Driving long distances can present a handful of unforeseen obstacles for drivers. Making sure that you prepare yourself as well as possible can help make the journey not only shorter, but also even pleasant. Preventative maintenance of your truck before embarking on a long journey can help provide safety and peace of mind for your upcoming trips.
Maintenance Essentials
A brake inspection is advisable seeing as how worn-out brakes and brake failure are a common cause for accidents, which can often times result in vehicle damage or even third-party injury. Worn out brake pads can be a simple and inexpensive fix to ensure the safety of your drive. Making sure your truck is well lubed and has all the liquids it needs to run seamlessly is another way to ensure that the maintenance is fully updated on your vehicle. Let us not forget how important and essential routine oil changes are and how they will assist in eliminating a handful of unforeseen breakdowns on the long drive. It is good practice to keep the condition of your truck up to par so that your drive is always smooth and safe. Additionally, having peace of mind knowing that everything under the hood is functioning properly can ease the stress of driving long distances, after all no one wants to get stuck on the side of the road.
Personal Driver Recommendations
Not only should the truck be well maintained and ready for a long journey, but the conductor should as well. We recommend getting ample sleep-in order to eliminate several time-consuming stops on the road such as coffee breaks, which can then turn into bathroom breaks. Packing snacks and meals might also prevent several stops to be made for food and water. However, it is most important to be well rested for the journey so that drivers can have a clear mind for watching the road and an enjoyable drive. We have all been in a situation of tired driving at some point and it is safe to say that driving under poor conditions can add stress to the already long journey. As it stands speeds limits for bigger trucks tend to be slower than for general traffic adding time to the drive over all, if you are going to be on the road for several hours it is best to be clear headed and well rested. Getting a full night's rest would serve a driver well the day before a long trip.
Breaking it down
In short, this list will cover tips before embarking on a long distance drive in order to help ease the pressure off truck drivers for the unforeseen troubles and roadblocks that may occur on the drive.
- Sleep well, a full nights rest
- Pack snacks and water
- Make sure your truck is well maintained
- Oils
- Lubes
- Brakes
- Tire pressure
We encourage the practice of safe driving and through research have found that by taking action before a long journey on the road you can eliminate a degree of worry off the road.
