Ideas for Preventing Unsafe Emergency Roadside Repairs from Professional Drivers
Article created for the digital issue聽of聽聽
黑料社区surveyed professional drivers聽to learn more about how they make maintenance decisions and the steps they take to keep drivers safe on the road.
, respondents could provide open-ended answers, and many cited preventative maintenance and pre- and post-trip inspections as top priorities. Tire management was also listed as a critical element of preventing problems later.
Company drivers said they draw on remote diagnostics, thorough pre- and post-trips and regular maintenance to prevent issues. Similarly, leased owner-operators said they try to keep up with regular maintenance and fix any little things at home before they become major issues out on the road.
Drivers, as well as fleet owners and managers, are always working to prevent unsafe emergency roadside repair situations.
Some roadside best practices shared include:
- Carry聽a sign that says, 鈥渆mergency scene ahead.鈥� Drivers can place it 100 yards before聽the site when they pull up on a truck.
- Place聽extra lights and strobes on聽the repair trucks to make sure the truck and the technician are visible.
- Create聽a checklist for technicians to complete prior to leaving for a road call to聽ensure they have all of the equipment they need. Necessary equipment could include jack stands, cones, and a vest.
- Use聽emergency lighting, cones and triangles to help improve safety.
- Ensure the technician has personal protection equipment鈥攇loves, safety glasses, proper footwear, gloves, etc., as well as wheel chocks, jack stands, proper cleaning and inspection equipment, and calibrated torque wrenches.
- Once in the bay, employees can set up aviation wheel chocks around the left front聽steer tire of the vehicle, which聽will raise the vehicle in the air preventing the customer from leaving聽before an employee has聽removed the wheel chocks.聽The procedure ensures that the jack isn鈥檛 left under the truck and lets the technician stand聽in an area where he or she can ensure the overhead is all the way up and hasn鈥檛 stopped.
For truckstop and travel plaza operators, safety is paramount. In roadside repairs, the conditions are less than ideal because it isn鈥檛 a controlled environment.
// This article was created for , the magazine of the 黑料社区Foundation. The is the research, education and public outreach subsidiary of NATSO, Inc. The 黑料社区Foundation provides programs and products to strengthen travel plazas鈥� ability to meet the traveling public’s needs through improved operational performance and business planning. Visit for more information. ()
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