Murray Manuliak and Terrence Griffith describe the challenges, sacrifice on the road and home they’ve found at Bison as professional Drivers who are actively involved in their family life.

Read the full feature article here at Trucknews.com

Interested in Becoming a Professional Driver With Bison?

Bison offers work-life balance perks like Home Notes, allowing Professional Drivers the ability to schedule time off as needed to raise a family while enjoying a career on the road.

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1. 3 Points of Contact: Remember to employ three points of contact at all times when entering or exiting the tractor, trailer, or climbing onto or down from the catwalk. This means always having both hands and one foot or both feet and one hand in contact with your equipment. Making this a habit can prevent slips, trips and falls!
2. Seven Second Rule: Consider seven seconds to be the minimum safe following distance under ideal conditions. Remember to leave extra space if conditions are less than ideal.
3. Cruise Control: Do not use cruise control in less than ideal conditions. Using cruise control can be dangerous on wet or icy roads, as well as in areas where many speed corrections need to be made, such as on winding or hilly roads, in heavy traffic, and in urban areas.
4. Avoid Distractions: Keep both hands on the steering wheel in the 9&3 o’clock position. This allows the maximum steering wheel movement in either direction without having to reposition your hands, giving you the most leverage and control of your vehicle.
5. School Zones/Construction Zones: For everyone’s safety, slow down to posted speeds when approaching school and construction zones and be prepared to stop. Obey all signs and workers who are directing traffic.
6. Tractor & Trailer Lights: Keep your headlights and clearance lights on at all times when driving. Also, always make sure to keep your lights clean. Being visible is extremely important to your safety. Driving with lights on will allow a fellow motorist to see your equipment sooner. This will allow other drivers more time to adjust to any potential hazards.
7. Safe Loading and Unloading Practices: Ensure that vehicles and freight are properly secured when loading or unloading freight. Apply tractor and trailer parking brakes and turn off your tractor. If available, use chock blocks for extra security. Do not pull out of a loading dock until the dock plate has been removed and you have verified that the loading/unloading has in fact been completed and that no equipment or people are still working in the trailer.
8. Seatbelts: Wear a properly adjusted seatbelt at all times. In a team driving environment, as a sleeper-berth occupant, use belts and/or netting during operation of the truck. Do not occupy the upper bunk unless the truck is parked. Seatbelts are the most effective vehicle safety device, saving thousands of lives annually.
9. Speed Limit: To ensure your personal safety and the safety of those around you, travel at or lower than speeds of 62 mph (100 kph) or the otherwise posted speed limit of the roadway being travelled. Always adjust your speed to a safe level as determined by the various driving conditions.
10. Sunglasses: Blinding glare caused by low sun, sunlight reflecting off snow, other vehicles and/or buildings can be potentially lethal. This danger can be greatly reduced by wearing sunglasses with polarized lenses that filter glare. Choose sunglasses that have curved lenses to protect in front and to the sides, and thin frames to free up peripheral vision. Always remove sunglasses when entering tunnels.

Keeping the windshield bug-free is the most in-your-face (literally) recommendation. As small or minor as the residue might be, it can be an obstruction of your line of sight. And if you can’t see out of every part of your windshield, that could be asking for trouble on straightaways or turns on the highway. Many jurisdictions have laws against anything obscuring your view – ensure all devices are mounted outside of the sweep of the wipers.

Make sure your windshield wipers are in good condition not only for bug wiping but also rain swiping. In a heavy downpour, those raindrops can be just as big – and obstructing – as a splattered flying insect. You should have a full washer tank when heading out for a drive.

In addition to bugs, be on the lookout for locals in the area – and we are talking about the four-legged wildlife kind. With the summer sun rising much earlier in the morning and lasting well into the night, many animals are awake and active longer than they might be in the winter months.

This is also the time of year that construction zones can appear and either change the flow of traffic or cause it to detour altogether. Remember the common courtesy – and laws – when passing through a construction zone. Reduce your speed and allow generous clearance when passing equipment and the flag people giving instructions to motorists. Like our drivers, everyone wants to get home safely at the end of the day. Construction workers are no different and deserve our respect when on duty.

Note that nowadays flag persons, pedestrians, cyclists, etc. often are wearing earbuds – sometimes it might be useful to use your horn to ensure they are aware of your presence.

Crews might be doing drivers a favour when it comes to fixing potholes. Every spring potholes appear when the snow melts and often they fill up when rain falls. Puddles can hide them, making potholes a real danger. When you can see them, potholes are usually easy to avoid. But when you think you are just driving over a puddle of water without realizing a deep drop is underneath, it could be damaging to the vehicle.

While we are focused on the bottom area of the truck, remember that heat plays a big part in tire pressure. There can be a 10-lb. difference just because it is hot. Bison Transport policy is 125 psi in steer tires and 100 psi in all others.

Summer might seem like a season for carefree driving but safety should always be a priority to ensure we all enjoy many more rides into the sunset.