Dump trucks are often used to transport rubble from A to B on a building site. Here are the most common mistakes people make when operating a dump truck.

Tipping the bed to a steep angle far too quickly

Sometimes, after the driver of a dump truck has driven to the area on a site where they want to put the rubble, they will tip the bed of their truck up to its steepest angle much too quickly. Drivers tend to do this when they're in a hurry, as speedily raising the bed and making it as steep as possible ensures that the contents fall off it very rapidly.

Whilst this tactic can definitely make quick work of unloading a lot of rubble, it can also cause lots of problems. For example, allowing the rubble to fly off the truck's bed at this speed could lead to a lot of it bouncing off the ground and landing far away from the designated dumping spot for this debris. This, in turn, could result in some people in these far-off areas being hit by the rubble. Additionally, people might have to manually collect the rubble that was strewn everywhere by the dump truck, which would defeat the purpose of having used it to transport the rubble in the first place.

As such, while it is perfectly ok for a dump truck driver to tilt the vehicle's bed to its steepest angle (in fact, this is usually necessary, in order to completely remove all of the rubble on it), they must do so slowly to stop the aforementioned issues from happening.

Driving the dump truck when the bed is not level

Dump truck drivers will also occasionally fail to check that their vehicle's bed is level (i.e. that it is parallel to its tires) before transporting rubble in it. This can result in some of the rubble falling off the dump truck as it moves, which can then lead to this rubble hitting and damaging structures on the site and breaking any fragile materials (like window panes) that are lying around outside.

Additionally, if a person drives this vehicle when its bed is tilted, they may find driving uphill extremely difficult, as the elevated bed will affect the dump truck's balance. As such, the driver might find that making their way up a hill takes much longer when the bed is in this position.

To learn more, contact a dump truck company.