Great West Casualty Company Blog

Stress can manifest itself in many ways and negatively affect your mood, body, and behavior. Read the information below about the symptoms of stress, and see if any apply to you. Even if you are not feeling stress now, try applying one or more of the stress management techniques to your daily routine as a preventive measure.

Wearing protective footwear while working around the truck can help prevent injuries. From avoiding slips, trips, and falls to protecting against objects rolling onto or penetrating your feet, proper footwear is an essential piece of personal protective equipment. Improper footwear can also be uncomfortable and lead to calluses, ingrown toenails, etc. Read the information below and ask yourself how you can better protect yourself and your feet from injury.

Equipment and cargo thefts are constant risks for motor carriers. Thieves are always on the prowl, looking for easy targets. Read the information below and ask yourself if there are actions you can take to protect yourself from being a victim of theft.

Air disc brakes (ADB) are now standard for many new trucks built after 2018 and can be ordered on either the steer or drive axles, or both. ADB can also be ordered for most trailer types. From a safety standpoint, ADB can help reduce the risk of rear-end crashes. According to Fleet Equipment Magazine, “The main strong point for disc brakes (over drum brakes) is reduced stopping distance. With disc brakes, that distance can be anywhere from 17% to 33% shorter than drum brakes, depending on speed.” Other advantages of using ADB include: No brake fade caused by heating up the brakes due to excessive usage. Generally less maintenance, although not maintenance-free. No slack-adjuster-related “out of adjustment” violations from roadside inspections. Longer life before replacement. Use of a caliper/pad mechanism, compared to the lining/drum/S-cam mechanism found on drum brakes. Consider the type of operation you run before choosing the equipment to best fit your needs.

Driving in the fall creates a new set of seasonal risks for drivers. From shorter days to increased road obstacles, drivers need to be on guard for fall-related hazards and know how to prevent a crash. Read the information below about various fall driving hazards and decide how you can improve your driving techniques.

When an equipment failure occurs or another emergency forces you to pull off the roadway, commercial motor vehicle (CMV) operators are required under Part 392.22 of the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Regulations (FMCSR) to follow specific rules to alert other motorists of your situation. Below is a simple graphic and additional safety tips to keep in mind should you need to make an emergency stop. Read the information below and refer to the regulations to ensure you meet compliance requirements and protect yourself from harm.

Properly managing the truck’s speed requires skill and good judgment. Failure to do so could have tragic consequences. To help avoid this, drivers must recognize the hazards that can lead to a crash, know the defense, and react properly. Read the information below and ask yourself how you can improve your driving style in any of the hazard categories.

Every truck driver has a pattern to the way he or she drives. These patterns, or habits, can be good or bad, or more precisely, safe or unsafe. A driver who integrates safety into all of his or her driving decisions, regardless of the environment, has established a pattern of behavior that reduces the risk of a crash. On the flipside, pattern driving refers to practicing unsafe behaviors, such as speeding and tailgating. Pattern driving also can occur when a driver gets too comfortable with his or her route or routines and lets his or her guard down. This type of pattern driving is common when drivers run dedicated routes to the same customers day after day and become complacent. In this case, complacency becomes a distraction, and the driver loses focus of his or her surroundings and the potential hazards that could lead to a crash. Read the list of driving patterns below and ask yourself if there are actions you can take to improve your driving skills.

Truck stops, rest areas, and parking lots are used by criminals to prey upon unsuspecting drivers. Protecting yourself from physical harm is your primary concern, of higher priority than the security of your vehicle and cargo. The key to your safety is to be able to recognize the hazards that can put you in harm’s way and know how to defend against these dangers.

One core mission of trucking industry professionals is to reduce crashes. In order to properly identify and reduce accidents, safety professionals need to try to understand why they occur. With any crash there can be a variety of contributory root causes, including equipment-related issues, environmental conditions, other motorists' actions, etc. However, there is one common denominator with all crashes - the involved driver. Estimates vary, but some suggest that more than 90 percent of root causes of crashes can be traced back to the driver.