Nobody enjoys flashing blue lights in the mirror. This week, Alabama’s professional drivers are more likely than usual to see them, and Alabama Trucking Association President and CEO Mark Colson made sure Montgomery and the “River Region” knew it before the coffee was finished brewing.

“This week is about what professional truck drivers do every week. It’s about highway safety, getting home safe to their families.”

Colson met with WSFA 12 News this morning to walk viewers through Operation Safe Driver Week, the annual high-visibility enforcement campaign that kicked off Sunday and runs through Saturday, July 18. “We all know too many people who didn’t come home because of unsafe driving,” Colson told the station. “This week is about what professional truck drivers do every week. It’s about highway safety, getting home safe to their families.”

What Operation Safe Driver Week Actually Targets

This isn’t a truck-only crackdown, and that was Colson’s first point on air. Distracted driving, excessive speeding, “any behavior that’s gonna put you or someone else at risk,” is what officers will be looking for, he said. The Commercial Vehicle Safety Alliance’s annual campaign puts officers on the lookout for reckless and careless driving of every kind, and cars and pickups get pulled over right alongside the 18-wheelers.

“Please just use common sense.”

Colson said he’d asked a professional driver that same morning what advice he’d pass along. The answer: “Please just use common sense.” Colson boiled it down to four things: speed, seatbelts, distracted driving and impairment. And distraction, he was quick to add, isn’t only about phones anymore. “It’s the iPads, the touch screens that are in the car. Those can be a distraction, and any kids in the car can be a distraction.”

Why a Ticket Hits a Trucker Harder

For a passenger driver, a citation is an annoyance. For a CDL holder, Colson said, it’s closer to a threat against their livelihood. “Their CDL, their driver’s license, is their job,” he told WSFA, and any violation risks that job in a way an ordinary license never does. A ticket doesn’t just cost a fine and an afternoon in traffic court. It can sit on a driver’s record for up to 24 months and drag down a carrier’s safety score the whole time.

Why This Isn’t an Equipment Blitz, But Feels Like One

Operation Safe Driver Week is not an equipment inspection blitz (that’s a different week, for a different purpose). Nobody’s rolling through Alabama hunting for a cracked mud flap. But here’s the catch: once a trooper has you pulled over for following too close, that same trooper is standing right next to your truck. Bad tires, a burned-out marker light, a load that’s not quite secured the way it should be: all of that becomes fair game the second the conversation starts.

Alabama’s Stake in a Safer Week

“We get to represent the best of the best in trucking.”

Colson closed his WSFA appearance the way he opens most conversations about his members: with pride. “We get to represent the best of the best in trucking,” he said, “and we wanna promote highway safety for everyone on the highway.” For full details on what to expect this week, visit Alabama Trucking News’ previous reporting on Operation Safe Driver Week, and members can find more safety resources anytime from Alabama Trucking’s Safety & Maintenance Management Council.

This week and every week, drive like your CSA score is watching, because it very much is.