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Entries related to: drivers

The Importance of Staying Hydrated

One of the leading causes of a heat-related illness is dehydration. Dehydration occurs when the body does not get the amount of water it needs to function properly. The body naturally loses water through urination, sweating, crying, spitting, exercising, and breathing. Water can also be lost due to illness (i.e., fever, vomiting, etc.) and taking diuretics. To avoid possible health problems, you must be able to recognize the hazards that can lead to dehydration and know how to protect yourself. Read the information below, and ask yourself if there are actions you can take to keep your body sufficiently hydrated.
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Summer Driving Hazards

Summer driving presents many challenging conditions for drivers. Avoiding potential losses requires drivers to recognize the hazards that can lead to a vehicle 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.
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Heat-related Illness

A heat-related illness, such as heat exhaustion, heat cramps, or sun stroke, occurs when the body cannot cool itself sufficiently and blood rushes to the skin's surface. When less blood reaches your muscles, organs, and brain, it can lead to physical and mental health problems, or even death. Read the information below, and ask yourself if there are actions you can take to protect yourself.
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Time to Discuss Summer Driving Hazards

It cannot be overstated: a motor carrier’s operations staff is essential to preventing vehicle crashes. Dispatchers, driver managers, load planners, and safety personnel all play critical roles because they have the most contact with drivers. This gives them a unique opportunity to regularly raise hazard awareness with drivers and keep safety in the forefront of their minds.
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Avoiding Crashes Due to Distracted Driving

RECOGNIZE THE HAZARDS
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Slips and Falls

Slips are the result of a person losing balance or footing due to a lack of friction between the foot and the ground. Falls that result from slipping are the leading cause of workplace injuries. From cuts and bruises to broken bones, traumatic brain injuries, and even death, a simple loss of traction could seriously jeopardize your quality of life. The key to protecting yourself is recognizing the hazards that can lead to slips and falls and knowing how to reduce your risk of injury.
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3 Wellness Tips for Truck Drivers

Truck driving does not typically lend itself to a healthy lifestyle. Spending up to 11 hours behind the wheel, frequently eating fast food, and rarely exercising could eventually jeopardize a trucker’s job if he/she can’t pass the Department of Transportation’s required physical exam. Drivers must be alert and focused when on public roads, which begins with leading a healthy lifestyle.
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10 Summer Weather Tire Survival Tips

Summer weather can be brutal on tires and can contribute to blow-outs and other problems. As the weather gets warmer, stay on top of this critical vehicle system – your tires. Here are some summer weather tire survival tips to follow. 
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Pattern Driving

Every driver has a pattern of driving. These patterns, or habits, can be good or bad, or more precisely, safe or unsafe. A driver who integrates safety into all of his/her driving decisions, regardless of the environment, has established a pattern of behavior that reduces the risk of a crash. However, pattern driving can refer to practicing unsafe behaviors as well, like speeding and tailgating. Pattern driving can also occur when a driver gets too comfortable with his/her route or routines and lets his/her guard down. This is common when drivers run dedicated lanes to the same customers day after day and become complacent. In this case, complacency becomes a distraction, and drivers lose focus on their surroundings and the potential hazards that could lead to a crash.
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Entering and Exiting Equipment

Slips, trips, and falls are one of the leading causes of workplace injuries. For drivers, these types of injuries commonly occur when improperly entering or exiting the cab and trailer. The results can be quite painful and in some cases, proven fatal. The key to avoiding slips, trips, and falls when entering and exiting equipment is to recognize the hazards that contribute to these injuries and know how to protect yourself from harm.
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