Common Causes For Truck Accidents
From tractor trailer repair to towing heavy services, it is important for truck drivers to know what to do in the unfortunate event of emergency or break down of their motor vehicle. Though hopefully it does not happen frequently, tractor trailer repair eventually becomes necessary for many truck drivers employed around the country. But if the truck driver knows how to get tractor trailer repair done in the most efficient way possible, the need for tractor trailer repair does not need to derail the overall course of the truck driver.
Truck driving and the transport of goods is a thriving industry all throughout the United States, with more than three million truck drivers employed in 2015. The trucking industry makes most of its profit by moving products around, and trucks and truck drivers move considerably more than half of all of the freight in the United States at seventy percent. In 2013 alone, in fact, the trucking industry transported as much as fifteen billion tons of cargo. In just over twenty years, by 2040, the amount of cargo transported in a year is expected to reach nearly twenty billion tons, according to research done by the Bureau of Labor Statistics.
However, car accidents in the United States are not uncommon, with six million occurring every year. Car accidents involving trucks can be even more common, as there are additional risk facts that can lead to accidents and outcomes such as the need for tractor trailer repair or even full service towing services.
One common cause of all car accidents is that of inclement weather. Poor weather can include both snow and rain, which can lead to iced over or slick roads and, therefore, increased danger in driving. For a truck, which can take as much as forty percent longer to come to a stop than the average passenger car, these conditions can be even more dangerous than for the typical driver out on the road. Poor weather conditions can also lead to reduced visibility, thus making the possibility of a car or truck accident increase significantly. Statistics have shown that dangerous weather conditions increased the overall need for towing services and tractor trailer repair as well as the need for roadside assistance over the span of the last five years.
Problems with a truck or a car are another common reason that automotive towing services are requested. Take, for instance, the problem of the flat tire. Flat tires are incredibly common for all motor vehicles and, in fact, the typical driver will get an average of about five flat tires in their lives, meaning that we will all be in this situation at one point or another. In fact, with more than two hundred million flat tires occurring every year in the United States (which means that a flat tire incident occurs about every seven seconds on U.S. roads), towing services must be ready to go for a call related to a flat tire, as not everyone will have the knowledge or the resources to deal with the problem themselves.
For truck drivers in particular, driver fatigue and exhaustion is a considerable problem that has the potential for severe and tragic outcomes. Driver fatigue can occur when a truck driver has been on the road and behind the wheel for an extended period of time without the chance to rest or even sleep. Some truck drivers will stay awake through the use of stimulants such as caffeine, which can be found in coffee, energy drinks, and even energy pills, but even caffeine cannot combat serious degrees of exhaustion. In fact, driver fatigue has been linked to nearly as much as fifteen percent of all motor vehicle accidents involving a truck.
There are many reasons that emergency tractor trailer repair or towing services might become necessary and though not all of these situations are preventable, there are steps that truck drivers can take to avoid them, such as avoiding severe exhaustion and driving with extreme caution in cases of severe weather.