4 Helpful Summer Safety Tips for Truck Drivers

As an experienced trucker, you know that proper preparation is key to making a successful, on-time run. Summer weather brings its own challenges to your comfort and effectiveness as a driver. Before hitting the road, remember these four helpful summer safety tips for truck drivers.

Stay Hydrated

Dehydration affects alertness. In addition to headaches, fatigue, muscle cramps, and dizziness, dehydration can damage your kidneys and other organs. Severe dehydration causes your blood volume to drop, making your heart work harder to get oxygenated blood out to your organs, raising your blood pressure.

Conversely, dehydration can cause low blood pressure because of that reduced blood volume. Either way, hydration is an essential part of truck driver safety. Keep an emergency supply of water with you, and stop for rest breaks to replenish your fluids.

Don’t Skimp on Inspections

Both your engine and your cab can overheat in summer. Before taking off, make sure your engine coolant is at the proper level, and have your air conditioning serviced to ensure it will work when you’re stuck in traffic at high noon on a hot, sunny day.

Your pre- and post-trip inspections keep you informed of the condition of your truck and alert you to any safety-related maintenance issues. Pay special attention to tire pressure, brakes, and fluids.

Don’t forget to assess your seat’s condition. Commercial truck seats are built for comfort, but also for support that helps you stay alert and maintain good posture that will ease the risk of joint and muscle pains associated with sitting for long hours. If your seat has become saggy or worn, consider replacing it.

Enhance Sun Protection

Glare creates dangerous conditions for truck drivers, and sunlight can damage unshielded eyes. It’s even possible for eyes to get sunburned. Invest in a new pair of sunglasses rated for UV protection to ease the strain on your eyes and improve visibility when bright sun reflects off other vehicles, road signs, and the road itself.

Your skin can get sunburned in your cab, and certainly if you work outside. Along with your new sunglasses, wear sunscreen to protect your face, neck, ears, and arms from too much sun exposure.

Stay Tuned for Weather Updates

Just like winter snowstorms, severe summer weather can develop quickly. Check the radar on your weather app regularly, and keep a weather band radio handy to give you updates along your route. High winds, hail, and flooding can seem to come out of nowhere, especially in the Midwest where hundreds of miles of flat prairie provide few obstacles for high winds and storms to develop.

Take note of points along your route where you could take shelter if necessary, and take high wind warnings seriously. There’s no point in risking a wind-induced rollover just to make time, when you could lose your whole load and severely damage your truck in the process.

There’s so much more to trucking than just getting a load from point A to point B. These summer trucking safety tips should help you navigate the challenges summer has to offer.