Dot fleet safety program

The driver will also review the last completed Driver's Vehicle Inspection Report to verify that any needed repairs were made to the vehicle. If the defects noted were not acknowledged by an authorized signature, the driver shall not drive the vehicle until the defects are handled appropriately.

The Supervisor will sign the report indicating that repairs have been made or are not required to be made. The original inspection report and certification of repairs will be retained in the Vehicle Maintenance File.

The original inspection reports on which no defects were noted and on which defects were noted, and the certification of repairs, will be retained in the Vehicle Maintenance File. Driver On-The-Road Inspections.

Once on the road, the driver must examine any cargo and its load securing devices and make any necessary adjustments.

A complete record on each vehicle in the fleet will be kept. It will include basic vehicle information and information indicating the nature and due date of any inspection and maintenance operations to be performed on the vehicle, and a record of any inspections, repairs and maintenance performed on the vehicle in question, including dates performed and specifics on the nature of the operations.

A point system structure has been established to evaluate new hire and current employee motor vehicle records. If a potential new employee meets or exceeds seven 7 points total within the previous three 3 years or exceeds four 4 points within the previous 12 months, they are not eligible for a position that requires driving an entity vehicle.

The same point policy applies to existing employees as in the hiring process in terms of points assigned to traffic violations or motor vehicle offenses. Driver must not meet or exceed seven 7 points accumulated in a three 3 year period.

Motor Vehicle Records will be obtained on all entity vehicle drivers every twelve months. Each MVR received will be reviewed in a timely manner and evaluated for compliance. A copy of all records will be maintained in the employees file along with any corrective action documentation. While operating entity vehicles, drivers should always drive in the safest manner possible. Specifically, our drivers must operate entity vehicles in accordance with all provisions of The Commercial Vehicle Safety Program.

Assignments for classes shall be made by the employee's supervisor to insure class quotas are met and to maintain satisfactory work schedules. Frequency of employee attendance of Defensive Driving Courses shall be once per year.

New employees required to drive Entity vehicles shall be required to complete the Defensive Driving Course satisfactorily before starting their driving assignment. Getting into and out of intersections without an accident is a mark of a good defensive driver. Besides your own skill level, intersections also demand anticipation of the actions of other drivers and taking appropriate evasive action as required. Backing is an extremely hazardous maneuver.

If you are backing with the assistance of a guide, the ultimate responsibility for the safety of the backing maneuver remains with you as the driver.

Front-End Collisions. The primary way to avoid front-end collisions is by maintaining a safe and adequate following distance. You should be prepared for possible obstructions on the roadway, either in plain sight or hidden by curves or the crests of hills.

A special situation occurs at night, when speed should be kept to a level that will allow you to stop within the distance illuminated by the headlights of your vehicle. Rear-End Collisions. As a driver, you risk being struck from behind if you do not maintain an adequate margin of safety in your own following distance. If enough space is not allowed in front of your vehicle, chances go way up that somebody can and will impact you from the rear.

Being Passed. As a driver, you must be aware of the actions of other drivers, and give way if another driver begins to sideswipe you or to cut you off. A good defensive driver will avoid problems with this kind of accident situation. Encroaching on Other Traffic Lanes. Observant defensive drivers will not usually get trapped when other drivers change lanes abruptly. In the same manner, entrapment in merging traffic can be successfully avoided by a good defensive driver with a little preplanning and willingness to yield.

Blind spots are not valid excuses for this kind of accident - allowances must be made in areas of limited sight distance. Railroad Grade Crossings.

Driving across railroad crossings, or in areas where there are rail vehicles of some sort, demands special care. Careful observance of the traffic situation is your best defense. Oncoming Traffic. A defensive driver will avoid a collision with an oncoming vehicle at all costs. Even if the vehicle enters your lane of traffic, an accident can be avoided with some evasive maneuvers.

Turning, like passing, is a dangerous maneuver, and demands special care and an observant eye from you as a defensive driver. You should be aware of other vehicles in your path, and of the complete configuration of the turn you are about to undertake. As a sensible defensive driver, always assume that if there is a pedestrian or small vehicle of some sort involved in a situation, slowing down is your best defense.

Be certain to give people and small vehicles the benefit of the doubt. Extreme Weather and Road Conditions.

Bad weather and other road hazards place special stress upon any defensive driver. The best rule in any kind of bad weather or extreme road condition is get off the road safely and as soon as possible. If you absolutely must continue, slowing way down and increasing following distance are your best defenses, along with increased awareness. Fog reduces available visibility and impairs distance perception, making it perhaps the most dangerous type of extreme weather condition.

Because of this, it is company policy that, whenever possible, drivers are to avoid driving in foggy conditions. Pull off the road and park safely until such time as the fog dissipates or is burned off, if at all possible. Fog can range from a momentary blurring of the windshield to being several miles thick. Reduction in speed should be done gradually in order to avoid becoming a hazard for other motorists. Determining a correct and safe speed depends on the thickness of the fog and is left to your best judgment.

Low-beams serve two purposes. They help you see the immediate roadway and also allow other motorists to see your vehicle. The water particles that make up fog will reflect more light back at you than onto the roadway when high beams are used, and will further reduce visibility for you. Driving in foggy conditions will cause a constant fine mist of water to develop on the vehicle's windshield, reducing visibility in the process.

Using the windshield wipers and defroster will alleviate this condition. If you must stop, use the emergency or breakdown lane, activate your emergency flashers, turn off the headlights, and follow approved breakdown procedures. Rain causes roadways to become slippery, especially when it first begins.

Roadways become covered with a thin layer of oil and other residues. When rain mixes with this layer, it results in an extremely slippery and dangerous road surface.

This condition remains until additional rain can break down and wash away the oily mixture from the pavement. This process can take anywhere from a few minutes to several hours, depending on the severity of the rain. Water on the road surface can also create a potential hazard of hydroplaning. Hydroplaning happens when a thin layer of water separates the vehicle's tires from the road surface.

When a vehicle is hydroplaning, it is literally riding on water. When the tires ride on water, they lose all traction and create an extremely dangerous situation. The faster a vehicle travels on standing water, the greater the chance of hydroplaning.

Reducing speed is the best and safest way to avoid hydroplaning. Rain also reduces visibility. Determining the correct and safe speed depends on how heavy the rain is and will be left to your best judgment. Since rain causes the road surface to become slippery, you need to allow for greater stopping distance if the need to stop arises.

Driving in rainy conditions will cause a constant film of water to develop on the vehicle's windshield, reducing visibility in the process. In addition, you are encouraged to follow other vehicles at a safe distance since vehicles traveling ahead will throw water off the pavement and leave "tracks". Driving in these tracks will give you the best possible traction under rainy conditions. Snow, depending on the type and severity, can present a variety of dangerous conditions.

However if there is enough of this type of snow to cover the roadway, it will form a slick, smooth surface. You should reduce speed and increase following distance. Determining the correct speed and safe following distance will be left to your best judgment. If snow becomes hard packed it can cause an ice hazard on the road surface. Again, you should reduce speed and increase following distance.

In addition, falling and blowing snow can make it hard to see the road, road markings, road signs, and off ramps. If you must continue in snowy conditions, reducing speed and increasing following distance are the best techniques a driver can use to maintain vehicle control. The high-beam "shooting" light will reflect off falling and blowing snow and reflect back at you, further reducing visibility. Snow hypnosis occurs when a driver is traveling directly into heavy snow and begins to focus on the falling snow instead of the road ahead.

This can cause a hypnotic-like effect on the driver. The danger of snow hypnosis is especially prevalent at night.

All drivers need to be aware of changes in road surface conditions that may affect the vehicle's traction. But of these two, increasing following distance is by far the most important. Depending on the temperature and road conditions, stopping distance distance needed to come to a complete stop on icy roads can increase four to ten times versus stopping from the same speed on a dry road.

What makes black ice particularly dangerous is that you may not realize you are on it until it's too late. Ice will tend to form first on bridges and overpasses because cold air circulates both above and below these structures causing the temperature to drop more rapidly than on normal roads.

Any moisture on the road surface of a bridge or overpass will freeze quicker and harder than elsewhere on the road.

Extreme caution and a reduction in speed should be used while traveling over bridges and overpasses. Night Driving. All drivers need to be aware of the potential hazards driving at night present. These hazards include fatigue, reduced visibility, poor lighting, other impaired motorists, and animals on the road. To help drivers better prepare for driving at night, the following procedures have been developed for this defensive driving policy: Fatigue is perhaps the most dangerous hazard of driving at night.

Nothing we do is worth any one getting hurt. Fatigue usually sets in at night, but a tired driver, at any time of day, is an unsafe driver. Fatigue reduces drivers' reaction time and perception. For example, you can't remember the last several miles you have driven. If you experience any of these signs, it's time to get off the road as soon as safely possible and get some rest.

At night, visual acuity degree of perception and peripheral vision side vision are reduced, and the eyes may have difficulty adjusting from light to darkness. These factors all contribute to reduced visibility while driving at night. The best and safest techniques to counteract these night driving hazards are to reduce your speed and increase your following distance. Reducing speed is also the best way to prevent "out driving" your headlights. At night, with poor or no lighting aside from the vehicle's headlights, hazards in the road are much more difficult to see and avoid.

You should reduce speed and use extra caution when traveling on poorly lit or unfamiliar roads. Drivers should be especially cautious when driving between the hours of midnight and typical bar and tavern closing times. Drivers should be wary of motorists driving in an erratic manner including weaving in and out of traffic lanes, having difficulty maintaining a constant rate of speed, or braking suddenly. If you, as a driver, suspect that you are sharing the road with an impaired motorist, reduce your speed, let the motorist pass, and increase following distance.

Drivers are to be especially alert when driving on roadways lined by woods or tall grass. Animals, especially deer, can jump out in front of an. Safety materials created by safety professionals. Access to the Safety Manager software. Wide variety of safety videos and courses. Kimberly Clark N95 U. Made Respirators. Best Prices Call New To Safety? Note: You must have a full subscription to the Safety Library in order to use this material.

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