insurance tips
Trucking Safely in Winter: Tips from Expert Truckers
As the winter season approaches, safe trucking practices become paramount for the countless truck owner/operators navigating challenging conditions. At Ives-Navacord Insurance Brokers, we understand the criticality of ensuring safety and minimizing risks during winter hauls.
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Be Smart with Semis in the Snow: Tips for drivers to stay safe in winter weather conditions
Winter driving is difficult for everyone on the road, but it is especially challenging for drivers of trucks and other oversized vehicles. Prevent accidents by ensuring your vehicle is equipped properly before you begin your trip in winter weather.
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Understanding the Winter Challenges:
- Weather Dynamics: Discuss how winter weather impacts road conditions, visibility, and overall safety for truckers.
- Road Conditions: Elaborate on the challenges posed by snow, ice, and reduced traction on roads.
Expert Tips for Safe Winter Trucking:
Here are invaluable insights from industry experts who’ve mastered the art of safe winter trucking:
1. Preparing the Vehicle:
Expert Source: TruckingInfo
- Winterizing the Truck: Inspecting and preparing the vehicle with appropriate winter gear, like antifreeze, snow chains, and winter-grade fluids.
- Maintaining Visibility: Ensuring proper functioning of defrosters, wipers, and lights for enhanced visibility.
2. Driving Techniques:
Expert Source: Smart Trucking
- Speed Adjustment: Advising on reducing speed and maintaining safe following distances.
- Braking and Acceleration: Educating on gentle braking and smooth acceleration to prevent skidding.
3. Route Planning and Safety Measures:
Expert Source: FleetOwner
- Monitoring Weather Updates: Emphasizing the importance of staying updated on weather forecasts and road conditions.
- Strategic Stops: Encouraging frequent breaks for rest, especially during adverse weather conditions.
Insurance Protection for Winter Hauls:
Ives-Navacord connects fleet operators, cargo haulers, trucking companies of all sizes and independents to Canada’s top transportation insurers.
Whether you’re serving customers across North America or delivering goods just-in-time between suppliers and manufactures locally, coverage with Ives-Navacord Insurance Brokers will be to your advantage. Request a quote online today to get started.
Safe winter trucking demands a blend of preparation, cautious driving, and informed decision-making. By implementing the insights shared by seasoned trucking experts and securing comprehensive insurance coverage, truck owner/operators can confidently navigate the winter roads, minimizing risks and ensuring a safe journey.
As temperatures begin to drop, walkways can quickly become hazardous due to snow and ice. Winter slips, trips and falls at businesses are common sources of injuries for visitors and employees alike. As an employer, it’s crucial to maintain the safety of your property and keep your employees and visitors safe. Whether you take care of snow and ice removal yourself, or contact with an outside vendor, it’s your responsibility to remove snow and ice in a reasonable amount of time to prevent third-party or employee injuries. Failure to do so may be considered negligence and put you at fault for any falls and injuries that occur on your premises.
Tips for Winter Safety
Be proactive and put a winter safety plan in place before the cold weather arrives. This plan should account for winter slip, trip and fall hazards both outside and inside your business. It may include items related to removing snow, de-icing sidewalks and parking lots, using mats and mops for slippery indoor areas, and creating a dedicated space to stow wet items (e.g., boots and coats). Other tips to consider as a part of your business’s safety plan to enjoy an accident-free winter include:
- Mix ice melt with sand to reduce the amount of ice melt you need and to provide extra traction.
Use the appropriate amount of ice-removal product. Too much product can damage concrete and cause additional danger.
- Repair damage and perform maintenance to prevent potential winter hazards (e.g., fill in potholes, clean gutters and unblock drainage spouts.
- Make sure employees who help with snow and ice removal wear suitable clothes and proper footwear to help them avoid slips or falls. Encourage frequent breaks if the weather is extremely cold.
- Ensure employees wear appropriate foot gear with good traction to decrease the chances of slips and falls.
- Train employees on winter slip, trip and fall hazards. Ensure that, when walking, employees are aware of any foreign substances on the floor, such as water from wet weather and other common hazards (e.g., sawdust, grease or debris).
Maintaining your business’s safety is especially important in winter when hazardous conditions can cause falls and injuries.
At Ives-Navacord, we’re here when you need us.
Trust us and our 55+ years of experience to find you the best coverage for your vehicles. You can speak on the phone with one of our agents today.
At Ives Insurance, we appreciate that each business is unique with exposure to unique risks. Contact us today for a professional conversation as we get to know your business, your unique business risks and exposures. Our brokers will help you find the best coverage for your business, no matter how small or large. You can request a quote online and Ives-Navacord will contact you within 24 hours.
What is Sewer Back-Up?
Sewer back-up occurs when the city or municipal drainage system overflows and sends water back through the pipes and into your home. This may happen for a variety of reasons, but the most common is a great deal of water from rainfall or snow melt overwhelming the system. It can also be a result of a failure on the part of a sump pump or other system designed to deal with excess water. The water and sewage can come from various sources including a septic tank, sewer or storm drain.
Sewer back-up can result in a great deal of damage to homes, including the development of mold problems and of course bacteria from sewage that has entered the home. It requires immediate proper clean-up that can be very expensive as well as can result in damage to carpets, walls, furniture and other personal property that will be costly to replace.
Sewer Back-Up Coverage
Sewer back-up coverage is available to Ontario homeowners as an optional coverage that can be added to a standard homeowner’s policy. Some areas are more likely to need this optional coverage as they are located in places more prone to flooding and sewer back-up. These areas are those most likely to have this optional coverage offered to homeowners.
Without this coverage added to your policy, you could discover that you have little to no coverage available in the event of a serious flood or even a local problem that results in a sewer back-up. Without the coverage, the cost of repairs can easily reach into the tens of thousands, and for the average homeowner this is an amount not readily available. The cost of adding the coverage to your policy is minimal in comparison to this and is a wise decision especially if you live in a location where sewer back-up is an issue..
Avoiding Sewer Back-Up
Prevention is always better than dealing with damage even if you do have the coverage in place to pay the claim. There are several things you can do to prevent sewer back-up from destroying your home and property:
- Install sump pumps and check regularly to ensure they are in good working order
- Have backflow valves installed in your home
- Ensure that your property has good drainage – a slope that moves away from your home is best
- Have plugs ready for all drains and toilets
- Keep all of your eaves troughs and downspouts clean and clear to allow proper drainage
- Keep sewer caps on all basement sewer outlets (including your floor drain, washer stack, sump hole, etc.) during rainstorms.
- Discharge drainage onto your lawn or driveway.
- Ensure the flow of surface water is directed away from the foundation of your home and the foundations of your neighbours’ homes.
- Avoid using water during heavy downpours.
In some cases, especially extreme ones, back-up might not be preventable, but the damage can at the very least be minimized with these precautions.
A surprising number of homeowners are not aware that sewer back-up is not a standard part of a homeowner’s insurance policy. It’s vital that you verify whether or not you have coverage right away, before finding out you do not have it when your home is filled with sewer water. You should also find out whether or not you live in a high-risk area, making this coverage even more vital.
General Information
Sewer back up results when the volume of water and sewage flowing into a sewer system exceeds its capacity. Other causes of sewer back up include blocked sewer connections caused by tree roots, collapsed sewer pipes or improper use of the sewer system.
Below are some things you can do to help prevent a sewer back up in your home:
What to do if a sewer back up occurs
- During a rainstorm, check your basement frequently. If it begins to flood, move your belongings upstairs or to a dry area to keep them safe.
- Contact your broker as soon as possible and they will arrange for an adjuster to contact you.
- Don’t throw anything out. Store damaged items in a reasonably safe place so the adjuster can see them when they arrive.
- Prepare an itemized account of all damaged items and their value. Include receipts or proof of purchase for larger items.
Cleaning up after a sewer back up
- Clean up as soon as possible. Seek professional advice on how to clean up and take whatever steps you can to minimize the extent of your loss.
- Don’t touch electrical systems or panels until you know it is safe to do so, especially in wet or damp conditions.
- Move damaged belongings to a dry area with good ventilation.
- Dispose of anything that has been contaminated by sewer back up that might be a health hazard. Make a detailed list of everything and take several photographs, or make a videotape, to assist in the settlement of your claim.
- Have any appliances (including furnaces) that have come in contact with water checked by a qualified electrician, dealer or serviceman before you use them.
- Disinfect all articles that have come in contact with flood or sewer water.
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