Driving & Shorter Days
Daylight doesn't fade out gradually enough to notice. One week the drive home is full sun — the next it's dark by the time the truck's loaded, and nobody's driving like it.
How to run it
Read it through once, then talk it — don't recite it. Five minutes at the start of the shift, crew standing where the work happens. Under O. Reg. 213/91, s. 14(3)–(4), the talk is held by a supervisor or a competent person the supervisor appoints — and the sign-in sheet is what proves it happened.
Talk through these points
- Pre-trip just got more important. A headlight that's been out for two weeks didn't matter in July — it matters now. Walk around the truck and actually look, don't just listen for the beep.
- Deer move more in the fall, and they move at dawn and dusk — which is exactly when the crew's driving now. Slow down on the rural stretches between sites, especially the first and last run of the day.
- Low morning and evening sun is its own hazard on the commute — visor down doesn't mean you can see the vehicle that just stopped ahead of you. Back off the following distance.
- If the crew's still wrapping up after dark, a spotter in dark coveralls is invisible from the cab. Hi-vis and a flashlight stop being optional once the sun's down by five.
- The first cold snap shows up weeks before anyone's thinking about winter. A wet morning that was just wet last month can be black ice by late October — treat it that way before you've confirmed otherwise.
- The start- and end-of-shift walk-around doesn't get skipped because it's dark now. Cords, offcuts and open holes don't move just because you can't see them as well.
Ask the crew
- Whose headlights or running lights are we not sure about?
- What's the plan if the crew's still on site after dark this week?
- Who's driving the longest stretch home, and are they doing it on no sleep?
The answers are the real talk. If a question lands on a live hazard, write it down and assign it a name and a date.
Paper it
A talk without a record didn't happen, as far as anyone who asks is concerned. Print these free:
A new talk every week.
The toolbox talks page rotates a featured topic weekly — bookmark it, or grab the talk by email every Monday.