man you are still going to have the issues of today because society has changed.
Old exerienced trucket
Too many dumb fux getting into trucks with no exerience. They out speed their view field in fog dirt and snow storms.Then they have dispatchers pushing them because the truck is a warehouse. Most of these are not accidents they are wrecks careless wrecks at that. Driving too fast for conditions should result in loss of your CDL. The EDLs make many drivers unsafe as well. You get penalized for slowing down and driving cautiously vs hauling ass in bad conditions so you can get your miles in ( if you luck out and don’t have a wreck). I am an experienced truck driver and on many occasions was passed by some dumb fux in bad conditions. Many times I would pass them up a few miles down the road as they jackoffedkniffed into the ditch sometimes rolled wrecked into someone else. Retards that don’t understand exponential forces and simple physics should not e allowed to get a CDL. Speed increases the forces in a simple equation exponentially not linear. Safe and efficient operation of a motor vehicle is not just holding a steering wheel be it a smart car up to a set of triples. The best safety device in any vehicle is the gray matter between the drivers ears. The lack thereof is what creates the problems. When some dipshit murders someone by driving too fast for conditions they need to be charged as such. Dispatchers need to be charged as accessories if they are forcing drivers to be out there when conditions are unfit. BE SAFE AND HAPPY MOTORING!
Paul Geishert
Yet another article of
a guy who sits at a computer and isn’t out in the field where conditions change in the BLINK of an eye. Just like our corporate centers. They always know best 800 miles away in a warm office that they have to justify their jobs. Here’s the problem.COMMON SENSE. There is none with rookie drivers. Bad weather,stay at the truck stop. Caught in bad weather with traffic,go slow and good lead time on vehicles ahead….KEEP cruise control and engine brake OFF. These things should be taught to the rookies.I would bet %75 of accidents in slippery roads is because Cruise control is on. Teach these people. Tell them ” I don’t think your gonna be home by when you want to be.”. Go find a nice safe haven and vegitate… It’s not worth you and the load and a lawsuit… Again,Common Sense seems to be a lost art. All the technology and supposably smart safety people can’t help that problem. They think self driving trucks will be better. I say HaHaHa!
Anthony R Archer
Paying Drivers more would help. Increase in rates during inclement weather months would help. When drivers are getting paid the same cents per mile, CPM. in inclement weather months as in good driving months it puts pressure on Drivers to get their miles in or starve.
Mark Brown
The author starts the article by referencing hourly paid drivers.
Getting paid hourly at a fair rate is far better and to a thinking person should help encourage caution in all conditions.
Drivers that get paid by miles, percentage or salary are encouraged to save time or make time a situation that is counter productive to safety.
Side Show
How about making sure companies have updated equipment, such as their navigation system. Too many bad directions, and slow updates on these equipment.
My Garmin blows Omnitracs out of the water.
Bad Habit
Well if they would not hire un- trained people from other country’s that cant speak English and do away with these STUPID TRUCK DRIVING SCHOOLS that teach people nothing and how about re-teaching all the non- commercial drivers how to operate there vehicles without using their smartphones, putting on makeup and reading the newspapers…and most of all keep them off the highways during bad weather after all none of them can drive on dry sunny days without crashing …the professional drivers are out there to earn a living and to keep America moving why make there jobs harder than it should be ….
Cindy
I have been out here since 96 and I can hardly wait to leave…it all to much drama for me anymore.They let anyone drive nowadays…its just too much b.s anymore
Roger
Thank God I’m going to retire soon.
I was hoping they’d get these automated trucks up and running so they could grandfather me into my retirement.
all this stuff on these trucks to keep them running will back in the day all you needed was one good driver.