A vehicle's regular stopping distance increases on slippery surfaces because there is less available traction.

To avoid becoming fatigued on a long trip, you should take a break after every 100 miles or two hours of driving. Driving through the night, or during any other time when you would normally be asleep, raises the danger of fatigue.

Compressed air in an air brake system usually has a certain amount of water and oil in it. This can harm the system if allowed to accumulate. Air tanks have drain valves to aid in removing water and oil from the compressed air.

Black ice is a layer of ice that is thin and clear enough for the road to be visible through it. The surface will look like a wet road. Always be alert to black ice if the road looks wet when the temperature is below freezing.

All commercial motor vehicles are required to be equipped with the proper emergency equipment. This may include spare electrical fuses; three red reflective triangles, six fuses, or three liquid burning flares; and at least one properly charged and rated fire extinguisher.

Retarders help to slow vehicles, reducing drivers' need to use brakes.

When inspecting a vehicle's suspension, you should look for broken or missing leaves in the leaf springs. Any defect of this kind is dangerous. If one-fourth or more of the leaves are missing from any leaf spring, the vehicle must be put out-of-service.

In general, you should always use the parking brake when parking your vehicle. However, you should not apply the parking brake if your brakes are very hot or if your brakes are wet and temperatures are below freezing.

To ensure that your vehicle does not roll backward when beginning to move after a stop, you should partly engage the clutch before removing your right foot from the brake pedal.

When inspecting a vehicle equipped with power steering, you should inspect the hoses, pumps, and fluid levels. Specifically check the hoses for leaks.

If you must drive so slowly that you will impede the flow of traffic, you should turn on your four-way flashers to alert drivers behind you (as long as local laws allow the use of flashers).

You may have to swing right to safely make a left turn. If there are two left turn lanes available at an intersection, you should always begin your turn in the rightmost lane.

Never push down the brake pedal while the spring brakes are activated. The combined force of springs and air pressure could damage the brakes.

If you are being tailgated, you should increase the distance between your vehicle and the vehicle ahead. This will reduce your need to make sudden moves, and will also allow the tailgater more room to pass you. Speeding up when being tailgated is not advised because it may result in the tailgater continuing to follow you closely at the higher speed, only increasing the danger.

If the coolant temperature gauge goes above the highest safe temperature, you should stop driving as soon as possible and try to figure out what is wrong. There could be an issue in your vehicle that could lead to engine failure and possibly a fire.

You should accelerate very gradually when driving under conditions that create poor traction.

To avoid hitting vehicles behind you, you must ensure that your vehicle will not roll backward when you start moving forward from a stopped position.

If you have an Anti-Lock Braking System (ABS) equipped on only the tractor, only the trailer, or only one axle, you will still have more control over the vehicle when braking than you would without ABS. You should brake normally.

When positioning trailers in a combination, the most heavily-loaded trailer should be the closest to the tractor. The lightest trailer should be positioned in the rear.

Drowsy driving is most common during the night because people are naturally prone to be less alert in the hours during which they are normally asleep. If you must drive at night, take every precaution to prevent fatigued driving.