A series of videos has been posted by the Queensland Trucking Association about safe truck driving on Cunningham’s Gap, which is undergoing major repair, as we are taken in a truck cabin, up and down the hill with Bill Manton.
Bill is a well known safety advocate and driver trainer and he takes a Wickhams B-double, with a Queensland Department of Transport and Main Roads representative on the steep winding ascent of the gap and then, later, down the gap using all of the safety controls needed to maintain a safe speed without cooking the brakes.
In this series of videos there’s straight forward sensible advice, not just for grades like the Gap, but also useful information for drivers, anywhere, who haven’t had much experience of this kind of driving.
This initiative is a co-operation between TMR and the QTA and the catalyst to its creation was the extended road works occurring on the Cunningham’s Gap, which have creates safety and congestion issues on one of the major freight routes out of Queensland.
In an effort to mitigate risks, the videos take us up and down the grade and in each episode tackles one aspect of handling trucks on steep grades like Cunningham’s Gap.
Bill talks about activating the power divider on the climb to aid traction when climbing slowly or taking off from stationary. There’s also a discussion around the use of engine braking and the different kinds of retardation available to the driver.
Changing gear on a grade gets a video on its own, as it is a serious issue for the less experienced driver. There’a also instructions as to how to report breakdowns to maintain a safe traffic flow.
Wide loads are discussed and strategies around getting them through the grade are also discussed. Plus quite a few other tips for drivers in the selection of short videos.
Here’s the full playlist of all of the safety videos.
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