The Job of a Truck Driver

Sitting in the cab of an 18 Wheeler, the driver has a bird's eye view of the road in front of him. The driver's seat of a "big truck" sits a good 4 to 5 feet above the seat of a conventional four-wheel vehicle. This gives the truck driver an advantage over drivers of smaller vehicles because he can scan down the road farther, actually looking over vehicles that are in front of him. A good truck driver will use this advantage of sight to keep tabs on what traffic is doing as far down the road as he can see, in order to anticipate what obstacles he may encounter. Planning for obstacles is half the battle of avoiding them.

It is absolutely necessary to use this advantage to plan "ways of escape" just in case something abnormal happens on the road in front of him. For instance, let's say that a car ahead of him has a flat tire and slows down very quickly to pull off to the shoulder - but doesn't get off the road completely. That truck driver would need to react to this situation fast in order to avoid running over the car and killing the people inside. A big truck can, by no means, slow down as fast as a car can. So by scanning far down the road with his eyes the driver is hoping for the best, but planning for the worst. He is leaving himself a "way out." This technique is referred to as the "aim high" technique.

The "aim high" technique is taught in just about every truck driving school today. It is not necessarily a technique that comes naturally to most drivers. Most drivers will want to focus on cars and objects which are immediately around them. The "aim high" technique teaches the driver to look as far down the road as he can, looking for anything that could pose a collision danger. Using this technique does not mean that you're constantly looking that far down the road. You still need to pay attention to traffic immediately around you. A driver should just briefly scan down the road as far as the eye can see every 5-10 seconds to update the brain on the constantly changing traffic situation.

It is unfortunate, but most people driving the roads and highways today do not realize the limitations that a big truck has when it comes to stopping. When traveling at highway speeds, a big truck fully loaded with freight could take up to 10 to 15 times the distance it takes a conventional vehicle to stop. To compensate for this, a truck driver needs to be constantly vigilant and be able to recognize threatening situations as they arise. Being able to stop in order to avoid a collision, or being able to drive around an obstacle that cannot be avoided by stopping, is essential to highway safety. A truck driver's mind must always be working to anticipate and solve these potential problems because they do occur on our congested highways daily. This is just one small part of a professional driver's overall job of transporting freight in the safest way possible.