Car drivers who’ve never been behind the wheel of a van themselves often give van drivers a royally hard time out on the roads. It’s almost as if those “How’s My Driving” stickers make for some kind of target on the backs of the van drivers, which definitely makes the already difficult life of a van driver that much more challenging. Nevertheless, van drivers often spend a lot of their time out on the road as this is likely their work and their livelihood. The longer you spend out on the road the greater the chances of something going wrong, so it’s of great importance to discuss some essential safety tips for van drivers.
Be Well-Prepared
Prior to starting your journey, always be sure to be fully-equipped with a few essentials. The bare essentials tend to reveal themselves to you when you think about some of the challenges you may face between your destinations, such as your spare wheel (along with the wheel brace and jack, of course), first-aid kit, torch, high-visibility vest, etc. Your mobile phone should have a full charge as well, even if your vehicle has radio facilities. Also make sure the technicalities of the likes of your breakdown cover are up to date.
Be Vigilant of How to Handle Different Loads
Make sure to load up your van optimally. The manner in which loads are packed in makes a big difference to elements such as handling and fuel efficiency, but as to exactly what optimal loading means is that you’d ideally seek for the load to be as light as possible. Since this is probably not always possible, the next best pointer to focus on is the positioning of the load. You’d want it in the centre of the wheelbase. Also pay attention to your personal safety when loading and unloading as this is often when injuries tend to occur.
Plan Your Route and Don’t Rush
Advising van drivers to plan their route may seem to be a bit of some obvious advice, but upon closer look at the aspects which go into planning your route and their possible effects one realises just how essential it is. For instance, if you look beyond the actual route as the subject of your route plan, you can save a lot of time by planning what time of day to set off and perhaps where to stop, have a rest, fill up and refresh.
Never rush, no matter what the circumstances so that you always have the best control over your driving.
Know Your Vehicle
If you can get involved in the process of actually acquiring the vehicles you’ll be driving, like if your input is required during the discount van sales, make sure to recommend vehicles which offer the best handling and safety. This is a process which requires you to know your vans a bit, so some research will be required. Knowing your vehicle also means getting acquainted with whichever one you’ll be stuck with, but either way you need to know things like whether or not it can handle high winds, how it does in wet conditions, etc.
