What Truck and Van Drivers Need to Know to be Safe at the Roadside
What you need to know to be safe
This document is intended to help protect truck, delivery, and moving van drivers involved in:
- emergent work (e.g. vehicle breakdowns or stops for load adjustment/securement for 5 minutes or less)
- brief-duration work (e.g. a construction site or other delivery taking less than 15 minutes)
- long-duration work on municipal roadways (e.g. regular or scheduled pick-ups or deliveries, household or commercial moves)
All roadside stops or work require a risk evaluation:
- If the work is planned (e.g. scheduled move or scheduled pick-up/delivery in a known location), the risk evaluation is to be conducted in advance. This allows for the vehicle to be equipped with appropriate traffic control devices (e.g. cones and signs such as C-004 CREW WORKING AHEAD – see below) or, if necessary, for the creation of a formal traffic control plan by a qualified person and approved by the appropriate authority (i.e. municipality or Ministry of Transportation and Infrastructure).
- If the work is unplanned (e.g. a vehicle breakdown or stop to make a load adjustment), the risk evaluation is to be carried out by the driver before exiting the vehicle, with the level of risk determining the need to create a safe work zone around the vehicle.
Guidance for conducting a risk evaluation for Emergent and Brief-Duration Work is included in the Traffic Management Manual for Work on Roadways 2020 (TMM 2020), Section 6.10:
TABLE C — RISK EVALUATION FOR EMERGENT OR BRIEF-DURATION WORK |
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Risk Evaluation Category | Risk Criteria | Criteria Met? | ||||||||||
1. Work Duration | Can the work be completed in 5 minutes or less? | Yes / No | ||||||||||
2. Sight Distance
Distance from parked location to furthest point that can be seen on the road. |
For the posted speed limit, is the minimum sight distance met?
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Yes / No | ||||||||||
3. Traffic Volume | Is the traffic volume in lanes that will be entered by workers estimated to be less than 5 vehicles per lane per minute? | Yes / No | ||||||||||
4. Environmental Conditions | Is visibility unrestricted (no fog, blowing snow, etc.) and are road conditions not slippery? | Yes / No | ||||||||||
RISK EVALUATION REVIEW |
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The Risk Evaluation has three possible outcomes:
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Use C-004 “Crew Working Ahead” sign for planned brief or long duration work at the roadside, for example:
Delivery of construction materials, supplies, food or other goods or services
Household or commercial move
In the case of vehicle breakdowns, or pick ups/deliveries or moves lasting 15 minutes or longer (in low risk scenarios) – a basic lay-out shown in the diagram to the right may be sufficient on municipal roadways:
- Pull vehicle as far over as safely possible.
- Activate emergency flashers. Wearing required personal protective equipment (PPE), such as a high visibility vest, only exit the vehicle when safe to do so.
- Create a safe zone in front of the vehicle. Place a cone or triangle approx. 30 metres (100 feet) in front of the vehicle, in line with the driver’s side.
- Using cones or reflective triangles, create a safe zone at the rear of vehicle. Starting at the curb approximately 30 metres (100 feet) behind the vehicle, angle cones toward the rear corner of the vehicle.
If the risk evaluation determines that a formal Traffic Management Plan is required, consult the TMM 2020 for guidance. A formal traffic control plan must be developed by a qualified person and approved by the appropriate authority (municipality or Ministry of Transportation and Infrastructure).