Up Front

Look out for each other

As another year winds down, the trucking industry will start presenting a truckload of year-end awards to drivers. Almost all of these awards will revolve around safety. While just about anyone can point a truck down the road, the real pros can meet their delivery times, serve their customers and drive a big rig year after year, for hundreds of thousands of miles, without being involved in a preventable accident.

The nation’s highways aren’t exactly combat zones, but they’re no walk in the park, either. We asked a handful of drivers if they considered trucking a dangerous profession for this month’s “Say What” column, and almost all of them said yes. Most pointed the finger at the usual suspects: increased traffic compounded by clueless four-wheel drivers.

One woman said she could handle the traffic; the real danger lurked once she pulled off the road. Solo female drivers are vulnerable to unwanted advances, threats and physical and psychological abuse. Sad to say, sometimes the despicable behavior emanates from one of the few bad apples in the legion of truckers.

This job is dangerous enough without having to worry about attacks from within the ranks. Let’s make it a little safer by looking out for each other—on and off the road.