The trucking stats for 2017 are in and the numbers are grim. Fatalities related to large trucks rose by 9% while fatalities since 2009 are up by a whopping 41%. When a crash involves a large truck and a passenger vehicle, occupants in the passenger vehicle account for 97% of the fatalities.<\/p>\n

Clearly, highway safety is a concern for all trucking companies; however, many tend to focus on improving driver behaviors. While drivers definitely carry a hefty amount of the responsibility for highway safety, everyone within a trucking company can contribute to it. The following are several ways to engage the trucking industry to improve safety:<\/p>\n

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1. Fleet managers<\/strong>. Safety should start at the top. Management within a fleet needs to show their drivers they are committed to safety. This means holding regular trainings\u2014not just during onboarding. Discussing specific concerns during meetings can help keep safety at the forefront of everyone\u2019s minds.<\/li>\n
2. Dispatchers<\/strong>. Dispatchers work with drivers to ensure timely delivery of goods. However, dispatchers need to make sure they don\u2019t pressure drivers into breaking safety regulations for the sake of meeting a deadline. Driver safety should always<\/em> take priority.<\/li>\n
3. Vehicle manufacturers and system suppliers<\/strong>. Some manufacturers take the \u201cIf it\u2019s not broken, don\u2019t fix it\u201d approach. However, this overlooks the opportunity to improve safety features on their vehicles. The same applies to companies that supply safety systems such as lane departure software and collision avoidance systems.<\/li>\n
4. Truck drivers<\/strong>. In addition to adhering to safety regulations, drivers can take many steps to improve highway safety. Drivers should make sure they know how all their safety equipment works to maximize its potential. They also need to perform thorough pre- and post-trip inspections as well as report any issues they find.<\/li>\n
5. Technicians<\/strong>. In addition to addressing any issues truck drivers report, technicians need to make sure they conduct detailed preventative maintenance inspections (PMIs). This can prolong the lifespan of the truck as well as improve its overall safety.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

   Lawmakers also need to be more involved in trucking safety as well. While many proposed laws are underway, existing laws need better enforcement. Seat belt enforcement, in particular, can prevent a significant number of fatalities.<\/p>\n

   If your fleet is struggling with safety issues, DriverCheck can help. Contact us to learn how we can help<\/a> improve driver safety.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

   The trucking stats for 2017 are in and the numbers are grim. Fatalities related to large trucks rose by 9% while fatalities since 2009 are up by a whopping 41%. When a crash involves a large truck and a passenger vehicle, occupants in the passenger vehicle account for 97% of the fatalities. Clearly, highway safety […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[30,223,35],"tags":[38,259,93,258,237,47],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/10.10.0.150\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7673"}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/10.10.0.150\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/10.10.0.150\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/10.10.0.150\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/10.10.0.150\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=7673"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"http:\/\/10.10.0.150\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7673\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":8019,"href":"http:\/\/10.10.0.150\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7673\/revisions\/8019"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/10.10.0.150\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=7673"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/10.10.0.150\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=7673"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/10.10.0.150\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=7673"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}