DOT Core · Driver Training VideoUnsafe Driving — Speed, Space, Lanes

Start with the math you drive with. Eighty thousand pounds — twenty times the weight of the car next to you. At sixty-five miles an hour, a loaded truck needs about six hundred feet to stop. Two football fields. The car in front of you stops in a third of that.

That's why speed is the number one driver factor in fatal truck crashes. And the system prices it accordingly. Six to ten over the limit — four severity points on the company's record. Eleven to fourteen over — seven. Fifteen over, or anything reckless — ten, the maximum.

And remember — the posted limit is for a dry road in daylight. Rain, snow, fog, heavy traffic? There's a violation called driving too fast for conditions, and it doesn't care what the sign said.

Second habit: following distance

The rule is simple — one second for every ten feet of truck, plus one more above forty miles an hour. For your rig, that's eight seconds at highway speed. Count it out — it feels long. It's what six hundred feet of stopping distance actually requires.

Third: lane changes and your no-zones. Twenty feet in front of you, thirty behind, and both sides along the trailer — cars vanish there. So: mirror, signal early, wait, check again, one lane at a time. Never drift over while you're checking.

Fourth: ramps and curves

Most truck rollovers happen exactly there — at speeds that felt fine. That posted ramp speed is calculated for cars. In a loaded truck, go well below it, and be off the brakes and steady before the curve, not braking inside it.

Your company standard is one sentence: drive so you never need a miracle. The speed limit minus conditions. Eight seconds of space. One lane at a time. Ramps slower than the sign.