The Most Important Road Safety Tips Every HGV Driver Should Know

Being a truck driver is a demanding and high-risk job. You are in control of an 18 to 44 tonne vehicle that poses a large threat to other road users and pedestrians, so ensuring safety is critical, so how can truck drivers stay safe on the road?

Take a break

The number one rule for any long-distance drive is that you utilise your rest periods as tiredness when driving can not only put you, but others, at risk of an accident.

HGV driving jobs require you to spend several hours at a time on the road and up to 45 minutes for a break, so you should plan these into your route in advance. Stopping every 3 to 4 hours for 30-45 minutes allows for you to stretch your legs, grab a drink and enjoy some downtime from driving. After these breaks, your alertness and reaction times should be higher, which means you should pose less of a risk to other road users.

Plan in advance

As truck drivers are travelling long routes, sometimes cross country, you need to know where you’re going and the kind of roads you will drive on.

Use a Sat Nav or app like Google Maps to help you plan your route in advance, and you can then ensure that you have enough time and will arrive at your destination on time.

When planning your route, you should also consider the weather and the potential impact of this. Heavy rain and stormy weather can increase your journey time, as there may be delays on the road or road closures. You should know the weather conditions throughout the journey and keep up to date with this whilst on the road via radio weather reports.

Secure your trailer

You should never leave unless your load and trailer is secure. An un-secure trailer is at risk of getting damaged, which could be very costly.

Ensure your trailer load is evenly balanced for safe handling. In addition, you should never overload your truck’s load above the trailer’s weight capacity as this can put too much pressure on the axles, tyres and brakes which could lead to issues when trying to safely stop. This can damage the structure of the trailer and lead to expensive repairs trying to get this corrected.

Pre journey inspections

Inspecting your vehicle on a daily basis is crucial to ensure its road safety. Firstly, you should check your tyres for any nails, damage or cracking and ensure they have enough tread, so they are road legal.

Secondly, check your mirrors to ensure they’re clean and your trailer is visible in all positions. Next to check are your headlights, you should make sure that they are clean and clear from any debris and in full working order, so you are visible at all times, especially in darkness.

Finally, ensure your suspension is in full working order as they can be damaged from poor road surfaces and potholes. If you deem your vehicle not road safe, you shouldn’t drive as the condition may worsen and you are an increased threat to other road users.

Avoid distractions

In today’s modern world, drivers face many distractions that they have to ignore. Mobile phones should be placed in a secure location within your truck’s cab and not touched until you are parked up and secure. No phone call is worth putting your driving and other people at risk.

Other distractions include music as this could be too loud and distract you from focusing on the road ahead of you.

Blocking out distractions and making time to deal with them when safe to do so, such as phone calls goes a long way when ensuring your and other road users’ safety.

Prevent tailgating

When driving an HGV, you should never tailgate the car in front of you as you can quickly lose sight of their whereabouts, especially if they brake suddenly and you haven’t or can’t see this from your position.

Tailgating could lead to an accident with disastrous implications for both the vehicle, passengers and truck driver.

Awareness

The most important factor when driving is safety. You should always be aware of your surroundings to spot any risks. You should also always remember that your HGV is the biggest vehicle on the road and poses the greatest risk to other road users.

When driving an HGV, you need to anticipate other drivers doing something rash and how you can react to this. Analysing other road users’ movement is useful when planning your own movement on the road.

For all HGV drivers, no matter how many years of experience you have, there’s always something different that can happen everyday, and you must be able to react to this by being aware and alert at all times.

Speed management

Speeding is dangerous in any vehicle, but even more in a 44-tonne truck that already has a great braking distance than other vehicles. Speed limits are never a target, they are a maximum limit that you have to comply with otherwise you can be fined and prosecuted.

If you speed because you are in a rush, frustrated or angry, you put other road users as well as yourself in danger of an accident. Speeding is never the solution, and it may even cause you to get there later than expected if you have an accident or get stopped by police, additionally accumulating speeding points could even lead to you losing your job and your driving licence.

Prioritise your health

Being healthy and fit to work is the most important factor to being an HGV driver, without this, you cannot work safely. To ensure that you are in good health, routinely visit your doctors so they can confirm that you are able to do your job.

Medicals assessments can test your reflexes, eyesight, memory and physical condition and will highlight any potential areas of concern that could mean you are not safe to be a HGV driver,

If you have any past medical conditions, you should make your employer and doctor aware from the start so this can be monitored.

Monitor the road

You should always monitor the road ahead for any potential hazards, such as roadworks, pedestrians or even cattle. These can cause delays or may not even be passable for your vehicle, causing you to find a different route.

You should also scan the road whilst driving for any objects or potholes that could cause damage to your tyres and truck.

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