If you work in the towing world, you know how important it is to stay safe on the job. There are a lot of risks that towers face every day.
But there’s good news.
There are ways that you can improve safety at your tow truck business and minimize the risks that you and your drivers face. One thing you can do is create safety policies for your workplace. We’ll explain five different policies or protocols that will help you keep your drivers safe.
1. Distracted driving.
This one is crucial.
Texting and driving takes your attention off the road, and in the time it takes you to read or send a text (about five seconds) your tow truck could travel the length of a football field (assuming you’re traveling about 45-50 mph.) That’s essentially like driving 300 feet blindfolded.
And that’s terrifying.
To make it perfectly clear to your drivers that you will not tolerate distracted driving, you can implement a distracted driving policy: no texting and no talking on the phone while you’re on the road. Not only is it in the interest of keeping your drivers safe, but it will help them avoid accidents – and that means you can keep your tow truck insurance rates down.
2. Speeding.
Speeding is another one of those things that you may want to create a policy for. While towing is a high-pressure industry and drivers might want to hurry to the next job, it’s crucial to take care to obey the speed limit and to slow down if the weather is bad. Be sure that your policy reflects that.
There are many dangers of speeding, but hopefully implementing a policy about it will encourage your drivers to obey the speed limit.
3. Following distance.
When you drive a big, heavy vehicle like a tow truck, you can’t stop at the drop of a hat. That’s why keeping a safe following distance is important – you have to leave room between your truck and the car in front of you.
Having a policy about following distance will encourage your drivers to leave plenty of room between their car and the car in front of them, and that, in turn, will help with avoiding rear-end collisions that can make your insurance rates go up. Part of the reason that tow truck insurance rates have been going up so much is that the costs of bodily injury litigation have been rising.
Anyways, it’s a good idea to get out ahead of the issue and prevent accidents with a following distance policy.
4. Seatbelts.
Having a seatbelt policy will help you convey to your drivers why it’s so important to buckle up. Seatbelts are there to keep the driver in place in the event of an accident, preventing them from being thrown from the vehicle or being thrown into the windshield.
But that’s not all they do.
Seatbelts distribute the force of a crash over a wide area of the body, an area of the body that’s strong. There’s a reason why they have both a shoulder belt and the lap section. The seatbelt will protect the driver’s head, spine, and neck.
5. Pre-trip vehicle inspection.
Another helpful policy to keep your business safe is a pre-trip vehicle inspection policy. It’s a good idea to develop a protocol for pre-trip inspections. The goal of having your drivers do a pre-trip inspection is to catch any problems with the tow truck or wrecker before the truck is dispatched on a call.
Mechanical problems can quickly become hazards and make a tow truck unsafe to be on the road. Mechanical issues could cause an accident, and no one wants that to happen, hence why pre-trip vehicle inspections are important.
So, make sure that your drivers understand what they need to do for their inspection and that they fill out any relevant paperwork.
These are just five safety-related policies that you can consider starting at your tow truck business. When you make your policies, make sure that everyone gets a copy and has the opportunity to ask questions. You can even have them sign off that they’ve received it and reviewed it. These policies are a way for you to make your expectations clear – and keep your team safe.
If you’d like to save money on your tow truck or wrecker insurance, we would be happy to help. Our tow truck insurance experts are pros at helping towing businesses find the best coverage at the best rate. To get your tow truck insurance quotes, fill out our online form or call us today.
