When it comes to driving a truck in the winters, there are a few tips that can tide you over the challenging conditions. Take a quick glance on these crucial tips as you prepare to face the winters.
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1. Be Prepared For Bad Weather
Winter makes its arrival loud and clear. There’s no reason why you should take the turn of weather lightly. There are some essentials you should maintain in your truck in order to deal with the ordeals of the extreme conditions. Among the most important items belong a shovel and a bag of sand or ice. These will come handy if you get stuck in snow. Other things include a flash light, warm clothes, an ice scraper, food and drinks etc.
2. Inspect The Truck
Once you’re out on the road, it’s likely that you’ll be taking the truck on a long haul, irrespective of whether it’s warm or cold. You better check the condition of the vehicle before embarking on the journey.
Your truck is your companion for a safe journey. You need to make sure it’s in the best condition. Does it look like your old truck won’t stand a chance against the blizzard? You can search for many robust commercial vehicles on Truck1 Singapore website.
3. Pay Attention To The Forecast And Warnings
Before you take the road, check the forecast and news broadcast for weather warnings. Track your route on the GPS, you’ll get information on any blocked routes and unsafe road conditions. Plan your route accordingly.
4. Drive Responsibly
Winter conditions make a compelling cause that you should drive with extra caution.
Avoid sudden sharp turns. Slow down if the driving conditions appear unfavorable. Keep a safe distance from other traffic on the road. Drive at a steady pace, no speeding nor any excessive braking.
5. Be Careful While Braking
When you’re driving on freshly snowed roads, you need to be extra-careful when using the brakes. You should know that using jake brakes are absolute no-no for these driving conditions.
In fact, you shouldn’t be using the foot brake too often either. Make sure the truck (and it’s trailer) is in a straight line before you step on the brake. Be extra careful, if you’ve got an empty trailer on the tow.
6. Warm Up The Windshield
Cleaning the truck’s windshield on cold winter days can be a daunting task, especially when it’s freezing cold and the washer fluid just freezes on the windshield. Yeah we know, even the antifreeze ones don’t work so well.
But we have a great trick that can make the task simpler. All you need to do is to turn the defroster for a minute. This will heat up the windshield glass and not let the washer fluid freeze.
7. Use Signals
Make sure you use the trucker’s signals, flashing the lights before changing lanes and taking turns. This gives a heads up to the drivers of other vehicles about your maneuvers. You may have to blink the lights several times, so that your signaling is clear in spite of poor visibility.
8. Top Up The Fuel
Your vehicle needs as much traction as possible when it’s out on the winter roads. There’s an indirect way that you can use to create extra traction for the truck. Keeping your fuel tank full will provide plenty of weight over the drive tires. And this will in turn make way for added traction.
9. Getting In And Out Of The Truck
Getting in and out of the truck in the cold wet weather can be tricky. It’s not just the roads that are slippery, the vehicle’s floor and your shoes get slippery and mucky too. Drivers can slip and injure themselves while getting in and out of the vehicle in these wet conditions.
10. Pull Over When Necessary
When driving in bad weather conditions, you’ll have to use your judgment and avoid any extremities. If the conditions become too severe, the right call would be to pull over and take a stop until the conditions ease. But be careful about where you make the stop. Don’t halt at the shoulder of the road or you could risk getting hit by approaching traffic.
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