The Truck Cab, apart from being the cockpit of your rig, also serves as an office, dining room, storeroom, lounge and shelter from adverse weather.
Through smart designs, our compact truck cabs can cater for all the purposes mentioned above.
Your paperwork, cutlery, food items, bed linen, clothes, safety gear, trucker equipment amongst other things, all have compartments where you can pack them.
Modern truck cabs have several compartments to help you keep your office clean, orderly and safe.
When it gets too hot, extremely cold or when rains, your cab is well equipped to keep you cool and dry.
Multiple hazards linger in this multifunctional room, if truck drivers don’t pay adequate attention, cautions SA Trucker.
Here are some tips to help reduce the risk of truck cab-related injuries.
Falls
Make sure grab handles and cab steps are securely mounted, clean from oil, dry and usable.
Maintain the three points of contact rule when climbing cab steps. While facing the vehicle, hold grab handles firmly, gain stable footing and climb all steps. Don’t skip any of the steps or you may end up losing your balance and falling.
Never jump from the cab to the ground.
Make sure the interior engine cover is fitted securely.
Try not to smoke in the truck cab and install a smoke and carbon monoxide alarm.
Never use exhaust heaters, unenclosed flame heaters, or heaters that are prone to fuel leakage or air contamination.
Tighten loose or broken cab components and accessories, you don’t want them to distract you when they come off while driving.
Avoid leaving anything out of place because it may end hindering you when it moves while you are driving.
Report excessive noises from vehicle systems and get them attended to.
Keep a fire extinguisher inside the cab for emergencies.
Don’t keep or use flammable products inside your cab. This point presents a big challenge to the long-distance truckers who have to prepare hot meals for themselves.
Read also: Truck driver found dead in his truck, cause of death revealed
If possible, do the cooking outside the cab then come back in for dining.
Many truck drivers use gas to cook hot meals but it is very dangerous if it’s not handled with enough care. A truck driver was seriously burned and the cab destroyed when his gas bottle exploded at Gateway Truck Stop, Beitbridge Border Post earlier this year.
Another driver also died in his sleep at his company’s premises in Boksburg. It was later discovered that his gas bottle, which he kept in the cab, was leaking gradually causing his death.
Gas bottles should be stored in the truck boot, not in the cab.
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