Truck drivers need to follow a long list of safety precautions throughout a trip’s duration. Some of these precautions are unique to semi-truck driving, while others are universally helpful for all motor vehicles. For instance, just like with your everyday car, you need to know how to properly use your rearview and side mirrors. Learn how to use your mirrors when you drive a commercial truck so that you can keep yourself—and everyone around you—safe.

Learn Your Blind Spots

When you first become a truck driver, it’s essential to learn your blind spots. By taking blind spots into consideration when you’re on the road, you can avoid making any poor or ignorant maneuvers when turning or changing lanes. Additionally, if you know your blind spots, you can add more mirrors to your truck to ensure you have full visibility at all times. Adding mirrors to trucks is very common; due to the vehicle’s size, you’ll have more sizable blind spots as opposed to an average pedestrian vehicle.

Check Them Regularly

Getting caught off guard on the road is never fun; however, you can avoid it happening to you with this simple step. Whenever you’re operating any motor vehicle, especially a semi-truck, you have to check your mirrors regularly. To be clear, regularly does not mean once an hour. You need to check rear-view and side mirrors as often as every five to eight seconds, as well as any time you make a turn. By doing this and monitoring the road thoroughly, you can be mindful of reckless drivers and other hazards during your trip.

Clean Them Often

If you let your mirrors get too caked in mud, dust, and other debris, then this mess will obscure your vision. It’s vital to have maximum visibility at all times when you’re driving a truck. If those mirrors get dirty, then you need to clean them as soon as possible. All you need to do is find some cleaner and a lint-free cloth and scrub away any muck covering up your mirrors. If you’re driving through cold weather, you may want to have some defroster by your side so that you can keep those mirrors clear of snow and ice.

Now that you’re aware of how to use your mirrors when you drive a commercial truck, you’re ready to make the road a safer place. At BIG Machine Parts, we have a wide range of gear for your truck, including semi-truck mirrors, so you can stay safe and secure on the road at all times.