Spring break and Trucking : How to prepare your fleet

Published on February 20, 2020 by Anthony Mainville

SPRING BREAK AND TRUCKING

Days are getting longer and Christmas holiday vacation seems far away, this can only mean one thing… Spring Break is upon us.

Across North America, Spring break is usually a one week vacation period which is held between the last week of February and first week of March depending on Province, State or region.

In Canada, 5.5 million elementary and secondary level students as well as 2 million post-secondary students will be on break. Parents will also often schedule family vacation during that period.

In the United States, 10.5 million college students, mostly under the age of 25, are expected to travel for Spring break. Half of those are expected to use the open road for their vacation travel.

Where are all those people headed? You guessed it: sunny and warmer destinations. Most popular being Texas, Nevada, South Carolina, Arizona, Virginia, California and obviously Florida.

In many of these areas, the population and roads are already increased by Snowbirds, which stay during most of winter and early spring down south. A combination resulting in increased traffic density and regrettably an increase in road collisions.

According to a study by the University of Miami in 2017 focused on those Spring break destinations, there was a 9.1% increase in traffic related fatalities in those regions during that period. In comparison, other regions in North America had no significant increases during that said period.

To many people’s surprise, there was no significant increase in alcohol related accidents however most accidents were caused by “out of state” drivers under the age of 25. Experts speculate the lack of driving experience, confusion on unknown roads, fatigue and driver distractions are to blame.

In fact, the NHTS Study on distracted driving shows that drivers in their 20’s have the highest rate of fatal crashes due to distracted driving in 2017 (27%).

HOW CAN YOU PREPARE YOUR FLEET AND DRIVERS ACCORDINGLY?

It is important that fleet managers and professional drivers be as vigilant as possible by making sure their rigs are well maintained and that preventive driving techniques are attuned.

AJUSTEZ VOTRE DRIVER CHALLENGE OU VOTRE CARTE DE POINTAGE DE CONDUITE EN FONCTION DE LA CONDUITE DÉFENSIVE ET PRÉVENTIVE.

Idling during March periods are less of a factor, especially in Spring Break related regions. Focus rather your Driver Challenge or Score Card rather on KPI’s and driving behaviour which will help prevent collisions with distracted drivers.

Increase weighting on harsh braking and speeding and if you are using GoSight or an ADAS connected camera, make sure to add tailgating in those KPI’s thus increasing the use of having a safe distance between the car in front.

ADJUST YOUR DRIVER CHALLENGE OR DRIVING SCORE CARD TOWARDS DEFENSIVE AND PREVENTATIVE DRIVING.

Most Canadians are used to adjust their driving behaviour during snow storms and putting emphasis on preventative driving techniques like keeping larger distances with the car in front or having a higher level of focus. Driving in conditions where inexperienced drivers are more frequent should be similar by keeping more distance with the cars in front and having better space to progressively brake or maneuvers. Remember that distracted drivers might not only be in front of you, but also behind and not capable of reacting as well as you are in case of a harsh maneuver.

ADJUST (OR MAINTAIN) YOUR DRIVING BEHAVIOUR.

Make sure your equipment is well maintained. The harshness of winter road conditions is unforgivable towards your equipment, especially the brake systems. It is ever more important to make sure pre-trip inspections are properly done and the maintenance crew put extra efforts on making sure braking systems are optimal on both tractor and trailers.

DASHCAM AND ADAS CAN HELP:

Verify your dashcam and ADAS systems are in working order. It is no secret; insurance premium increases due to a rise in commercial trucking accidents are a challenging topic. It has been shown that DashCam or incab video recording technologies are the best way to prevent litigations related to commercial trucking accidents and protect your fleet and drivers from wrongful lawsuits.

You want to make sure your onboard video recording and dashcam equipment will be fully functional in case of an impact, this includes things as simple as power connection, memory cards and capacity as well as connectivity when we are talking about connected dashcams.

If your equipment is not yet equipped with on board recording technology, affordable consumer class dashcam are widely available and can be a useful tool in case of accidents, however connected dashcam technologies are now more affordable than ever thanks to mass adoption and are now not only used to properly investigate incidents but used as coaching tools to prevent accidents and increase driver safety.

In conclusion, as commercial fleet operator or driver, the next few weeks are not to be taken likely and although spring is synonymous with better road conditions, it does not mean we can put our guards down thinking the risks are diminished. Be careful out there, and if you are one of the lucky ones driving south bound for vacation, there will be plenty of time for distraction once you hit the beach.

Sources :

https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2015/03/150318153949.htm
https://www.ibisworld.com/industry-insider/analyst-insights/four-industries-to-benefit-from-increased-spring-break-spending-in-2017/
https://www.daytondailynews.com/classifieds/cars/the-road-spring-break-traffic-crashes-surge/wGOvcD7rK4JiIhgFE1e6qI/
https://www.univcan.ca/universities/facts-and-stats/
https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2015/03/150318153949.htm
Canada: university/college student enrollment 2000-2017
www.statista.com › enrollment-of-postsecondary-students-in-canada