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14 • FEBRUARY 2023 BUSINESS
THETRUCKER.COM
SAFETY SERIES
‘Safety cushion’ can mean life or death on the highway
CLIFF ABBOTT | SPECIAL CORRESPONDENT
While driving, the space between your vehicle
and the one in front of you is your only
protection from a rear-end collision. Every professional
driver understands this truth. Most are
taught early in their careers that a fully loaded
tractor trailer that’s going 60 mph needs more
than the length of a football field to stop — and
that’s when conditions are good.
Yet, on any highway with moderate to heavy
traffic, it won’t take long to spot someone driving
an 18-wheeler and following the vehicle
ahead too closely.
The results can be deadly. A four-wheeler is
no match for a large truck, and for a rig to tailgate
the smaller vehicle is tantamount to a death
sentence for the occupants if anything goes
wrong. It’s a deadly practice, but some drivers
either don’t understand or don’t care, or a combination
of both.
Not only is the practice a foolish one, but
it can also cost a driver’s job or a career, even if
there isn’t an accident. Following too closely is
listed as a “serious violation” by the Federal Motor
Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA). Two serious
violations within a three-year period are an
automatic 60-day disqualification for the driver.
Other violations listed as “serious” are excessive
speeding (15 mph or more over the limit), reckless
driving, and improper or erratic lane changes.
The FMCSA doesn’t disqualify for a first offense,
but many carriers consider serious offenses to be
grounds for termination. You may not be fired until
you’ve had your day in court — but you can be
suspended without pay until your court date. Finding
another driving job will be very difficult with a
conviction for a serious violation on your record.
Actually, you don’t even need to be convicted.
A warning for a serious violation — or even
a ticket for which you were found “not guilty” in
court — can still appear on the Pre-Employment
Screening Program (PSP) report ordered by the
carrier you apply to. There’s a process for having
a non-conviction removed, but it takes months
… and your request may be denied.
Part of the reason for this strictness is insurance,
which is a big expense for carriers. That
expense gets bigger when there are drivers with
records of serious violations on the payroll. If
litigation happens due to an accident, the plaintiff
’s attorney will demand safety records from
the carrier. If a carrier hires or retains drivers
with serious violations on their records, lawyers
can use that information to make a case that the
carrier itself isn’t safe.
Space is the key to helping a driver maintain
a safe driving record.
The space in front of your vehicle is most important
— but it’s not the only space you should
be aware of. It’s good practice not to allow other
vehicles to travel alongside you for any length of
iStock Photo
By maintaining a safe speed and keeping a proper following distance, truck drivers can increase their chances of
getting home safely, while helping others do the same.
time. A gust of wind, an object in the roadway or
even a sneeze can make your rig swerve to the
left or right, putting vehicles alongside yours in
danger. Some defensive driving courses teach
drivers to have an “escape route” they can take
if traffic ahead stops suddenly. Your best escape
route is the space ahead.
Speed is another important piece in the safedriving
equation, and speeding is worse today than
ever. Because of electronic logs, just-in-time shipping
practices and a shortage of available parking
in some areas, drivers attempt to make the most of
their available driving time each day. Some drivers
choose to exceed the speed limit in an effort to cover
as many miles as possible before time runs out.
Speeding is a practice that runs counter to safety
principles, but many drivers feel that it’s a necessary
part of earning a paycheck on the road.
Aside from the risk of earning a serious-level
violation because of excessive speeding, the faster
you go, the more your stopping distance increases.
Plus, traveling faster often has other results, such
as the need to change lanes frequently to avoid
slower traffic. When drivers can’t avoid traffic, they
often wind up following other vehicles too closely.
Keep in mind that it’s possible to “speed” even
when driving at or below the speed limit. When
road conditions are bad or visibility is impaired,
you can be moving well under the speed limit
but still driving too fast for conditions. If roads
are wet or icy, the results can be catastrophic.
Parking lots and shipper or receiver yards are
also areas where speeding occurs. Drivers must be
prepared and able to stop if a truck pulls out from
a dock or a pedestrian walks in front of the vehicle.
Speed is also related to the space around your
vehicle — in fact, speed is usually how you adjust
that space. If there isn’t enough space in ahead,
slow down. Sure, someone might occupy that
space, including cars that were behind you and
passed. The reality is that they had to be traveling
faster to pass your truck; if they don’t change
speed, they will quickly pull away, giving you more
following distance. If they don’t, however, it becomes
your responsibility to reduce your speed
until there is sufficient space in front again.
Some truckers solve the problem by driving
one or two mph slower than surrounding traffic, allowing
faster vehicles to pass them. Other drivers,
however, try to go a little faster, hoping to eventually
get around the heavy traffic. The stress of driving
a tractor-trailer is high enough. Trying to get ahead
through a ton of traffic is a sure way to drive stress
levels higher. Conversely, slowing down and letting
the traffic do its thing is far more relaxing.
Finally, remember this: No driver has ever
emerged from an accident scene wishing they had
been driving faster or following more closely. 8
PROFIT cont. from Page 13
had actually exceeded contract rates since the
first quarter of 2000. As 2022 came to a close, that
situation reversed, with contract rates jumping
to more than 60 cents per mile higher. That gap
shrank to about 45 cents at the end of the year.
The DAT report calls this “a key signpost of
this new stage of the cycle, even green shoots of
a new rate cycle.” That could be welcome news
for owners of small trucking businesses. As contract
freight rates continue to fall and sales of
new Class 8 trucks hit the expected decline, spot
rates should begin strengthening.
When asked about recession, Eric Crawford,
vice president and senior analyst for ACT Research,
says his firm is predicting a mild one.
“For 2023 the key theme is going to be rebalancing,
and rebalancing is going to come thanks
to a recession,” he said. “We’re in the mild camp,
given some of the good news that we’re seeing
on inflation.”
Those who may be wondering about trucking
profits in 2023 might be cheered by another
Crawford comment.
“We’re still forecasting profitability to go
down, year over year, by a wide by a wide margin,”
he said, “but to contextualize where we’re
going to be is still maybe the fourth best year on
record, from a profitability perspective.” 8