• Truck wrecks can be caused by driver exhaustion.Truck,trucking image by Greg Pickens from Fotolia.com
  
  Traffic accidents involving commercial trucks are often large and deadly, and therefore make the news. When a truck overturns it sometimes spills its load across the highway, increasing the danger for approaching vehicles. Understanding the most likely causes of these kinds of accidents can help to avoid them through planning and training.
  
  

Driver Fatigue

• Many commercial drivers work very long hours and suffer sleep deprivation, and as a result are sometimes driving when they should not be. Exhaustion may compromise a driver's abilities as seriously as drinking or drug use. Truck drivers who are overtired have prolonged reaction times, poor perception, and may even fall asleep at the wheel. This level of exhaustion is also an incentive to begin drinking excessive amounts of caffeine or using illicit drugs such as speed in order to stay awake.
  
  

Poor Maintenance

• Equipment failure as a result of insufficient maintenance is another cause of truck accidents. A fully loaded semi-tractor trailer is an enormous object. If the brakes on such a vehicle are not up to par, the results can be disastrous. Many other elements of the machine can malfunction as well. Tire blow-outs, wheels coming off the tractor or the trailer, or a shifting load that causes the trailer to jackknife can all lead to accidents. Something as small as a malfunctioning blinker may cause an accident by failing to alert other drivers to a truck that is changing lanes.
  
  

Other Drivers

• A truck accident is not always the fault of the truck driver or the truck, but of other drivers. A driver who cuts in front of a truck, races up behind a truck at unsafe speeds, or drives in a truck's blind spot is endangering himself, the driver, and everyone around them. Trucks, due to their size and weight, are not as maneuverable as cars; if a bad driver swerves directly in front of a truck there is little the truck driver can do.
  
  

Bad Weather

• Bad weather can easily lead to a truck accident. Heavy rains, ice storms, and strong crosswinds can all cause a truck to veer out of control. Ice that forms on roads is particularly hazardous, and can cause a driver to completely lose control of his rig.