Tips and Tricks to Keep You, Your Truck, and Your Freight Safe

Here are some tips we have learned over the years to keep you, your truck, and your freight safe.

1. Drive with your lights on.

2. Use flashers when backing.

3. Don’t park beside the road and become a sitting duck; park in a legal parking spot.

4. Wear PPE (Personal Protection Equipment) when outside of the truck to be seen.

5. Don’t drive by the seat of your pants. Have a plan on where you are going to fuel and if loading or unloading at a new location, use a satellite view to look at the property to see where the docks are located.

6. “Whoever calls first wins”… What a crazy comment until I learned about this scam. A truck backs in beside you and they scrape their trailer on your mirror.  Your mirror is fine but their trailer is scratched. They leave and stop on the other side of the truck stop and call the police and accuse you of scraping their trailer.  

   • Here’s how to protect yourself from this scam:

     • Have a recording camera that shows the movement of the other truck.

     • Call your company first and report the incident even if it seems trifling.

     • Your ELD shows that you have not moved.

7. Don’t be predictable

   • Go into the truck stop in one door, and go out a different door.

   • When going in for a shower, walk to the back of your truck, go down a couple of trucks, and then walk to the front of those trucks and go inside.

   • If you’re team driving, do the same, but go into the building at separate times.

What trucking tips do you have to share?