Defensive Driving 101 For Commercial Drivers

Commercial drivers face many challenges every day. You’re under a lot of pressure to transport goods on time, without damage and without risking your own safety or the safety of those with whom you share the road. Getting around the Eagle Ford Shale region would be easy if commercial vehicles had their own highways to maneuver through but unfortunately you have to share the roadways with everyone else. You’re a trained and professional driver but the same can’t be said for other road users. This means that you have to drive defensively. Be alert and aware of your surrounding at all times.

Here are a few helpful tips to keep you and those around you safe:

Seeing The Road & Surroundings

To be a safe driver you need to know what’s going on all around your vehicle. Not looking properly is a major cause of accidents. Seeing ahead and watch for traffic. Be alert to accidents waiting to happen. Be aware of the effect that road conditions have on your vehicle’s performance.

Watch the sides and rear of your vehicle. Make sure your mirrors are adjusted to give you the best view. Pay attention to traffic, lane changes, turns, merges, tight maneuvers and understand what you see.

Be on the lookout for distracted drivers who are on the phone or moving around in their vehicle and not paying attention to the road. They could get themselves in trouble that could involve you. Identify developing problems quickly and be ready to respond to any potential hazards such as:

• tight turns
• vehicles stopped on the road or driving too slowly.

Communicating With Other Drivers

You certainly don’t want your actions to take other drivers by surprise and cause them to overreact. Communicating your presence efficiently keeps everyone safe. Signal your intentions promptly. Slow gradually. Avoid making sudden maneuvers.

Managing Space & Distance

To be a safe driver, you need space all around your vehicle. When things go wrong, space gives you time to think and to take action. To have space available when something goes wrong, you need to manage space. While this is true for all drivers, it is very important for large vehicles. They take up more space and they require much more space for stopping and turning so maintain a generous following distance. Be aware of the traffic to the sides and rear of your vehicle as well as in front.

Commercial vehicle drivers put in a lot of miles. Spending all that time on the road, it’s easy to fall into a routine and get complacent. Sometimes you have to make a point of being in the right frame of mind to drive. When you pretrip your vehicle and get ready to roll, pretrip yourself as well. Make sure you’re alert and paying attention. Don’t drive if you’re too fatigued or impaired to respond. Your safety and the safety of everyone else on the road depend on your knowledge and professionalism.

Truck Drivers - Watch Where You're Going!

Tanker Truck on the Highway

Remember maps? Those huge sheets of paper had colorful graphic representations of geographic areas and showed the locations of cities, towns, highways, streets, mountains, bodies of water and a host of other information for the traveler. Using the map scale, a driver could estimate the distance and time needed for a journey and elect to choose a route that went around a busy city or one that didn’t climb a steep mountain range. (The one thing that few drivers couldn’t do with a map was get it refolded to its original convenient glove-box size.)

Truckers’ maps went beyond common road atlases by including additional job-specific details such as the locations of weigh stations, low overhead clearances and non-truck routes. (Plus they came bound in book form--no refolding needed!)

Truck Driving Maps Go Electronic

[ic-l]Increasingly, drivers are getting guidance not from paper maps but from electronic devices. Global positioning systems (GPS) use satellites to tell drivers where they are, where they are going and what lies ahead.

The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) wants commercial vehicle drivers to realize that not all navigation systems are the same. Just as truckers’ maps differed from common road atlases, so do GPS systems.

“A typical system that a consumer might buy at an electronics or auto parts store may not have software programming to show low bridges, hazmat routes and other information relevant to commercial motor vehicle operators.”

Paying attention to warnings can spare you a hefty fine for pulling your 30-ton tanker down a road restricted to a weight one third of that.

The FMCSA believes it is critical for truck and bus drivers to use the right navigation system when operating a commercial motor vehicle. If you use a navigation system that does not provide important route restrictions such as low bridge overpasses the shortcut you thought would save you time and fuel may end up more expensive than you had anticipated. A wrong turn or unnecessary mile can cost you time, money and patience.

Commercial Motor Vehicle navigation systems differ because they:

• Take into account road widths which can affect speed limits
• Report road, weather and traffic conditions that could cause delays
• Alert drivers to elevations that can make driving a challenge

The FMCSA has created a visor card specifically for truck and bus drivers on how to choose the right navigation system intended for them. The visor card gives tips for safe use of navigation systems. It’s pictured here and you can also download it free-of-charge from http://www.fmcsa.dot.gov/about/outreach/education/GPS_Visor_Card_508.pdf. The visor card provides tips on selecting the proper navigation system designed for trucks and buses.

A navigation system has to be used properly to give good results. The information you get out of it is only as good as the information you put in it. The FMCSA visor card shows how to input data. For example, in order for the system to provide you with the appropriate route, you should enter all relevant information such as:

• Vehicle's length, width and height;
• Axle weight; and
• Any hazardous materials being hauled.

Drive Smarter, Be Safer

Give yourself every advantage by selecting a route that doesn’t throw avoidable obstacles in your path. Follow the recommended route and obey traffic, clearance and warning signs.

And it goes without saying: don’t drive while using a cell phone or texting. By planning your route and paying attention to your driving you can have a safe and efficient run.

New Oil & Gas Water Recycling Rules - TX RRC

The Railroad Commission has adopted new rules to encourage Texas operators to continue their efforts at conserving water used in the hydraulic fracturing process for oil and gas wells. They have essentially relaxed rules to make it easier for operators to recycle water onsite. Major changes adopted to the Commission’s water recycling rules include eliminating the need for a recycling permit if operators are recycling fluid on their own leases or transferring their fluids to another operator’s lease for recycling. The changes adopted by the Commission today also clearly identify recycling permit application requirements and reflect existing standard field conditions for recycling permits.

“By removing regulatory hurdles, these new amendments will help foster the recycling efforts by oil and gas operators who continue to examine ways to reduce freshwater use when hydraulically fracturing well.”

— Chairman Barry Smitherman

Commissioner David Porter said, “Water use has been a major concern examined by my Eagle Ford Shale Task Force, and I commend our staff for working to streamline our rules to encourage more recycling.”

Commissioner Christi Craddick said, “Just as our operators have used technology to bring us into this modern day boom of oil production, they are also using technology to reduce their fresh water use. The changes adopted today will assist in those efforts.”

Water shortages in Texas in the past 5 years has brought the spotlight on new oil and gas production methods, in particular hydraulic fracturing. Even though this technique is reported to only use about 1% of water usage in the state, it is an important resource that industries are compelled to manage properly for a more responsible energy future. In doing so, a new ruling by the Texas Railroad Commission removes the regulatory hurdle from recycling frac water– bringing big promise to the future of water recycling in the region. "We see this change as an opportunity to accelerate deployment of our water recycling technologies in Texas.", said Peter Pappas, VP at Bosque Systems.

The rule amendment also establishes five categories of commercial recycling permits to reflect industry practices in the field:

• On-lease Commercial Solid Oil and Gas Waste Recycling
• Off-lease or Centralized Commercial Solid Oil and Gas Waste Recycling
• Stationary Commercial Solid Oil and Gas Waste Recycling
• Off-lease Commercial Recycling of Fluid
• Stationary Commercial Recycling of Fluid

The changes to the rule also establish a tiered approach for the reuse of treated fluid, including both authorized reuse of treated fluids in oil and gas operations and provisions for reusing the fluid for other non-oilfield related uses.

Gulf Coast Oil & Gas Award Winners Announced

Oil and Gas Awards Photo

The inaugural winners of the Gulf Coast Oil & Gas Awards were announced this past week.

The award winners for 2012 included:

• E&P Company – Anadarko
• Drilling & Services Company – C&J Energy Services
• Health & Safety Initiative – Industrial Scientific Corporation
• Industry Supplier – Sulzer
• Law Firm – Baker Botts LLP
• Midstream Co – Williams
• Trucking Co – Gold Spur Trucking

There were several others divisions and winners. You can find the full list of winners at oilandgasawards.com

Free Training Offered to Halt Transportation Deaths - Press Release

In response to the high number of transportation related deaths amongst Texas oil and gas workers, Safety Services Company is offering a free online training program in driver safety.

“It is not only important to ensure your employees understand safety while at the workplace, but while driving home from the workplace also,” said Safety Services Company spokesman Michael Rich.

Since 2009, 40 oil and gas workers in Texas have lost their lives while navigating public roads either to or from work.

However, the hazard isn’t confined by the state boundaries of Texas.

A 2013 study published by the Accident Analysis & Prevention Journal, based on data from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, found that oil and gas workers are 8.5 more times likely to die in a motor vehicle crashes while on the job than those in other businesses. Reasons for the heightened deaths on the roads ways steam from the fact that oilfield workers often work long hours and must navigate more treacherous roadways to get to isolated work locations.

“Many of these workers are young men who simply are not aware of the potential for death on the roadway,” Rich said. “We want to educate them on these hazards to help save their lives.”

To facilitate this education Safety Services Company is encouraging the owners of companies who work in the oil and gas sector to require their employees to complete a driver safety program.

“Whether they take it through us for free, or get it somewhere else all that is important is that these employees get the training they need,” Rich said.

To take advantage of safety services free training course call 877-427-1503.

For more information visit - www.safetyservicescompany.com

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