Holiday Shopping Could Increase Your Commercial Crash Risk

Some of the biggest shopping days occur around the holiday season. The Friday after Thanksgiving has historically seen people flood into stores to buy discounted merchandise available as early bird or limited stock specials. Those who don’t head out to the stores may buy online, requiring the delivery of their many packages.

Everything from specific foods to wrapping paper is in high demand during the months of November and December. The logistics for providing all of that to stores require a massive mobilization of commercial vehicles. Professional drivers around the country and the transportation businesses that employ them may have more demand than available time during the holiday season.

While the demand for products sometimes seems infinite, the availability of shipping and delivery professionals is not. Unfortunately, the higher levels of commercial traffic often seen around the holidays could increase your risk of a collision with a commercial vehicle.

Some drivers and employers may ignore the Hours of Service rules

Driving for too long could lead to someone falling asleep at the wheel and causing a tragic collision. Both individual drivers and the companies that employ them might commit to tight turnaround times that are unsafe due to the motivation of money.

Federal Hours of Service rules place limitations on how long someone can drive, how much they can drive within a specific week and how many breaks they must take during the shift help curtail fatigued driving. Unfortunately, drivers and their employers alike may ignore or bend these rules around the holidays to maximize the profits they make during this heavy shipping season.

Delivery vehicles will be out in full force

You don’t just need to worry about a crash with a truck carrying crates full of produce or holiday merchandise. There are also delivery fleets out on the road every day that cause collisions with passenger vehicles.

The burden of these drivers will increase around the holiday season, leading to more intense schedules and longer shifts. Commercial drivers may park their vehicles in unpredictable places, fall asleep at the wheel due to exhaustion or cause a crash while looking down at a navigation program instead of at traffic.

Understanding the many ways your risks for a commercial crash increase during the winter could potentially help you avoid a wreck.