Truck Stop Safety Tips
Truck Stop Safety
Truck stops, travel plazas and roadside rest stops are busy places. Truckers have to look out not just for themselves and their fellow drivers but also for confused auto drivers, clueless pedestrians, wayward children and hyperactive pets. The limited visibility inherent in the size and design of heavy-haul trucks doesn't make it easy to stay safe when you pull into a truck stop.
Truck Stop Hazards
The most common causes of truck stop accidents are:
- Not walking all the way around your truck to check for obstacles
- Not using a spotter when backing up
- Not checking mirrors
- Unexpected pedestrian actions
- Assuming other vehicles will see you and stop or move out of your way
- Misjudging overhead clearances
- Not following posted signs
- Driver fatigue or inattention
- Aggressive, impatient or reckless attitude
Truck Stop Safety Tips
Be proactive about preventing accidents. Use these safety tips from HNI and The Professional Driver to avoid truck stop accidents:
- Don't park too close to other vehicles. After hours on your keester, walking a few extra steps when you stop for a break will be good for your health!
- Try not to park where you'll have to back out.
- If you do have to back out, enlist another driver as a spotter.
- Don't park across from trucks that will have to back out of their spots.
- Don't park at the end of a row where cross-traffic increases safety concerns.
- Don't park next to a truck that is parked crooked.
- Before pulling out of your parking space, walk around your truck and look for pedestrians, traffic, obstructions and nearby fixed objects.
Do protect yourself by recording the carrier and ID info of nearby trucks that might run into you when they pull out. If you're the victim of a truck stop accident, at least you'll know who to call.
For more truck safety tips, watch this video from the American Trucking Association and American Association of Truck Stop Drivers. Come to TruckerToTrucker.com for all your truck equipment needs.