The Ubiquity of Trucks on Our Texas Roads

Trucks do everything for our society. In Texas, we couldn't get by without them. Their very utility makes them ubiquitous on all segments of our transportation network.

*Huge commercial trucks deliver food, gas, clothing and household goods to remote rural towns as well as to our biggest cities.

*Garbage trucks haul away our refuse.

*Dump trucks, cement trucks, gravel trucks and other weighty commercial trucks cluster at new construction and repair sites.

*Cattle trucks help transport Texas livestock.

*Gas, drilling, and equipment trucks find their ways to all points of Texas as we develop more and more of our oil and gas resources.

It's hard to find any road without commercial trucks on it. And of you find one, it probably won't be truck-free for very long. The omnipresence of trucks in our lives makes it important to ensure that these trucks and their drivers abide by applicable trucking safety standards.

Truckers should hold valid commercial drivers licenses. A valid license means they've been trained and tested on driving the big rigs. Truck drivers should familiarize themselves with the actual trucks they'll be driving, so that they don't (for instance) press the wrong buttons and send their trailers bolt upright via hydraulic lift while cruising along the highways. Truck owners should maintain and service their vehicles properly so that brakes don't suddenly fail while the vehicle's in transit.

With big commercial trucks sharing our roads with smaller passenger cars, motorcycles and bicyclists, safety and good trucking safety standards are paramount. A truck wreck can destroy an overpass or a double-decker train. With their bigger size and weight comes a bigger duty to ensure the safety of the smaller, weaker vehicles around them. Trucks are necessary to the smooth functioning of our society. Safety and adequate trucking safety standards are at least as necessary.