Lethal By Nature: 10 Ways Truck Driving Can Turn Deadly

There are numerous truck driving dangers that many drivers don’t fully realize.

A professional truck driver faces serious risks both behind the wheel and around the truck itself.

Some of these hazards probably didn’t even come up during your CDL training, yet they can turn deadly in an instant.

It’s easy to get seriously hurt—or worse—if you’re not fully alert and focused on the task at hand.

Truck driving is not a job for the careless.

10 Ways a Truck Driving Can Be Deadly

Behind the Wheel

Driving tired. We all know that driving tired isn’t smart, but it is surprising that it is still common in this industry. A driver should NEVER drive when tired.

2. Distracted driving. Cell phones, texting is a recipe for an accident. These devices are a huge danger. Put the phone down and just pat attention to the DRIVE!

3. Driving too fast for road/weather conditions. It’s pretty easy to get into trouble by driving too quickly for road conditions. Coming down a hill too fast in the winter or taking a corner or a ramp too fast can end in disaster. It never hurts to go a little slower when the weather is bad or when cornering.

4. Not doing a full circle check. Losing a wheel or a mechanical failure can be very serious.

Not only does losing a wheel cause a danger for you the driver, but it can seriously hurt or kill someone in a car (and this can land YOU in jail for a VERY LONG TIME! Think about this!)

5. Delivering in a bad area. There have been multiple tragedies where truck drivers have been hurt or killed in unsafe areas, making a delivery or a pick up.

trucker shines a bright light into perpetrators eyes

Outside the Truck

6. Pinning To a Trailer. Don’t go under a trailer EVER. If you need to get under the trailer to remove a pin lock for example, place the back of the truck’s frame underneath the trailer in the event that the landing gear fails, the trailer frame will support the trailer and not squash you.

7. Pay attention in truck yards, loading docks and parking lots. You can be hit, or squashed up against a loading dock by an unaware driver, who can’t see you when backing up.

8. Air bags can settle when working under a truck. The air bags can settle and squash you when working under a truck. Have another person present if you MUST be under the truck for any reason.

9. Don’t mess with the brake chambers. These are deadly and dangerous. Leave these for trained mechanics to deal with. There are powerful springs in these chambers which are strong enough to kill you if you attempt to take them apart improperly.

10. Watch your footing on the truck frame or trailer deck. It’s so easy to lose your footing or get a foot caught and fall off the truck or the loading dock. It’s a constant hazard for flat bedders.