Winter is here! The leaves have fallen and frost is on the ground in the mornings, which means that the snow and ice of winter are coming soon. This holiday season, before the outdoors become uninhabitable, is the perfect time to prepare your truck and ensure it is winter ready. While you’re thinking about getting your truck ready for winter, read our helpful tips for making your winter travels safer and more comfortable.

Winter is Finally Here!

It may seem like Winter rolls around faster than other seasons, and that may be because we dread taking out the winter coat, gloves, and snow shovels. Even though Winter may be inconvenient, it should not be something to be dreaded as it is a very beautiful time of year with plenty of celebrations taking place. If you know the right procedures to stay safe while driving, your winter can be a blast! 

You may not have noticed the day it became cold enough to wear a coat because that change is usually gradual, but when the frost begins to collect on the ground, you likely know that winter will be approaching soon. Something that most people do automatically is to locate all the cold weather gear as winter begins to take hold. In addition to this, many families gather firewood, ensure their homes are well fueled, and stock up on groceries in case the weather becomes too bad to get outside. With all this home preparation, you should also think about your truck.

Frightful Cold

Driving in the winter can be scary as there are added hazards to the road including slick roadways, high winds, and low visibility. Keeping your cool is necessary in these situations. The best way to stay calm is by knowing you have the tools to get you out of sticky situations. Creating a game plan for how to act in dangerous situations can save your life and others.

Be Winter Ready

How can you be winter ready? Checking up on your truck and assembling a safety kit are great first steps. Inspecting your fuel filter, battery, and cooling system is crucial to starting the winter season correctly. Ensuring your fuel filter is clean and not contaminated with water can save your engine from failure. In addition to this, make sure your batteries are still strong. It is never a good idea to enter winter with  weak batteries. Finally, while the cooling system may seem to be a weird place to check when you’re entering the coldest months of the year, checking to make sure your antifreeze is sufficient for freezing temperature is important.  Antifreeze testers are cheap and can save thousands of dollars in engine repairs. Items you should include in your winter kit are extra winter clothes (especially gloves), a first aid kit, extra blankets, a flashlight and extra batteries, extra fuel filters and coolant. After creating this kit, there are many recurring things you should do throughout the season to make sure your truck is running at peak performance.  

Alongside these preparations, you can use fuel additives throughout the winter to reduce the effect of diesel fuel crystallization at colder temperatures which will make the engine work efficiently. On the coldest days keeping the engine running may be your best defense against fuel gelling.  Many trucks are equipped with fuel heaters that only work when the engine is running.  If you can’t leave your engine running in sub zero weather a block heater can be a life saver.  Check to make sure yours is working before you need it.

Final Thoughts

As winter progresses, it is important to make sure you have made all due preparations. Taking the time to prepare yourself and your truck will give you the best chance of having a safer, warmer, and happier winter. The cold is coming, so be safe out there!

Breakdowns throw a wrench in the plans of truck drivers on their transportation journeys. Breakdowns cause delays in the strict schedules many drivers keep, and this time delay can mean late transportation of goods and less family time for the drivers as breakdowns increase the time that drivers must spend away from their family. 

The good news is that there are many ways to effectively manage breakdowns that will help save yourself time and effort. From effective stress management techniques to knowing who to call, it is possible to experience a breakdown without it being the end of the world. Meaning you can return to transporting goods quickly. 

Stay Calm 

The most important thing to remember when your truck is starting to break down is to breathe and stay calm. If you can pull off on a wide area, that would be the best, and if you can catch the breakdown early, finding an exit or stop along the way with a semi repair shop nearby would be the best decision. The main thing you want to avoid when you feel a breakdown coming is to be stranded in the middle of the highway. 

After you pull off, allow yourself to gather your bearings and call the correct people. This will likely vary by company, but the best decision if you are somewhere remote or unknown, is to contact your boss or someone in charge at the company you work for and they will be able to provide some guidance. Also, prop your hood up to signal you are broken down and then set out the triangles or flares behind your truck in 50-foot increments. 

Driver Help 

Some drivers may have experience working on trucks or have been trained to fix issues, but it is a good idea to leave the repairs to the experts. If you are an owner operator who is responsible for your own semi, make sure you have a resource that you can refer to when locating repair facilities and searching for safe stopping spots. 

If you are a driver for a company, your dispatcher or manager should be able to inform you on how to handle the breakdown. They can tell you information such as who to call for a tow truck and what facility your truck should be taken to. 

It is very important to remember that your safety is of utmost importance. With that in mind, please remember the safest place to remain until help arrives is in the cab of your truck with the

doors locked. Standing on the side of the road can make you a target for speeding, inattentive drivers. Stay alert and be aware of the dangers around you. 

Final Thoughts 

Breakdowns can be scary, especially if it is your first one, but there are people who can help you. The most important thing is to stay calm and call assistance if you cannot repair the truck on your own. As a final safety tip, pulling off to a wide, well-lit area will pay off in safety and allow help to find you easily. Being a driver will mean that you will likely see at least one breakdown in your life, but they are manageable as long as you remain calm, everything will be okay soon!

Regular truck maintenance can save time, money, and even a life.  It’s important for the safety of anyone who shares the road that a truck is in good working order, of course, and a truck that is regularly maintained will reduce operational costs.  As the old saying goes, an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure. This is particularly true for big rigs. It’s significantly cheaper to perform preventative maintenance than it is to have a truck unexpectedly out of commission for costly repairs.  If equipment failure caused an accident, there may also be medical costs, legal expenses, and property damage. Downtime costs a carrier an average of $448-$760 per day, per vehicle and those downtimes can cause expense all the way down the supply chain.

Common Equipment Problems That Cause Accidents

Brakes

According to FMCSA, 29% of accidents caused by truck equipment failure is due to brakes.  A qualified brake inspector needs to check them regularly for air leaks, and that there are no broken parts.  When a fully-loaded truck weighing as much as 80,000 lbs. needs to stop quickly, it needs considerable room and properly-working brakes.  The time to find out that the brakes are bad is not when the truck is rolling along a busy road at 70 MPH.

Tires

Another leading cause of truck accidents is tires that are worn or don’t have adequate air pressure.  It’s the driver’s responsibility to check for leaks, tread wear, and damage before going out on the road.  Trucking companies must make sure that their vehicles have tires that have acceptable tread depth and level of wear.  It only takes one bad tire to cause an accident.

Lights.  

Lights not only allow trucks to see when it’s dark or when visibility is low, they’re equally as important to ensure that trucks are seen by other drivers.  Drivers need to make sure lights are in working order prior to each trip.

Who’s Responsible For Maintenance?

The responsibility for truck maintenance falls on both the fleet owner and the driver.  The FMCSA mandates that drivers inspect their vehicles before and after every trip. They must inspect the brakes, tires, horns, lights, and mirrors and sign a safety report stating that the vehicle is safe to drive.

Carriers have scheduled maintenance checks depending on the vehicle’s mileage, age, and type.  It typically involves a brake inspection, tire pressure check and inflation, alignment and steering check, and checking lighting and electrical systems.

As a part of maintenance, trucks should also be prepared for the change in weather conditions.  Winterization means using the right fuel additives, making sure heaters are working, checking the tire treads, and making sure the truck is equipped with snow chains, sand, extra windshield fluid, and other winter driving necessities.  A quality carrier will follow a strict maintenance program with their vehicles for their drivers’ safety. If you’re looking for a great company that cares about drivers, look no further than Trucker Search. On Trucker Search’s website, you can post your résumé as well as search current truck driving jobs.  It’s a great resource for any driver looking for a great place to work.

Sources:

https://www.elementfleet.com/news/media-coverage/the-true-cost-of-vehicle-downtime

https://www.fmcsa.dot.gov/safety/research-and-analysis/large-truck-crash-causation-study-analysis-brief