Category: Driver safety improvement

Consejos De Seguridad Para Camiones Justo A Tiempo Para La Temporada De Huracanes

Como muchos sabrán, la temporada de huracanes ya está aquí e impacta muchas áreas en los Estados Unidos. La industria del transporte a menudo lleva a los camioneros por todo el país, por lo que es posible que muchos tengan que conducir a través de estas áreas propensas a huracanes. Si este es tu caso, es fundamental conocer algunos consejos de seguridad antes de ir.

Con la tecnología actual de detección del clima, es poco probable que un huracán se nos acerque sigilosamente con tanta frecuencia que sepamos de antemano que se acerca un huracán y cuál será su trayectoria proyectada. Esto nos da tiempo para prepararnos para las duras condiciones climáticas que provocan los huracanes. A continuación, encontrará algunos consejos útiles para mantenerse seguro durante un huracán si finalmente tiene que conducir por las áreas afectadas.

1. Empacando lo esencial. Es importante empacar su camión con elementos esenciales como agua y alimentos no perecederos, una linterna o lámpara de cabeza, un cargador de teléfono portátil, diferentes tipos de baterías, ropa de lluvia y cualquier manta y ropa abrigada en caso de que baje la temperatura. Estos son elementos importantes si se queda varado o atascado en su camión durante unos días debido al mal tiempo.

2. Inspeccione su vehículo antes de la salida. Antes de partir, asegúrese de que su camión esté en buenas condiciones de funcionamiento. Se recomienda que los conductores inspeccionen los lados del pasajero y del conductor del motor, los frenos delanteros, las ruedas delanteras, el eje de dirección y la suspensión trasera, el lateral y la parte trasera de la cabina, el eje de transmisión, el área de la quinta rueda, la parte delantera/lateral /parte trasera del remolque y la suspensión del remolque antes de partir. Estos son especialmente importantes durante las malas condiciones climáticas para que no se descomponga en medio de una mala tormenta.

3. Prepárese para retrasos o cambios en las rutas. Cuando las condiciones climáticas son lo suficientemente malas, las carreteras se congestionan para los procedimientos de evacuación y, a veces, incluso se invierten los carriles para ayudar en este proceso. Las malas condiciones climáticas pueden hacer que el tráfico se mueva más lentamente, lo que provocará demoras y posibles accidentes. Trate de encontrar la mejor ruta posible o planee tiempos de viaje más largos si no hay una mejor ruta disponible.

4. Tenga en cuenta el clima y las condiciones de la carretera. Planifique cambios de ruta de última hora si un huracán cambia de rumbo repentinamente. Además, preste mucha atención mientras conduce a cualquier peligro en el camino, como ramas caídas, árboles y otros escombros. También existe la posibilidad de inundaciones en las carreteras y es importante evitar estas condiciones. Al conducir en una rampa o girar, asegúrese de reducir la velocidad. Si las condiciones climáticas son demasiado ventosas, es importante saber cuándo es seguro detenerse y detenerse para evitar volcarse e hidroplanear.

Aquí en ExpressTruckTax, queremos asegurarnos de que sus viajes se realicen sin problemas y de manera segura, especialmente durante la temporada de huracanes. Asegúrese de revisar su vehículo antes de partir y conduzca con precaución cuando las condiciones climáticas no sean ideales y la visibilidad sea baja. Esté atento a los anuncios meteorológicos ya que el clima puede cambiar muy rápidamente. Asegúrese de seguir estos importantes consejos y manténgase seguro.

Cold Weather Safety Tips For Truckers!

The holiday season is approaching, which means the temperature outside is dropping fast throughout the country.

As these temperatures continue to fall, it’s important to be prepared for difficult driving conditions. 

Here are some tips and tricks to help keep you safe and warm this winter!

Keep Proper Supplies At Hand 

In case you find yourself stranded in the cold, it’s important to have the proper supplies to keep you warm and get you back on the road.

Here are some important supplies to keep in your cab that may help you this winter:

  • Extra coats, jackets, and gloves
  • Spare Blankets
  • Jumper Cables
  • Snow scrapers
  • Flashlights

Inspect Your Vehicle Before You Head Out

Freezing temperatures can often be harmful to your truck and cause further issues. Because of this, it’s important to give your truck a quick inspection before you head out so you don’t find yourself stranded and cold on the side of the road later!

Check your tire pressure, engine oil, antifreeze levels, and any other parts of your vehicle that you may be wary of. No one knows their truck better than you do!

Avoid Black Ice If You Can

Black Ice is a layer of ice that forms on top of roads and is often hard to detect. Hitting a batch of this ice can result in your tires spinning or skidding across the road.

If you hit a patch of black ice, don’t panic! Instead of mashing down on the brake and locking up your tires, try to keep the steering wheel straight and don’t hit the brake. Only make subtle turns until you pass the patch of ice, or else you could find yourself spinning out of control.

Black Ice is typically seen in the early morning and late evenings when the sun isn’t shining directly on the road. So, if you’re on the roads at this time, try to keep an eye out and avoid driving over it if possible! 

If you think Black ice may be around, give yourself some extra space between other vehicles just in case they don’t see it and lose control!

Stay Safe And Bundle Up!

Everyone here at ExpressTruckTax wishes you safe travels during the upcoming season. As the demand for food and gifts skyrocket, we wish safe travels to all of our truckers out there!

Thank you for all that you do to keep this country moving forward!

Out With The OLD And In With The ELD

Since 2017, the ELD mandate has been in effect. In December 2017 fleet owner’s with Automatic On-Board Recording Devices (AOBRDs) installed were given an extension to make the switch from AOBRDs to ELDs up until December 2019. With the new year in full swing the December 16, 2019 expiration date is quickly approaching.

At the 2019 Omnitracs annual user conference, head of the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration, Ray Martinez, urged drivers and company representatives to “prepare for this transition, if you have not done so already.”

The most strategic way to avoid procrastination when choosing an ELD is being in the know of what major differences stand between AOBRDs and ELDs.

Key Differences Between AOBRDs and ELDs

For many in the transportation business, the most proposed question that has been asked is, “why?”. The main reason behind the switch is to ensure companies are following the hours-of-service (HOS) law, which controls how much a driver can work in a day, aimed at preventing accidents and harassment of drivers. If someone has yet to make the switch from an AOBRD to a compliant ELD and are waiting to the last minute, the following differences in the two devices may be incentives to make the switch earlier.

Recording Metrics: AOBRDs does a lot of basic recording such as; location, date and time, mileage, engine hours and drive times, as well as duty status. ELDs record the same metrics plus information on the driver/user, motor carrier and vehicle including; log in and log out, engine on and off and also malfunctions.

Locations: When it comes to location AOBRDs allows users to record the change of location during each change of duty status and can be entered manually. With ELDs the location is automatically recorded every 60 minutes, whenever the engine is on or off when there is a change in duty status at the beginning and end of yard moves.

Edit History: AOBRDs record who makes edits and when and does not readily display edit history. ELDs require annotations when edits are made, with automatic events they can not be changed – only annotated and it readily displays edit history to DOT inspectors.

Driving Time: The driving time can only be edited when attributed to the wrong driver with AOBRDs and with ELDs that time cannot be edited.

Benefits of Making the Switch

The most recognizable benefit of the switch from AOBRDs to ELDs is compliance, but outside of ensuring that the trucking industry steers clear of harassment complaints the FMCSA wants to make the job of transporters a lot easier.

Low IFTA Audit Risk

The new ELD technology is driver-friendly when it comes to automatically calculating IFTA reports. The process of filing IFTA reports at the end of each quarter can be burdensome, and the overload of stress can cause human error. With this feature, the risk of facing an IFTA audit is reduced significantly.

Safety Improvement

By notifying drivers and management of malfunction issues and even identifying unsafe driving behaviors, ELDs do a great job at protecting all drivers on the road. According to FMCSA, ELDs help prevents roughly 562 injuries each year.

Lower Insurance Rates

Because of the increase in safety ELDs provide, insurance companies are happy to offer lower
insurance premiums to ELD users. By ensuring drivers stick to HOS regulations ELDs are eliminating the main cause of driver fatigue, which is reported to be at fault for 86% of truck-passenger crashes.

Safer Roads + Fewer Accidents = Lower Truck Insurance

Make Filing 2019 IFTA Reports Simple

If you have not made the switch from paper filing and other unconventional IFTA report filing methods, generate your quarterly fuel tax reports with a FREE account before the first quarter report deadline.

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