Safety Devices
Lots of simple and complex stuff's available, but keep your common sense.
ED THOMAS
CONTRIBUTING EDITOR
Accidents happen, and they're painful and expensive. Not working to avoid accidents is foolish. For starters, on-the-job injuries could be greatly reduced if employees would simply think about what they're doing and watch where they put their hands and feet.
You should be emphasizing this in your safety meetings. You do hold regular safety meetings, don't you? If not, and you have no idea where to start, ask your insurance company for help, and/or join a trucking association, which can supply you with materials and even speakers.
Meanwhile, tell drivers that jumping out of a truck cab or a trailer just because it looks cool has resulted in countless sprained or broken ankles over the years. On the other hand, climbing down gets one's feet safely on the ground and back up on the pedals, where they can make some money. Steps and grab handles on today's trucks are generally well designed and nicely placed. If drivers use them as they should, most of these accidents can be avoided.
Steps and handles are examples of things you can specify in your truck order if you or your drivers are not happy with what's standard. There are other items, as well, so let's get to them.
Slippin' And Slidin'
Slips and falls from a truck are less of a problem since conventionals took over the long-haul market. And truck builders and fleet managers developed standards for steps and handles more than 20 years ago. The most popular approach requires an individual to keep at least three of four limbs in contact with the vehicle at all times while climbing or descending the so-called "three-point contact" rule.
A recommended practice developed by the Technology & Maintenance Council of ATA gets quite specific in things like dimensions of steps and where they should be placed in relation to each other. For example, a step meant for one foot should be at least 5 inches wide; a step likely to be used by two feet at the same time should be at least 7 inches wide. And any step should be at least 5 inches deep, with another inch inside of that to allow for toe room.
The RP also says a handle should be 1.5 to 3 inches away from the surface to which it's attached. This allows a driver's gloved hand to grasp it. A handle can be mounted on the inside of a door and the steering wheel can double as a handle. Extra grab handles high inside the cab allow drivers to pull themselves up; such handles are usually optional on the passenger's side.
The latest aerodynamic tractors avoid outside handles, placing them instead inside the doors so the handles stay clean and dry. Some drivers think handles should be outside so they have something to grab while climbing onto or standing on the running board. Of course, outside handles also make a robber or hijacker's task safer.
Steps and handles should be placed in the right positions at the rear deck. These allow safe access to air and electrical lines. Tractor builders will install steps in the correct places, but not all put the handles where they really help.
Handles should be inboard of the steps, not outboard or at some distance so the driver has to stretch his back and arms to reach them. Inboard placement of a handle keeps the driver's upper body forward of his feet, and allows him to balance naturally. Placing the handle outboard of the step, or facing it outward instead of inward, moves the upper body outward and puts the driver off balance.
Most drivers like those big exhaust stacks running up the cab just behind the doors, but they can make getting into the cab a little clumsy. Located just behind the driver's ear, the stack is noisy, and blocks his view to the rear while backing. These are good arguments for putting the stacks behind the sleeper — even if they look less macho hidden back there.
Poor Practices Persist
In spite of industry standards, vertical spacing of steps is occasionally subject to poor design by a few builders. So we still see first steps more than two feet above the ground, and subsequent steps placed at odd intervals instead of similar intervals (such as a stairway in your home). Or steps are hidden where they cannot be seen from above, making climbing down risky.
Curiously, most poorly designed steps are on medium-duty trucks where frame-rail space can be at a premium. But drivers of mid-range trucks tend to get in and out more often than with an over-the-road vehicle.
Not covered in TMC's recommended practice are the sometimes difficult access to places like the windshield. Climbing up on a steer-axle tire to clean the windshield is dangerous. Truck builders know this, but their lawyers believe that putting steps and handles under the hood will encourage drivers to put themselves in precarious positions. Drivers should stay on the pavement and use a long-handled brush to clean the windshield, lawyers contend.
Meanwhile, On Trailers...
With all the attention paid to placement of steps and handles on power units, you'd think there'd also be recommendations for trailer and truck bodies. There aren't any, for several reasons: Most fleet executives don't think about them, and/or won't spend money on them. And many trailers are seldom entered from the ground because they spend their hauling lives shuttling from one loading dock to another.
However, drivers and helpers do slip and fall from trailers. So TMC task forces have worked on suggestions for designs of steps and handles. There are many types of ladders, stairs and ramp arrangements already found on various trailer configurations, and some operators think that cataloging these would make it easy for other users to order them.
The first effort in TMC failed, and progress on the second attempt is slow because of fears of liability. For instance, lawyers have pointed out that ladders on trailers make it easy for children to climb on a rig as it trundles through a neighborhood. Truck owners have been sued after kids hopped aboard, only to fall off and suffer injuries.
At a minimum, the rear impact guard (ICC bumper) can be modified with non-slip upper surfaces and widened so drivers can grasp a door hinge while climbing up one corner of the van. Some trailer builders make this standard, and others will include it for a modest fee.
Flatbedders, who have to climb onto trailers to tie down and tarp loads, have a number of purpose-made ladders that attach to rub rails and other portions of the trailers. There's even a set of steps available that can be built into the rear of the deck. Drivers often use common step ladders to ease the up-and-down chore. Be sure the ladders are solidly built and have slip-resistant pads where their legs touch the pavement.
Glass Is Class
Do you pick a truck model with visibility in mind? Most of today's truck cabs, especially those on over-the-road rigs, are wide for the sake of space. Wider cabs place windows farther from the driver's eyes, effectively making the windows smaller and reducing the driver's field of vision. Large windows in the doors compensate by increasing the sight picture.
Doors with cut-down bottom sills that increase glass area and visibility to the side are now common. The cutdown windows also eliminate small vent windows, which are a convenient way for burglars to force their way into a cab. "Peep" windows further down on the door can also help, though some drivers think they're useless. And they are if a passenger's legs block the peep window entirely.
A big windshield gives a better the view over the hood and to the right-front. As windshields have become more angled to cut wind drag, the amount of glass has increased to give the same sight picture. This comes with a price. Glass is heavy, for one thing. Also, windshield wipers with big blades and strong arms are needed. A big windshield also lets in lots of glare when the rig's heading into the sun, requiring large, well-positioned visors.
Hood and nose design also affects visibility. Sloped hoods let you see more of the pavement ahead and block less traffic to the right-front. The height of the cab and how it's joined to the hood also matters. Some truck models simply offer a better package in this regard, and visibility is correspondingly better. Sit in a truck and test drive it, and let your drivers do the same. Then ask them which models are best.
The few people who still drive cabovers have a plus in forward visibility because there's no hood to block anything ahead. But being right up front, the windshield is more prone to getting nailed by stones and other road debris. And a high COE usually has a bigger blind spot alongside and to the right-front than most conventionals. One study showed that while changing lanes, drivers of COEs occasionally bump cars at the truck's front-right corner because they just couldn't see the cars there.
Not Just Mirrors Anymore
The common West Coast mirror, measuring roughly 5 to 7 inches wide by 12 to 16 inches high, presents a pretty good view of traffic to the rear, and to some extent, the lanes alongside. In many cases the glass is motorized, moving sideways or up and down to extend the driver's field of view.
Spot mirrors are bolted on below the West Coasters or built into the same head, and others mount on the fenders of a conventional-cab tractor. These help by extending the reach of the eyes far into the next lane, and allowing drivers to watch trailer wheels as they follow the tractor through a corner. These mirrors are 6 inches or thereabouts in diameter, showing a decent image, even with the "fisheye" distortion of the outward-bulging glass. Glare from headlamps has long been a complaint of truck drivers, and it's gotten worse since American cars and trucks began using halogens and high-intensity discharge lamps with their bright-white or blue light. With a motorized mirror a driver can swing the glass out a bit to deflect some of the offending rays. Even more effective is the glare-reducing "electrochromic" coating process, similar in concept to Photogray coatings on eyeglasses.
No image is of any use if it's obscured by moisture or ice. Heated mirrors became available more than two decades ago. A simple, flat heating element is applied to the rear of the glass. With a flip of a switch, electric current flows through the element, heating the glass to melt ice and evaporate water droplets.
Electronics Widen Horizons
"Direct-view" devices like TV cameras are now available to cover blind spots alongside and behind trucks. Most freight-hauling operations cannot afford them right now, but might be able to in the future as prices come down through volume. Minicams can be mounted on the rear of trailers, and progress is being made on wireless links between the cameras and monitors inside the cab.
Already proven through fleet use is a radar device that warns drivers of obstacles hidden ahead. These have cut accident rates in bus and truck fleets, and are being purchased by more and more operators. Brand new is an infrared device that lets drivers see people and other "hot" objects on or near the road.
Keep your eyes open for these and other products that can widen your safety horizons. But meantime, don't neglect the simple, cheap stuff that can make your trucks and drivers safer.
