Health & Wellness · Driver Training VideoHeat, Hydration & Summer Safety

Start with the cab

A parked truck with the windows up can climb past 150 degrees inside in under thirty minutes, even on a day that only feels warm outside. That is not a place to wait out a load delay with the engine off.

Now hydration

By the time you feel thirsty, you're already behind — thirst is a lagging signal, not an early one.

Know the two stages

Heat exhaustion looks like heavy sweating, weakness, dizziness, headache, or nausea — get into shade, get water in you, and slow down. Heat stroke is the emergency version: hot, dry or flushed skin, confusion, or loss of consciousness.

Watch your equipment too

Summer heat raises tire pressure and raises blowout risk — check pressure cold, before you roll, not after the tires have been running hot on the interstate. And that same hot asphalt under your boots during the pre-trip walk-around is radiating heat back up at you the whole time.

If you're new to hot-weather driving, your body needs about a week or two to adjust. Pace yourself those first few days — don't push a full aggressive schedule into a heat wave on day one.

Your company standard: drink water on a schedule, not on thirst. Take your thirty-minute break in the shade or in a running cab during the hottest part of the day when you can. Never sit in a dead truck with the windows up to save fuel.