What are the best ways to ensure you don't get in accidents

That's true. It is possible to "plow through" a sleepiness phase. If I am getting sleepy and I am in unfamiliar territory I use my Rand McNally GPS to locate potential parking spots ahead. Sometimes there isn't anything for 30 miles or more. In that case I may arrive to the parking spot having missed the cycle. Then if I am back on wide awake mode I push on and start looking for a parking spot 45-60 minutes away. I know the next biorhythm "wave" will hit again around that time and the need for sleep will be more intense.

 

Interesting... Thanks!!!

 

Knowledge of how to use your sleep rythmes is important enough I think I will start a new thread on Sleep Strategies.

 

First off you will make mistakes but always learn from them. Patience should be your golden rule. In every situation that you will encounter, patience will keep your mistakes to a minimum

 

Don't leave the house....

Always know what is happening around you at all times and make a mental plan on how you would handle something going wrong. Play the "What If" game. What if that little red car doesn't stop at that stopsign? What would I do?
One of the greatest part of trucking is it gives you time to ACTIVELY think, so use that to your advantage.

If you think of different scenarios (no matter how outlandish they may seem) then you can think of solutions, so when the turds hit the fan, you have a place to start to mitigate it. It may not work, but that's why they invented plan B, C, D.........

This applies to general safety as well.

 

Thinking that is a great idea and would benefit many of us here on TTR. Go for it!!!

 

I like this suggestion too... Not only allows you to be always actively thinking of options and thereby able to respond better when it does happen but I probably helps to pass the time during a long haul too. Win/Win. Thanks.

 

I agree except some mistakes shouldn't happen even a first time.Like hitting low bridges,being somewhere that requires a tow to get you out because the driver failed to read his signs look at his surroundings or atlas.Many accidents is because drivers depend on the GPS and doesnt compare that routing with an atlas.

 

I guess I still don't fully understand that... I can read an atlas and I have a couple GPS options that are Trucker Oriented. If the same company makes both the Atlas and the GPS, in my case Rand McNally, what's the difference???

I am very tech oriented by nature but have also appreciate maps... Got the Orienteering Merit Badge and all... LOL

I might pull out the Atlas now and then but on every trip... Just seems like making it harder than needed.

Not saying anything negative about anyone that prefers using an Atlas... They are both just tools to be used.

Stay Safe,
MD

 

A GPS is not 100% accurate it won't hurt believe me to spend a little extra time and glance at an atlas just to make sure.The phone also works like asking dispatcher or other drivers for help.Too many drivers solely depend on the GPS I bet most don't know how to read maps which should be required before the company turns drivers loose.