S A F E T Y In the case of a heavy truck loaded with hazardous material
such as fuel oil an accident has potential to cause property dam- age, personal injury and environmental harm on a bigger scale than would a passenger vehicle, Begin noted. Apart from distrac- tion, speeding and failing to maintain ample following distance are major causes of accidents. Smith & Solomon's Baker said safe driving instruction indi-
rectly impresses upon drivers the responsibility they carry every time they get behind the wheel. "The minute they get into that truck they have the billboard of that company on their backs," Baker said, "and the exposure, the liability—from the owners' standpoint—is huge." As for the driving instruction itself, veteran drivers aren't
always initially receptive, Baker acknowledged. "It's good to have experienced drivers, but sometimes there
is complacency and that is dangerous," Baker said. "Drivers who have been driving vehicles for 30 years 'know' everything there is to know." They might wonder what an instructor can possibly teach them that they don't know after driving thirty years. "Everybody always learns something," Baker insisted. That said, truck drivers "are probably more attentive to their driving than anybody," Baker said. "They know what
they're doing. They've got thousands of gallons of home heating oil. They're driving for the company. They don't want to lose their job. They certainly don't want to hurt anybody, or worse." But nine times out of ten it's not the truck driver who creates
a problem, but another driver, Baker noted. "They'll cut in front, they'll pass on the right where the truck
driver can't necessarily see them," Baker said. "You never know what they're going to do. "But there are maneuvers," Baker said. When stopping at a
light for a right turn, for example, pull slightly into the shoulder to block a passenger vehicle driver from scooting up on the inside and trying to beat your truck around the turn, Baker advised. "It's a good defensive move. It says, 'I'm here. I've got to do what I've got to do—and you just sit tight.'" Fuel oil dealers who hire a safe driving instructor to come
in, or who send their drivers to an instructor, should always conduct follow-up in-house sessions periodically thereafter, Baker advised. That doesn't require time-consuming meet- ings, but a 15-minute refresher, maybe on a quarterly basis, can keep the subject of safe and defensive driving front and center, Baker said. l FON
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