For many truck drivers, roadside assistance eventually becomes necessary. There are a number of issues that can happen on the road, and roadside assistance can get a truck up and moving again in a relatively short amount of time. Depending on where the truck driver is located, roadside assistance is typically quick to arrive and help with whatever issues that the truck driver may be experiencing. Though the need for roadside assistance happens to every truck driver at some point, there are certainly ways that truck drivers are able to manage to avoid it the majority of the time.
Truck drivers are an important part of the economy all throughout the United States, as they move as much as seventy percent of the nation’s freight by weight. In 2015 alone there were more than three million truck drivers employed in the United States alone, a number that only continues to grow in recent years. In 2013, five years ago, truckers contributed to the transport of as much as fifteen billion tons of cargo and by 2040 that amount is predicted to increase to nearly twenty billion tons of cargo per year.
Though the vast majority of truck drivers and skilled and practiced when it comes to less than ideal driving conditions, there are instances where recovery services and roadside assistance become necessary. Poor weather conditions are one example of this, as they are linked to an increased demand for towing services in the last five years. Trucks can be particularly prone to the negative impacts of driving in harsh weather, as they can take as much as forty percent longer to stop than a typical car would. This can mean that accidents are more likely when trucks drive at high speeds in icy or rainy weather, when stopping promptly and efficiently becomes difficult for even the smallest and most compact of cars.
Trucks are not immune to breaking down either, and in these cases will often require roadside assistance in the form of truck and trailer repair. If the issues that the truck is having cannot be resolved on the road, a towing service that has experience in towing heavy duty vehicles will most likely be required. Flat tires are another common malady to happen to both trucks and regular cars alike, as there are typically more than two hundred million flat tires across the United States every single year. This breaks down to more than five flat tire incidents for every single second that cars and other motor vehicles like trucks are on the road. A typical driver is expected to experience at least five flat tires in all the years that they regularly drive. A truck driver, who is typically on the road considerably more, is likely to experience flat tires at a higher rate.
Roadside assistance is sometimes necessary for both cars and trucks alike in the event of an accident or a problem with the car or truck itself.