Patience is a virtue. Patience can help you get a task done. Patience can get you home safely. Patience can run out.
Having recently just traveled home during Thanksgiving week, patience with my fellow motorists was important. The highways were filled with motorists whose only objective was to get to where they were going, as quickly as they could. For many, it didn’t seem to matter what happened to anyone else around them, as long as they advanced their position on the highway. Combine impatient drivers trying to get to their destinations, with the heaviest travel day in the United States, and you have the recipe that could make anyone's patience run thin. In our job as professional drivers, we grow accustomed to being patient. It’s difficult to stop a semi-truck and trailer and it’s also difficult to maneuver in an emergency situation. So, practicing patience on a daily basis and leaving the extra room as an escape, becomes a necessity to safely arrive at our destination.
Patience will be running thin for many people as we leave the Thanksgiving Holiday and move into the Christmas Season and end-of-year preparations. Holiday shopping and family visits can bottle up to create an unsafe mindset. People rush home from work to finish setting up their homes for their guests. Rushing to the stores to get all the necessary groceries for upcoming meals. Commercial drivers trying to get that last load of the year turned in, so they can get back home to their families. As commercial drivers, we need to especially be aware of all the extra stresses that affect our mindset as we encounter increased congestion on the highways, during these heavier traffic days.
- Leave extra time to complete your trip
- Consider traveling during off-hours when non-commercial traffic is at a minimum
- Be extra aware of shopping centers where people are more focused on getting their purchases done
- Be cautious of Christmas displays that catch your eye. If it caught your eye, it also caught the eyes of motorists around you
- Highways near airports lead to your interaction with drivers who may not be familiar with interchanges in the area
- Take note of the origin of the license plate on the vehicle in front of you. They may be in a rental car, or they may be traveling on unfamiliar highways. Be prepared for them to do the unexpected
- Be aware of improperly secured luggage on vehicles that could come loose in front of you
- Watch out for vehicles with children capturing their parent's attention
- Look out for college kids returning home with overstuffed vehicles blocking their view of the mirrors
- Always be aware of black skid marks on the highway. It's usually a sign on the road of frequent hazards plaguing that particular section of highway
This list could go on and on, and you can surely have more to add to it. But, let's remember to do everything we can, to make sure that we don’t add to the problem through our own actions. Try to leave yourself enough time to get home. Do not have last-minute shopping and activities on the road. In short, try to have a clear mind as many of these activities can accumulate to divert our attention. Be safe. Be aware. Stay alive. And for those that will be trucking over the holiday season:
Thank you for keeping America moving!