Handy Truck Driver Tips For Handling a Big Breakdown

Introduction

While we never want breakdowns to happen, any professional driver knows they are a fact of their career. This means learning how to respond properly to the dreaded event can be as important as correctly driving your vehicle. Even the most well-maintained truck can suffer some kind of breakdown so responding to the unexpected appropriately can make your job a little easier, especially in trying circumstances.

Expecting the Unexpected

Both the logistics and trucking sectors have had a rough time of late which has led to many becoming masters of expecting the unexpected and rolling with it, forgive the pun. This has helped industry veterans develop some best practices for when an unexpected breakdown inevitably occurs.

One of the single best tips we can provide to those looking for a career as a truck driver is to make sure you have some kind of resource that will tell you where the closest repair facility is. This might require a bit of research on your chosen trip before you get behind the wheel and make use of your smartphone. Regardless of how you approach this, it can be just the thing to keep cool heads in difficult situations. 

Very often trucks can be limped to such a facility where there are often food and convenience facilities that will definitely help with the stress. If you are interested in getting your start in the truck driving industry and have the mindset to face problems ahead, check for cdl a drivers jobs here.

Make Sure the Odds Are in Your Favor

While it is true breakdowns can happen at any moment, there are several ways you can help mitigate the frequency of such events. The best way to keep the odds in your favor is to continually perform preventative maintenance on your vehicle. Next, it’s to do all the checks humanely possible, when appropriate. This includes pre-checks, post-trip checks, and on-route checks of your truck. The last bit of advice we can give is to do the checks during daylight whenever possible. At night, even with the brightest torch important telltale signs can be missed.

Keep Calm, Be Focussed

Doing your checks will definitely ensure that breakdowns occur far less frequently but any experienced driver will know that breakdowns will happen and often in the most inconvenient spot. In these situations, you should strive for zen-like calm and focus on the immediate tasks at hand.

Staying calm is important because breakdowns can happen in terrible weather conditions, and can happen in areas or neighborhoods with a reputation for being less than safe. Having your wits about you in these situations can be a lifesaver. Remember, those who are panicking can make terrible decisions that can place not only their lives at risk but the lives of others as well.

Stay Safe

The above topic of keeping your cool leads nicely to measures you can implement to help you stay safe. This is becoming more important as the US has experienced many of the services truckers use to assist in safe journeys close down, as the support network truckers have come to rely on is becoming increasingly strained. 

This means drivers need to take special care when breakdowns occur on freeway shoulders. If possible try to limp the vehicle to an offramp, this is far from ideal but is safer than the shoulder. All it takes is an inattentive driver to turn a breakdown into an accident.

Conclusion

Being a truck driver means that you are critical to the flow of the economy. This is a high-responsibility job that is by no means easy but with these tips, we hope to make your task just a little bit safer.