[11 TOP ROAD SIGNS FOR CDL DRIVERS | TRUCK DRIVING SCHOOL]
Hi there smart drivers, Rick with Smart
Drive Test talking to you today about
the top eleven signs that commercial
drivers, new commercial drivers--truck or
bus drivers--have to pay attention to.
Yes I know that most drivers do not read road
signs, and that is abundantly clear when
you teach a higher class driver to drive
and you ask them what speed they're going
and what the speed limit is and often
they don't know because they didn't see
the last speed sign.
However for professional drivers--truck
and bus drivers--it is important to read
the road signs and there are some road
signs that are going to actually save
your life. So it is now important that
you pay attention the road signs. And
today we're going to go over the top
eleven road signs that I believe are
important to helping you out with your
day-to-day task and keeping you safe and
keeping the wheels on the pavement and
not spinning up in the air.
We'll be right back with the top eleven road
signs for new professional drivers. Stick
around.
[OPENING CREDITS & MUSIC]
Hi there smart drivers, welcome back. Rick
with Smart Drive Test talking to you
today about the top eleven road signs
that new commercial drivers should and
must pay attention to. so we're going to
get started without any further ado.
Number 11 - mile markers: mile markers give
you an indication of where you are
relative to a known point. For example, in
British Columbia, Canada they start at '0'
in Vancouver and climb as you go east. In
Ohio in the United States they start at
213 at the north in Toledo, Ohio and
they go down to zero as you get to
Cincinnati and go '0' at the river. East-
west along major highways, north-south.
All of the mile markers are there and
you can figure that out from a map or
your GPS (Global Positioning Satellite). As well, mile markers - all of the
exits have a mile marker number on them
and when you're navigating to wherever
you're going
try and get the mile marker off your GPS,
or off your map. It's going to make your
life a lot easier. A couple of stories
about mile markers. I was once trying to
find my way on Interstate 95 through
Florida. The guy told me I needed to get
off of the Smythe exit - I got off at the Smythe exit,
but they were two of them. I
ended up in the swamp.
The exit I wanted was 50 miles farther south
down the interstate. So always trying to
get the mile marker number.
Another one is that mile markers will
help you with defensive driving and I'll give
you an example. I came out of Kamloops, BC with
a student and as you know for those of
you who have been to Kamloops and driven
on the Trans-Canada highway, there's a
huge hill that goes up through Kamloops.
Anyway he was in a tandem-tandem driving
and there's a big fully loaded Super 'B'--
and for those who don't know Super B's
run out of 63,500 kilograms or a
hundred forty thousand pounds.
They're really heavy trucks. Anyway he
asked me if he could pass the truck, if
he had enough distance. We had figured
out that where he came onto the
Trans-Canada was at the 370; where he
wanted to get off at the exit was 378.
And I said to him, "what's the difference
between 370 and 378 in terms of mile markers?"
He didn't know - I said it's eight
kilometers, so you just came off your
exit got onto the Trans-
Canada - you have eight kilometers
between now and where you need to get
off, so of course you have enough
distance to pass that truck safely and
get back in in front of him to
get off at your exit. So that's another
defensive move that you can use for mile
markers. Sign number 10 - destination
boards that tell you how far you are
from a city, village, or town.
These are important for you to do your
daily job because dispatch is going to
ask you when you call them or they get
in touch with you, however that is by a
communications, where you are.
What is your ETA--what is your estimated
time of arrival at your destination or
your pick up. The destination signs allow you
to figure out how far you are from an
known place and give you your location within
five to ten minutes. And all commercial
drivers should be able to give their
location within five to ten minutes of
where they are and how long it's going
to take them to get to their destination.
So destination boards are important for
figuring out ETA and keeping that ETA up
to date for the purposes of dispatch so
they can find you another load and
coordinate available vehicles with
available freight. And I'll put a card up
here for you for the complete video on
what dispatchers do. Sign number 9 - and
this may surprise some of you, but "no
truck routes." You now have to pay
attention to NO truck routes. It's not
really that important of a sign if you
end up down on that road or whatnot. You
got lost or whatnot because I'll tell
you right now:
NO truck route sign - they're usually around
the corner of the road that you're not
supposed to go on. So by the time you get
the vehicle turned around the corner,
there's the sign and you're like well
it's too late now I'm already around the
corner. It's not a big deal.
Get yourself off the NO truck route and
carry on back onto one of the major
highways. And you know when you're driving a
commercial vehicle--a bus or a big truck--
that you're not supposed to be on minor
suburban roads anyway. You need to be on
big roads. So if the directions that you
get, or your GPS is giving you take
you down onto a suburban road maybe, just
get on the telephone and call wherever
you're going and say listen am I going
the right way? Just to make sure. The only
time i ever got pulled over for being on
a NO truck was in Brooklyn and I was
looking down the roads where the NO
truck signs were and I took the one that
didn't have one, but they had a bunch of people
pulled over obviously there was a NO truck
route sign there. Anyway they let me go
because I wasn't from there and I was
delivering in the area. So if you're
delivering in the area,
it's not a big deal.
Sign number 8 - weigh scale signs. You
now have to pay attention to those weigh
scales because any commercial vehicle
over 5,500 kilograms in British
Columbia - that weight varies a little bit
across the country and in some of the
States. It'll be 10,000 pounds - anything
over 10,000 pounds (5,500 kilograms) it
goes as low as 3,500 hundred kilograms in
the province of Quebec. So know that if
you're driving a commercial vehicle you
got to go into the weight scale because if
you blow past the way scale, there is
nothing better than that diesel bear
loves to jump in his or her little truck
and chase you down and give you a fast
drive an award, which means the CVSE (Commercial Vehicle Safety & Enforcement) the
diesel bear, the DOT (Department of Transport) in the States, the
MTO (Ministry of Ontario) in Ontario - they're gonna come after
you for blowing past the scale and
they're probably going to give you a
fine. So pay attention to the weigh scales.
There's usually two signs: there's an advanced
warning telling you that the weigh scale
is there and telling you that in fact it
is open and you have to go in.
You only have to go in if it's
open; you don't have to go if it's closed.
So weigh scales - pay attention to those
signs. And as well, if you get a
commercial GPS, it will tell you where
the weigh scales are or if you get a map--
an atlas from a truck stop and whatnot--
it will also have the location of the
weigh scale, so you can be looking out and
pay attention to where those are.
Sign number 7 - brake checks.
Yes you have to go into the brake check
and you have to stop and check your
vehicle before you descend down the hill.
And as well, the other thing I'll say
about brake checks, make sure that you
stop and put a flag in your logbook, which is
just the line down; a vertical line down
that indicates that you stopped at the brake check and
where the brake check is. You don't have
to change duty status, you just have to
put a line in the logbook. That way it's
due diligence on your part that you did in
fact stop at the brake check. That way if
something happens when you're going down
the hill
it's written down. Because you know that old
saying: "if it ain't written down, it didn't
happen." So brake checks - stop at the
brake checks. You have to stop the brake
checks, and if the diesel bear--the DOT,
the CVSE, or the MTO in Ontario--are
sitting there and you blow by the
brake check - again you're probably going
to get a fine.
Sign number 6: oversized signs. You'll
usually see the pilot car before you see
the oversized vehicle, but some oversized
vehicles do not have a pilot car. And
pilot cars, just on the note of pilot
cars - if you do see an oversized load
with a pilot car on a two-lane skinny--
two lanes going in two directions--the
pilot car will be in front. On a
multi-lane highway with an oversized
vehicle, the pilot car will be in the
back. So if you're coming up and you see
the pilot car in front of you, you'll
know that there's an oversized load in
front of you. And the reason that this is
important and the reason that I put this at
number six is because you know that you
need to give it more space.
Especially if you're on a two-lane
skinny, you might actually have to pull
over to the shoulder of the road,
depending on how big that oversized is.
So you now need to pay attention to this
sign - the oversized sign on other
vehicles. And I did have a student once
do that on a multi-lane road - pulled up
at a stoplight beside an over
dimensional vehicle. And I was like, "what
are you doing?" Because there's like an
inch between the mirrors. So don't do
that...okay. If it's an over dimensional,
give them lots of space.
Sign number 5 - lane designation signs. Pay
attention to the lane designation signs
over top of the roadway. Because if
you're turning left or right and there
are two turning lanes to the left, for
example, you always have to be in the
outside lane, regardless of whether
you're turning right or left. You need to
be in the outside lane in a big truck, in
a bus, or any oversized vehicle. Because
if you're in that inside lane, I
guarantee you there is a concrete island
over in the middle of the intersection
that you have to get that vehicle around
and there's usually a light standard on
it you'll get jammed up in there. If you're
lucky you'll get it stopped before you
actually strike the light standard. But
it's very embarrassing when you have to
stop, you have to back up in traffic, you
have to move around and get that vehicle
out of there. And how do I know that? I
know that from experience, because I did
that when I was green. So lane
designation signs - if there's two turning
lanes, regardless of where they go--right
or left--
always, always in the outside lane. Sign
number 4: object marker signs. As you
can see here in the image, these signs, no
doubt, are the most prolific signs on our
roadways and highways and warn you of
hazards and obstructions that you could
potentially hit on the roadway. And now
that I've pointed these out to you, you
will see these signs everywhere. On the
end of bridge abutments, concrete islands,
all kinds of places along the roadway.
Any hazard that you could potentially
hit. And it's important when you're
driving a bus or a big truck you pay
attention to these and you give them a
wide berth
so you don't run into them, especially
when they're on the edge of bridge
piling and the lane goes on one side
of the bridge piling or the other side of
the bridge piling - you need to pay
attention to those, and again I'll put a
video up here for you on object markers
so you can get more information about
those.
Sign number 3 - height signs.
Yes, driving a large commercial vehicle,
you now need to know the height of your
vehicle and you need to pay attention to
height signs. You need to know as a
commercial driver that the maximum legal
height of your vehicle in Canada is 4.15
meters or in the United States that it is 13 feet
6 inches. If the overhead obstruction is lower than that, if the
sign says four meters
you cannot go under there with a big
vehicle. And if you're in the United States, if
you're in any state except New York, if the sign
says 13 feet
you can't go under there either. So
height signs are going to take the top of
your vehicle off if you don't pay
attention and it's too low. And also know that
the city of Chicago has 2,500, two thousand five hundred low
bridges and overpasses. So pay attention
to the low clearance signs. 4.15 meters in
Canada; 13 feet 6 inches in the United States.
Sign number two -
we're getting close, Sign\I number two is
curve signs - these curve signs [pointing to the sign] because in a
large vehicle you need to power through
the curve. And I don't mean accelerating ,but
you need to power through the curve. So
you need to recognize the curve sign, you
need to slow down before you get to the
curve and be in a gear that allows you
to power through the curve, especially if
you're pulling a trailer. Because if you
have a trailer on, the last thing--
especially with winter coming on--you
never ever ever want that trailer to
push you, because that trailer weighs
anywhere from five to eight times what
the tractor weighs. And you need to be
pulling it with the tractor to maintain
control of the vehicle. You get a bit of ice
or snow on that curve and you may end up in
the proverbial rhubarb... in the ditch. So
make sure you pay attention to the curve
signs, and as well you always need to move
the top side of the curve. That way you
can compensate for off-tracking. So two
things on a curve:
1) you need to move to the top side to
compensate for off-tracking, and you need
to slow down before the curve so that
you can power through the curve, and when I
say power through you don't need to be
accelerating, just gentle power so that
you're pushing or pulling the vehicle
through the curve.
[DRUM ROLL] Athe number one sign that you now need to
pay attention to as a bus or truck
driver...are grade signs. These will save
your life. You need to know how to
downhill brake correctly and I'll put a
video up here for you for the complete
video on downhil braking, but pay
attention to grade signs. If its single
digit and you're driving a 13 or 18
speed transmission you can go down in five low with Jake on
full. If it's more than single digits, if
it's ten percent or above, you need to
pick a lower gear, probably down into
forth with Jake on full. If you're
driving an automatic, you need to get
down into a low gear with the Jake on
full. These grade signs are important
because they are valuable piece of
information that will allow you to be
able to go down the hill without using
the brakes so you don't experience brake
fade. Again I'll put a video up here for
you on brake fade. grade signs - pay
attention to the grade signs because
these signs could potentially save your
life.
Quick review: so sign number 11 is mile
markers. You need to know where you are
along major highway. Mile markers will
also be on exit ramps and when you get
directions from your GPS or the phone...
calling the place where you're going and
what not, you can get the exit number and
it makes it a lot easier because you can
get prepared to exit off the roadway
because you know you'll be 10, 12, or 15
miles away--or kilometers here in Canada--
from that exit. So that way you're not at
the last minute scurrying over to the
right-hand lane to try and get into that
exit. As well, number ten "destination
boards" - you should be able to have an ETA
within 10 or 15 minutes at all times, and
be able to update that as you're driving
up and down the road all the time, so that
dispatch can get you loads and keep you
working and making more money. Next one,
number nine is "no truck routes." Don't end
up in a suburban area, don't end up on an
NO truck route. If you're hauling
furniture or something like that, it's a little bit
different, but for the most part hauling
general freight and driving buses you
shouldn't be on a NO truck route or no
bus route. Weigh scales - as driving a
commercial vehicle you now need to
pay attention to weigh scales and you
need to go into the weigh scale because if
you blow past the weigh scale, like I said
there's nothing they like more than get
in there little vehicle, chase you down
the road and give you a fast driving
award. So pay attention to weigh scales.
There's always a warning sign farther
back...a good kilometer ormile down the road
that will tell you whether the scales are
open or not. Brake checks - stop at the
brake check. Put a notation in your log
book, if you're keeping a log book or put
a notation on your timesheet saying that
you stopped at the brake check. That way
if something happens when you're going
down the hill
you've done due diligence. And remember
that saying, "if it isn't written down, it
didn't happen!"
Number six - oversized vehicles. Oversized
signs - do not cram yourself in beside
another vehicle that is hauling
over-dimensional freight. You're
risking a crash or a collision with that
vehicle. Number 7 - lane designations. Right
or left, you always need to be in the
outside lane. Number 8 are object markers
which warn you of hazards and
obstructions on the roadway. And as I
said, now that you know that they're
there, you're going to see those signs
everywhere. Number 3 is height. You
need to know that in Canada it's 4.15
meters and in the United States it's 13 feet 6
inches. If it doesn't say that on the
sign or greater, don't go under. Or
if you do want to go under and you try
going under, at least go slow and get out
and look from a distance to see whether
in fact you can go under that overhead
obstruction. And I'll put a complete
video up here for you on overhead
obstructions. Curves - again this is number
two and the reason this is number two is
because you're going to be on a lot of
curves and you need to pay attention to
the curve signs because two things need
to happen when you go around that curve:
first, you need to be on the top side of
the curve to compensate for off-tracking
so your vehicle isn't deviating into the
other lane; 2) and as well, you need to be
pulling or pushing that vehicle through
the curve to maintain control, especially
if you have a trailer on. The last one is
grade signs. Grade signs can save your
life because they'll give you the
information that you need to be able to
downhill brake safely and effectively
all the way down the hill. Question for
my smart drivers: what do you think of my
list of signs? What order would you put
those signs in for new commercial
drivers? Which signs do you think are the
most important to pay attention to for
new drivers who are starting your career
as a bus or truck driver?
I'm Rick with Smart Drive Test. Thanks
very much for watching. If you like what
you see here share, subscribe, leave a
comment down in the comment section - all
that helps us out. As well, hit that
thumbs up button. Check out the videos
below; if you're on a mobile device check
out the videos in the upper right hand
corner there. All the cards will give
you links to the great information for
those of you endeavoring to get a
license or start a career as a bus or
truck driver.
Thanks again for watching. Good luck on
your road test and remember, pick the
best answer, not necessarily the right
answer.
have a great day. Bye now
[CLOSING CREDITS, MUSIC & BLOOPERS]
on a multi-lane highways with an over ddddd
[WAGGING TONGUE & MAKING FUNNY NOISES]