By: KC Pawling, Road Safety and Loss Prevention Specialist
Nothing on the motor grader should be past the center of the roadway
except the portion of the moldboard necessary to perform the work.
Keeping the Motor Grader Where It Belongs
Operating a motor grader on a gravel road isn’t like driving a pickup. You’re operating a long, wide machine with an articulated frame, a moldboard that can extend well beyond the tires, and significant blind areas. But there’s one basic rule that shouldn’t get lost while you’re concentrating on the crown, windrow, or shoulder:
Keep the motor grader on your side of the road.
And that means the entire machine.
Being “In the Middle” May Mean You’re Already Too Far Over
One of the easiest habits to fall into when maintaining a gravel road is running the grader down the middle. From the operator’s seat, everything may seem fine. You can see the road ahead, you’re working the crown, and the motor grader may seem like it is placed properly.
The problem is that a motor grader is not a narrow machine. If your cab or operator position is near the center of the roadway, portions of the motor grader may already be occupying the other half of the road.
Don’t judge your position based only on where you’re sitting or where the front wheels are. Think about the full footprint of the motor grader, including the rear tandems, articulation, frame, tires, and attachments.
Picture What’s Coming Over the Hill
Imagine you’re grading toward the crest of a hill. You know you’re there. You know you’re operating a motor grader. You know you’re working near the center. The driver coming over that hill doesn’t.
That driver expects their half of the road to be available. If one of your front tires, rear tandems, or a significant portion of the motor grader is across center, the motorist may suddenly have only three choices: brake, head for the ditch, or hit the grader.
The same danger develops on curves, in dust, around vegetation, or anywhere sight distance is limited. The issue may not be that the motorist is doing something wrong. The issue is that the motorist may have nowhere to go once they realize the motor grader is occupying their side of the road.
“I Can See Them Coming” Isn’t Enough
Experienced operators sometimes develop confidence in being able to see traffic and move over when necessary. The problem is that both machines may be moving toward one another.
Your motors grader doesn’t react like a pickup. Moving a long, articulated machine back to the right, while controlling the moldboard and maintaining awareness of the shoulder and ditch, takes time and distance. Add a hill, curve, dust cloud, sun glare, distracted driver, or vehicle traveling faster than expected, and your safety margin can disappear quickly.
The safest place for the motor grader is already on the correct half of the roadway before you meet traffic, not moving there after you see traffic.
The Moldboard Is Different From the Machine
There will be operations where the moldboard needs to work at or slightly across the roadway center to properly maintain the crown and move material. That does not mean the grader needs to follow it.
Moldboard across the center: may be necessary for the work.
Tires, tandems, frame, cab, or grader body across center: you are occupying the opposing side.
Give Yourself Somewhere to Go
Staying on your side gives you something extremely valuable when something unexpected happens: room to react.
A vehicle comes around the corner too fast. A farm truck takes up more of the road than expected. Someone tries to pass when they shouldn’t. A driver doesn’t slow down.
Keeping the grader on the correct side gives both you and the motorist more space to solve the problem. Operating near or across the center takes that space away.
Nebraska’s Keep-Right Rule Matters Too
This isn’t just about good operating practice. Nebraska’s basic rules of the road require vehicles on roadways of sufficient width to operate on the right half of the roadway, subject to specific exceptions. Routine grading work should not be treated as permission to occupy the opposing side of an open road.
For the operator, the practical lesson is simple: treat the center of the roadway like you expect every other driver to treat it. You wouldn’t want an oncoming semi, tractor, combine, or pickup occupying part of your side of the road just because the driver could see you coming. A motorist shouldn’t encounter a motor grader doing it either.
Before Your Next Pass
As you’re grading, periodically ask yourself: Where is my entire machine in relation to the center of this road?
Don’t think only about your front tires, the cab, or the blade. Think about the grader from bumper to bumper. If you’re approaching a hill or curve, anticipate the traffic you can’t see yet. If you’re working the crown, position the grader so the moldboard does the reaching, not the machine.
If conditions don’t allow you to perform the work while safely accommodating traffic, proper temporary traffic control, flagging, or a road closure needs to become part of the operation.
Operator Checklist
- Is the entire motor grader, except the necessary portion of the moldboard, on the right half of the road?
- Am I positioned safely before reaching a hill, curve, dust cloud, or other limited-sight area?
- Are the grader’s headlights, warning lights, slow-moving vehicle emblem, and moldboard-end flags visible and clean?
- Do I have enough room to respond if an oncoming driver does something unexpected?
- Do the conditions require signs, flaggers, or a road closure before I continue?
Keep the grader on your side. If something needs to reach across center to do the work, let it be the moldboard, not the grader.
You may have thousands of hours behind the controls. You may know your grader and your roads better than anyone. But you can’t control what’s coming around the next curve or over the next hill. You can control where your machine is.
When you meet an oncoming vehicle, it isn’t the time to figure out how to get back onto your side. You should already be there.
Reference: Neb. Rev. Stat. § 60-6,131
