Month: August 2019

Many believe that working as a truck driver is a romance and sheer pleasure. But in practice, the work of a truck driver is very difficult and dangerous. In this work, many unpleasant moments and unusual situations. We are not trying to intimidate you or dissuade you from the idea of ​​becoming a truck driver. We just want newbies not to look at this job through rose-colored glasses.

So, consider the main disadvantages of the truck driver.

Danger. Naturally, the work of a truck driver cannot be compared with the work of a sapper or climber. Although there are many cases where drivers did not return from the flight. Many accidents happen, caused by poor domestic roads, driving drivers, crazy fatigue, and so on. It should also be borne in mind that most vehicles are used cars that have already departed 2, 3 or even 4 million kilometers. They often fail various systems.

In addition, we should not forget about the robberies on the roads. Of course, now there is less crime on the roads than in the dashing 90s, but dangerous situations can still happen. And the diesel fuel is drained, and the awning is cut, and the load can be taken away, and on the head can give mount, taking all the money. Therefore, the driver must always be on the alert.

Deterioration of health. This work clearly does not add health. The driver has to sit for 12 hours a day, which leads to spinal disease, obesity, hemorrhoids, pain in the legs. In addition, the trucker is usually quite poorly powered. Often eats what is necessary, and this leads to gastrointestinal disease. In the event of a breakdown, the driver is forced to repair the car in the snow and in the rain. And this leads to colds.

In short, 20 years of such work greatly undermine health. This must be taken into account when choosing a profession.

Lack of development. As a rule, truckers have to turn the “wheel” all their lives. At best, they can be transplanted from an old Kamaz to a more modern European truck. This is actually all the changes.

Of course, some are lucky, and they accumulate a certain amount of money and buy a personal truck, but in the end they still have to turn the steering wheel, only by working for themselves (which is already a good evolution). Over time, the trucker may even organize a transport company and hire staff, but this is extremely rare.

Hard family life. What kind of wife would like her husband to be in constant travels and rarely go home? The trucker children practically grow up without a father, seeing him several days a month. For the driver, the road becomes a real home. And this can lead to divorce.

Although there are exceptions. There are understanding wives who support their husbands in everything.

Truckers have to be on the road for a long time. Very often, one flight lasts several days, and the driver returns to his hometown in a week or even a month. Naturally, a long ride blunts attention and reaction, which can lead to a deplorable outcome. In the previous article, I described how a trucker to deal with fatigue and overwork. Today I will tell you where it is safe and convenient for a truck driver to rest.

In the films, you can see how truckers spend the night in hotels with guarded parking. But, alas, in life like this is extremely rare. Truckers simply do not have enough money to pay for a hotel room. Therefore it is necessary to spend the night on the road and to sleep in a cabin on a special berth. Note that in some trucks there is no sleeping place, and the driver is forced to sleep on the seats, curled up. Unfortunately, there is such.

The job of the truck driver is very complex and nervous. We have to sit for days at the wheel, communicate with loaders and storekeepers, employees of the traffic police and other services. In addition, the working conditions of the truck driver cannot be called ideal. Eat and sleep, usually in the cabin. And in a hot time or in severe frosts, it is not always possible to sleep normally. And this can lead to an accident.

Australian doctors conducted a study and found that all truck drivers should be regularly examined to identify possible sleep disorders. Experts carefully examined 517 truckers from Western Australia and New South Wales using special equipment. As a result, it turned out that more than 40% of drivers had respiratory depression in sleep, that is, a sleeping person stops breathing for a while due to a blockage of the respiratory tract.

Doctors say that drivers with this syndrome are more likely to have accidents (up to 7 times more often than healthy truckers). Many people can tell how a sleep disorder affects increased accident rate if a driver in a dream does not drive a truck? This syndrome does not allow him to sleep and rest normally, which leads to constant fatigue. And such a state already leads to inattention and some inhibition of the reaction. It is difficult for a driver who has not slept enough to quickly react to the danger arising on the road, so there is a high risk of getting into an accident.

A representative of the Freight Carriers Association of Australia said that he had previously recommended the transport commission to introduce mandatory medical diagnostics of drivers, but so far nothing has been done.

In addition to sleep disorders, doctors have identified drivers with predictable health problems. For example, more than half of the truckers are overweight, 18% – hypertension. About half of the truck drivers smoke, 40% do not get enough sleep, 18% experience constant fatigue.

There is nothing surprising. Australian truck drivers work on average more than 65 hours per week (ours are even more).

It is clear that everyone wants to earn more. But in pursuit of profit, one should not forget about health. Therefore, truckers should, at least, get enough sleep.

Hot summer days will come soon, but truck drivers are waiting for them with caution. There are good reasons for this. Consider how heat affects the quality of the truckers.

As French scientists have proved, the number of accidents increases dramatically during the heat. Hot weather extremely negatively affects the driver – the reaction decreases, lethargy occurs, and it tends to sleep. As the ambient temperature rises, it is more difficult for a person to concentrate on certain tasks, he becomes irritable and slowly responds to changes in the traffic situation. Studies have shown that at a temperature of 27 ° C, the driver responds 21% slower than at 21 ° C.

Scientists believe that such slowness is due to poor driver sleep – it is shallow and short. In the heat, the cabin gets very hot, and it’s rare to sleep well in a crib. A driver who does not get enough sleep decreases concentration, fatigue accumulates and the ability to correctly assess the traffic situation decreases. This leads to accidents. Statistics show that 15% of serious accidents happen because of truck driver fatigue.

In addition, asphalt gets very hot in the heat, which causes tires to start shooting. Especially if the truck travels with overload.

That is why on hot days the driver should take care of comfortable driving conditions. It is necessary to turn on the air conditioner, and in the case of its absence, open the windows so that fresh air can flow. This will protect against unpleasant situations on the road.

Transportation of personal belongings is not a separate type of transportation. At a room and office crossing, one way or another, one has to transport some personal belongings, so in this article, we decided to talk about some of the features of this process.

Nuances of transporting personal belongings

As a rule, a person orders a car from the transport company, whose specialists paid him due attention. Such customers do not go over much and do not ring up all the companies in a row to find the cheapest transport. It is important to him that transportation was carried out professionally.

The customer often exaggerates the volume of his belongings, ordering a five-ton truck, although all his property fits into a standard Gazelle. He always orders a separate car, without resorting to various tricks, such as partial load and general cargo, to save some pennies. After all, a separate truck is much easier to find than to form a general cargo. This approach will protect against the hassle and increase the speed of delivery of things.

The customer, as a rule, values ​​his property, so he will prepare it for shipment, pack it competently, fix it in the car, explain how best to transport the vehicle to the place of loading/unloading, and hand the driver all the necessary documents.

TV belongs to the fragile things, transportation of which should be carried out as carefully and carefully as possible. Otherwise, the TV may be damaged, which is not very happy with its buyer or owner.

There are different types of televisions, so their transportation is somewhat different. So, for example, TVs with kinescope are easier to transport. In this case, the risk of damaging the internal components is minimal. It is only necessary to protect the screen from the negative effects of external factors. It must be securely packaged and fixed in the back of the car during transportation.

But LCD TVs require more careful treatment. For their transportation will need durable packaging that can protect them from damage and sudden changes in temperature.

As a rule, LCD TVs are wrapped in a special film that protects the screen and case. After that, the TV is placed in the foam and cardboard box. However, this package will not be able to guarantee complete protection against damage.

A truck driver carrying plasma televisions must drive very carefully, avoid sudden braking and acceleration. It is important to observe low speed and drive through all the bumps without much shaking.

Televisions are transported only in a vertical position. It is strictly PROHIBITED to put them down the matrix. They can not be placed across the body. In this case, the rear and front panels of the TV will be oriented in the direction of motion, and at any time the device may fall, causing it to malfunction.

It is also important to carefully load and unload the TV in order not to accidentally drop the equipment. This is fraught with serious damage and costly repairs.

These tips will help you quickly and easily transport your TV.

All drivers studied the rules of the road. But truckers have their ownsecret language of signals and various gestures. With their help, they inform other drivers about the dangers on the road, thank them for the place they have lost, and sometimes apologize for wrong maneuvers.

Below we list the gestures and signals that need to be understood not only by truck drivers but also by ordinary cars.

1. If the truck has a right turn, it tells the backward motorists that the track is empty, so they can overtake the truck.
2. If a left turn is on in front of a moving truck, you should not rush to overtake it. The trucker warns that there is a danger ahead or that a car is moving in the opposite lane. It is better, in this case, to wait for the signal from the first item.

Truckers signals

3. If the trucker flashes a distant light, then he warns motorists who are moving towards him about police officers, traffic accidents or other dangers. It is better, in this case, to reduce the speed and drive more carefully. If the trucker flashes a high beam for a long time, it means that he saw some kind of malfunction on the oncoming car, or the oncoming cars just dazzle with their headlights.

4. If the car following you persistently blinks the high beam, then its driver asks you to give way to him.
5. Two flashes with a distant light indicate that you are approaching a dangerous area on the road.
6. With a brief inclusion of the emergency gang, the drivers either thank them for giving way to the road or apologize to the driver moving behind for the inconvenience (incorrect rebuilding, undercutting, etc.).
7. Ifthe truckerswitches the headlights from the low beam to the main beam, then he wants to say that the headlights of the car moving toward meet the drivers.
8. If you see that someone wants to overtake you, you need to switch the headlights from the far to the near. So you will not blind the overtaking driver with the light of headlights reflected in the mirror moving in front of the car. The same must be done when moving towards cars.

These gestures and signals are an important element of road safety. Just do not be these signals mislead other road users.