Want to prevent accidents, improve fuel mileage, reduce downtime, reduce tire blowout risk, and maximize tire life? Create a tire inspection and maintenance program and stick to it. Cutting corners by doing bare bones maintenance is an expensive practice and is dangerous to the commercial truck driver. The tire debris that you see on the highway is the result of this bare bones approach. Behind […]
Insurance by State
Work Zone Safety Information for the Commercial or Owner Operator Trucker in Florida
Work zones are necessary for the maintenance of our nation’s highways. Because they disrupt traffic, the potential for accidents is great. Highway speeds abruptly slow to a crawl, traffic merges into fewer lanes, and barriers, construction equipment, and workers are seen on either side as you squeeze through one or two lanes that have no shoulders. With this seeming confusion going on, it’s no surprise […]
What to Do When Your Commercial or Owner Operator Truck Has a Tire Blowout
Truck drivers dread tire blowouts for good reason because they can cause loss of control. However, loss of control happens because the commercial or owner operator truck driver didn’t know how to deal with the situation and panicked. Your ability to safely handle your rig will depend on knowing what to do beforehand, remaining calm during the emergency, and the road and traffic situation when […]
Owner Operator Insurance South Carolina: Rental Reimbursement and Downtime Insurance
You are just starting your own commercial trucking business which employs one person: yourself. You are fairly sure you’ve done everything you need to ensure that your owner operator business gets off to a good start. You’ve looked into commercial truck insurance and have the coverage mandated by law such as primary liability insurance and also have adequate coverage for your truck. So it seems […]
Avoid Claims on Your South Carolina Commercial Truck Insurance When Making Right Turns
South Carolina commercial truck insurance claims often involve an accident that happens when making a right turn. These commonly occur because either the truck was too close to the curb and made the turn too soon, or was too far away from the right curb. Turning too soon and too close to the right curb leaves the owner operator or commercial truck driver with too […]
Tips for the Commercial or Owner Operator Truck Driver on Avoiding Jackknifing in Florida
Jackknifing often occurs when road conditions are slippery such as during a winter snow storm or when the pavement is wet from rain. However, it can also happen under perfect road conditions when the pavement is dry. Avoiding jackknifing is a matter of understanding how a tractor and trailer combination behave, avoiding skids, and of having quick driving reactions to stop your rig from completing […]
Space Management Rule of Thumb for the Commercial or Owner Operator Truck Driver
Of the different road spaces around your truck, the space in front of you is the most important. If you ever get into an accident, it will likely be with something in your direction of travel. While it’s true that you want to maintain empty space to the sides of your rig whenever possible, you must always allow plenty of empty road space in front. […]
How the Commercial or Owner Operator Trucker Can Reduce Deadhead Mileage
Whether you are a commercial or owner operator trucker, deadhead mileage (driving with an empty trailer) is bad for business. Whenever you or one of your truckers drives an empty trailer on the return trip back to your home base or on any part of a route, fuel and other operating expenses aren’t being covered by a paying customer. Failure to track and reduce deadhead […]
Black Ice Tips for Commercial or Owner Operator Truck Drivers in North Carolina
The transition between fall and winter is a hazardous time for commercial or owner operator truck drivers in North Carolina. Your winter driving skills are a bit rusty and the roads have no treatment yet. As the temperatures fall below freezing, a hidden danger can present itself when you least expect it: black ice. Black ice is a film of transparent frozen water that may be […]
South Carolina Commercial Truck Insurance: The Dangers of Overconfidence
Confidence is an important quality for life on the road as a truck driver and for life in general. However, too much of it causes the driver to discard caution and makes him complacent. This is asking for trouble when you’re engaged in an inherently risky activity which truck driving most certainly is. If the risk didn’t exist, there wouldn’t be a need for commercial […]