Ready For the Road Week is a campaign based around the International Roadcheck that happens annually for commercial vehicles. Under the law a commercial vehicle is a vehicle that has a gross registered weight of over 10,000 pounds or 4500 kgs. For many of the general public many are not aware that commercial vehicles are held to a much higher standard that regular automobiles. The laws and regulations hold the commercial vehicle owners and professional drivers responsible for the truck, maintenance. Additionally the contents of the load also fall under laws and regulations when traveling on the roads and highways.
Many of the motoring public are unaware that transport trucks can be transporting numerous things. Food, hardware, building supplies, gasoline, medicine just to name a few. The driver that is behind the wheel of this truck is a professional, s/he has left their family and maybe out on the road for a day, a few days or a few weeks. That same driver may be from another part of Canada or the United states and might even be from Mexico. Over 90 % of things you see everyday in any store or office arrive on a truck.
For Ready for the Road campaign NSTSA is pleased to be partnering with Palmer Atlantic Insurance & Risk Services together we want to bring awareness to the facts that commercial vehicles and automobiles are required to share the road. We want safety for all people on our roadways.
Some facts about commercial transport trucks and professional drivers:
Dimensions of an transport truck and trailer: Width: 8 foot 6 inches/2.6 meters wide Height: 14 feet/4 meters high (measured from level ground to top of load or vehicle) Length: Lengths vary from 45 feet/14 meters for a single motor vehicle to 65 feet/19 meters for a truck-trailer combination Average Weight: 60,000 pounds/27,000 kilograms gross weight
An average car weighs about 4000 pounds / 1800 kilograms
Due to the weight, trucks require much more room to stop and to slow down
Trucks also require more room to take corners and maneuver in parking lots and loading areas
If you are behind a truck and can not see the trucks mirrors he can not see you
A long haul truck driver can travel 3,000 to 5,000 kilometers a month
Below are a couple of information sessions we did on CTV morning live as part of our Ready For the Road campaign