Tag: defensive driving

Defensive Driving Part VIII: Skill Testing for Truck Drivers

Western Truck Insurance

Defensive driving is a critical safety tool for truck drivers. It combines awareness, anticipation, and careful habits to help drivers avoid accidents before they happen. It allows drivers to be proactive on the road, predicting and averting potential issues.

What is Skill Testing for Truckers

Skill testing or training for truckers goes beyond the standard licensing requirements. While a Commercial Driver’s License (CDL) verifies that drivers can handle certain maneuvers at a moment in time, ongoing defensive-driving training validates that they can consistently apply safe practices under real-world stress.

Key skill testing areas for defensive driving include the following:

  • Anticipation and hazard recognition: Teaches drivers to constantly observe their surroundings, predict potential threats, and adjust accordingly.
  • Speed, safe following distances, and braking control: Includes adapting speed and spacing as traffic, weather, load weight, or road conditions change.
  • Mirror use and blind-spot awareness: Reinforces frequent mirror checks and blind-spot monitoring to avoid sideswipes and merging collisions.
  • Mental alertness and preparedness: Stresses the importance of staying focused, avoiding fatigue and distractions, and remaining ready for sudden hazards.
  • Lane control and turning techniques: Helps drivers maintain proper lane position and execute wide or tight turns safely, reducing the risk of off-tracking.
  • Emergency maneuver skills: Trains drivers to handle sudden hazards through controlled steering, skid recovery, and safe evasive actions.
  • Load securement and cargo handling: Ensures drivers understand proper load distribution and tie-downs to prevent cargo from shifting, which could affect stability and braking.
  • Backing and parking proficiency: Builds accuracy in straight-line backing, alley docking, and maneuvering in tight areas during loading or yard operations
  • Night and low-visibility driving: Reinforces techniques for driving safely in darkness, fog, rain, or snow, where visibility is limited, and precision is critical.
  • Hill driving and grade navigation: Teaches speed control, gear selection, and braking techniques when ascending or descending steep grades.
  • Vehicle inspection and mechanical awareness: Strengthens a driver’s ability to identify mechanical issues through thorough pre-trip and post-trip inspections and recognize early warning signs.
  • Communication and signaling: Emphasizes proper use of signals, lights, and other communication cues to maintain safe interactions with surrounding traffic.

Defensive driving reduces vehicular accidents and saves lives, lowers insurance exposure and costs, and avoids violations that could threaten a driver’s license and employment opportunities.

About Western Truck

Western Truck Insurance Services is an insurance brokerage specializing in commercial truck insurance. We know this stuff and want to ensure you do, too. Our clients appreciate our dedication to finding competitive rates and providing unparalleled service, complemented by excellent insurance options. They also value how our state-of-the-art automation provides lightning-fast truck insurance quotes, customer service, insurance certificates, and coverage changes. Contact us today at (800) 937-8785 to learn more.

Defensive Driving Part VI: Managing Adverse Road Conditions

Western Truck Insurance

It’s that time of year when weather conditions change, and truckers need to be aware of how adverse road conditions, like rain, snow, sleet, fog, and gusting winds, can impact visibility, braking distance, and overall vehicle control. According to the U.S. Department of Transportation’s Federal Highway Administration, approximately 12% of vehicular crashes are weather-related. Specifically, 73% of vehicular accidents occur during rain (including mist), 21% during freezing precipitation (snow, sleet, hail, or freezing rain or drizzle), 5% during low visibility (fog or blowing snow), and 1% during severe crosswinds. 

While truckers have control over their own rig, the same isn’t so for other drivers on the road. Reinforcing best practices through driver training is crucial in preventing accidents.

Plan Ahead, Check the Weather Forecast

Always plan ahead for long-distance drives. Poor weather patterns can hinder your trip, so consider taking a longer route that may ultimately save you time, rather than driving through a storm and getting caught or slowed by the conditions.

Fog

Fog can impede a driver’s visibility, with patchy fog potentially worse, as drivers tend to pick up speed while driving through less dense areas. You never know what’s waiting around the corner. Always slow down when driving through patchy fog, even in places that appear more visible. If needed, you can always pull off to the side of the road, turn on your hazards, and wait it out.

Rain, Snow, and Ice

Rain is routine for truck drivers and avid travelers, so you likely know what to do. Remember to turn your low beams on, manage your speed, and maintain the quality of your windshield wipers. 

A combination of rain and sleet in the winter is terrible, especially if it’s followed by snow. Consider driving in a higher gear to lower wheel spin and add traction. Unfortunately, vehicles may still cut off truck drivers despite the road conditions and safety hazards, so brake and lengthen your following distance. 

Hail

Sometimes, hailstorms seem to appear out of the blue and are unavoidable. If this happens, pull off to the side of the road, preferably in a sheltered place, and wait for the hailstorm to subside. If you are unable to find a sheltered area, pulling over and staying in your vehicle until the storm subsides is always better than driving through it. 

Wind

Grip the steering wheel firmly to maintain control against gusts, and slow down as higher speeds make it harder to react to wind gusts. Avoid sudden lane changes and passing. Maintain a greater distance from other vehicles and be aware of your surroundings.  Also, because wind speed and direction can change abruptly, keep your truck closer to the shoulder than it is to the other lane. If the wind starts to affect your lane-keeping, it’s better to have the trailer move on the shoulder side than the side with other passing vehicles.

If conditions become too dangerous, the safest option is to pull over to a secure location and wait for the wind to subside. 

About Western Truck

Western Truck Insurance Services is an insurance brokerage specializing in commercial truck insurance. We know this stuff and want to ensure you do, too. Our clients appreciate our dedication to finding competitive rates and providing unparalleled service, complemented by excellent insurance options. They also value how our state-of-the-art automation provides lightning-fast truck insurance quotes, customer service, insurance certificates, and coverage changes. Contact us today at (800) 937-8785 to learn more.

Defensive Driving Training Part IV: Vehicle Inspections

Western Truck Insurance

In this article of our defensive driving series, we cover the importance of implementing regular vehicle inspections. Vehicle inspections are a preventive safety strategy and a cornerstone of defensive driving, with each inspection an opportunity to reduce risk, improve driver confidence, and control insurance costs.

Why Vehicle Inspections Are Critical

  • Prevent Failures Before They Happen: Mechanical failures (tires, brakes, lights, steering) typically portend an accident waiting to happen. A routine inspection will identify wear and tear early and help mitigate the risk of catastrophic failures on the road.
  • Regulatory Compliance: Federal and state regulations require regular inspections and documentation. Failing to comply can result in fines, shutdowns, or even claims denials.
  • Insurance Cost Management: Insurance companies often view inspection programs as evidence of a safety‐minded operation. A robust inspection regime may help lower premiums or reduce loss exposure.
  • Driver Confidence & Reduced Downtime: Drivers who know their trucks are inspected and road‐worthy can operate with more confidence. Maintenance surprises in the field often cause delays, increase costs, and risk exposure.

Implementing a Good Vehicle Inspection Program

The following are several best practices for implementing a sound vehicle inspection program:

  • Pre-Trip Inspections: Have drivers inspect lights, brakes, tires, mirrors, fluid levels, windshield wipers, horn, and seatbelts every day before operating their vehicles.
  • Post-Trip Inspections: Take note of any issues that may arise during the trip. This includes leaks, tire damage, or loose parts. Take corrective action to address the issues before going on the road again.
  • Periodic Scheduled Maintenance: Schedule more in-depth inspections regularly (based on mileage or hours of service). These include inspection of drivetrain, suspension, transmission, alignment, emissions systems, and so on. 
  • Documentation and Reporting: Use checklists that are signed/dated or digital logs tied to each vehicle. Ensure issues are reported immediately and tracked until corrected. This protects the company legally and supports insurance claims in the event of an issue.
  • Training & Driver Engagement: Train drivers to recognize subtle signs of trouble (e.g., unusual vibrations, noises, handling quirks). Encourage drivers to take pride in inspection – make it part of your safety culture.

About Western Truck

Western Truck Insurance Services is an insurance brokerage specializing in commercial truck insurance. We know this stuff and want to make sure you do, too. Our clients appreciate our dedication to finding competitive rates and providing unparalleled service, complemented by excellent insurance options. They also value how our state-of-the-art automation provides lightning-fast truck insurance quotes, customer service, insurance certificates, and coverage changes. Contact us today at (800) 937-8785 to learn more.