Education With a Purpose: A Blog About Trade Schools
Safety tips for Heavy combination truck training
Irene Tucker
Upgrading your heavy rigid or medium rigid driving license to an HC license can be a great step for your truck driving career. However, training to properly drive a heavy combination truck can be quite difficult. Unlike the other rigid trucks, there is coupling of a trailer to the vehicle which completely changes the dynamics of your driving. While driving a heavy vehicle can be hard enough, heavy combination trucks can seriously compromise your safety. Mastering safety practices will therefore be a major part of license training in whatever trade school you choose. Here are some safety practices for HC truck driving if you're interested in acquiring a license.
Beware of blind spots.
Trucks have more blind spots than most vehicles due to their size. Such blind spots are normally found in areas like at the back of the truck, behind the side mirrors, among others. The length of the heavy combination trucks makes this even more of an issue so always remain vigilant. For this reason, avoid turning or changing lanes until you are absolutely sure no one is driving in your blind spot. Keep in mind that you can reduce the size of your blind spots by increasing the number and location of mirrors in your truck. For instance, install a pair of hood-mounted mirrors to supplement your side mirrors.
Reverse safely.
Reversing an HC truck is a challenging experience to many. The attached trailer can respond in unexpected ways if you are a novice and could therefore cause accidents. Due to this, backing up your truck safely will go a long way in ensuring you get that license. The first thing you need to realise is that the trailer swings about its pivot as you reverse. Therefore, steering the truck's front wheels right will ultimately make the trailer turn left and vice-versa. This can be very confusing, so ensure you keep the truck as straight as you can while reversing. Practise extensively before the time comes to take your driving test to be on the safe side. Whenever you are unsure, get out of the truck and take a look.
Slow down.
A heavy combination truck is naturally unwieldy so keep your speed low to be safe. Speed limits may not even give you a proper indication of the speed you should maintain, as they are mostly for cars and not trucks. Curves are especially dangerous for HC trucks. There's a much-elevated risk of tipping over if you approach them at a high speed. Slowing down also takes a longer time so keeping a low speed will help avoid accidents
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Hello and welcome to my blog. My name is Jenny, and I went to uni to study literature and philosophy when I was eighteen. I loved those topics and still do, but there was always a part of me that was not fulfilled in those classes. Ultimately, I decided to drop out, and I enrolled in trade school. I love working with my hands, and as an intuitive empath, I also love spending time with others. I studied the art of makeup design and hair, and now, I have a job that I love every day. At night, I go home and devour philosophy. I think there are a lot of myths about trade schools so I decided to start a blog to spread more facts.