High speed in huge rigs is always considered as a big problem. According to the statistical studies, over 50% of accidents include big trucks, and the main cause is the high speed, and in a few cases, the cause is crash due to over-speed.
It becomes difficult for the truckers to control a very high speed and stop the truck in comparison to cars, and also, the trucks need more space to break.
You may face a disaster often when there is a combination of stopping distance and hitting any car that is in front of your truck. The high-speed results in worse results. You must note all the things going in your surroundings as you are driving a big vehicle, which, if not drove adequately may lead to uncontrolled speed and cause damage. You may also lose control over the vehicle in inclement weather.
The best thing you can do is to control the vehicle’s speed, which should also help you decrease the odds of accidents.
You can use cruise control that will help you to manage and control the speed on dry roads.
Here we will read further than what truckers must know when it comes to selecting a cruise control option that helps control the speed.
Guidelines for using cruise control:
Proof of legal speed
Set your speed limit by yourself. This will help you to provide an ample room at the front of the truck. You must stay calm when the car passes or over-take.
You need to set the cruise control at a safe speed limit and comfort zone and let this limit not lose track of how you are driving.
To ensure that what was the speed at the time of the accident, this cruise control will let you feature everything.
This can be essential information for the one who is investigating the cause of the accident. You can anytime download the recorded speed that the driver was driving from the ECM.
Bad climate
The truckers can often face this situation where the weather or the road’s situation turns terrible automatically. It will be easy for you to control the truck speed if the truck speed is low.
At this stage, the road surfaces change, and it becomes difficult to manage, you need to turn off the cruise by flipping the switch off command, so do not tap the brake pedal in this situation.
Greasy roads
It is never considered the best option to run the cruise on a slippery or greasy road. There are strict policies by some of the trucking companies
Some companies even terminate the driver if they got such an accident in uncontrollable weather, and the ECM tells that all the time, the cruise was engaged by the driver.
As for such situations and the pressure on the roads, do not allow yourself to be in such a state where you cannot even control your truck’s speed.
Keep in mind, and you are the only one who can manage the vehicle’s speed.
You need only to use the cruise control when the road conditions are better and completely dry.
You need to turn it off as soon as the road surface changes.
It can also be fatal if the vehicle’s cruise control is working and the truck hits an ice patch.
Laws of speed limiter
For big rigs, some states are planning to implement the speed limiters. I don’t think it will be suitable to implement the speed limiters for heavy trucks.
You may see several occasions when there is a need for a truck to accelerate and get away from such problems or to get over any other vehicle.
I think that the speed limiters take control away, and the truck drivers face trouble due to it. This is not at all advised to take any charge from the truck driver.
Cruise control – used to control the vehicle’s speed:
I would still say controlling your vehicle speed helps to keep you and your vehicle safe from any accident. It has become easy to see the truck’s position and trailer at 60 mpg rather than driving on 70 mph.
Advantages of using cruise control on heavy truck
- While the cruise is engaged, the driver can concentrate easily on what is going on with the vehicle and other essential things.
- The cruise control speed limiter will monitor the speed of the truck.
- It can often be challenging for a driver to remain at the same speed, so the cruise can keep the truck rate constant.
- You can easily lean the pedal of the fuel, and so the truck can easily travel. With the help of cruise control, you can save this from happening.
- If a driver is driving slowly, this may save fuel and helps to get through anything that happens. It keeps the truck driver in control of the vehicle.