Assessing Your Trucking Business: 5 Methods & Key Elements

In the frenzied pace of motor carrier operations, it is easy to get caught up in the daily grind and lose sight of fundamentals. For any business, three key elements are crucial to success: communication, teamwork, and planning. Revisiting each of these elements periodically is healthy for the entire organization and can help the company achieve its objectives. However, one area that motor carriers tend to ignore in varying degrees is safety.

In the Spring 2019 issue of Safety Talk, we discussed how practical drift, an employee’s gradual deviation from established policies and procedures, can erode the effectiveness of a company’s safety efforts, and if allowed to continue unchecked, can negatively define the company’s culture. Senior management at a trucking company can contribute to this erosion as well. Here is an example:

A motor carrier may become complacent or resistant to change because it hasn’t recently experienced a crash or injury. Management then adopts a mentality of, “If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it.”

This type of mentality introduces risk into what may otherwise be a healthy organization. If management cannot attribute the company’s success to effective loss-prevention practices, it is essentially saying pure luck is responsible for the company’s performance. Regardless of past loss performance, no company can afford to rest on its laurels if it expects to remain competitive. A periodic review of basic safety practices is essential because new risks may be present that have not been accounted for. Whether a change in customers, equipment, commodities, or personnel, motor carriers should have a process in place to continually assess their risks and determine if current safety practices are sufficient. Below are some assessment methods.

REVIEW SAFETY PRACTICES

Determine if the company’s safety practices are current and effective. For example, are road tests being conducted? If yes, do they reflect equipment, commodities, routes, etc.? If not, why?

REVIEW HIRING AND RETENTION STANDARDS

Has the company defined in writing its standards for driver hiring and retention? If no, do so as soon as possible. If yes, determine whether the standards are consistently adhered to and enforced. Deviation from written policies adds risk.

REVIEW THE EFFECTIVENESS OF SAFETY TRAINING

Review curriculum for accuracy and effectiveness. Do not continually train employees on topics they already know. Identify gaps in knowledge, skills, and abilities, and then design training to fill those gaps.

RESEARCH NEW TECHNOLOGIES

Consider the return on investment (ROI) that technologies like collision mitigation, lane departure, or automatic transmissions would provide. Decide if they make sense operationally and financially.

REVIEW COMPLIANCE LEVELS

Conduct a self-audit to determine if the company is meeting basic compliance requirements. The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) offers a free “Carrier Compliance Questionnaire” and other online tools to explain the regulations. Go to https://csa.fmcsa.dot.gov for more information. 

CALL TO ACTION

• Conduct a DOT self-audit using the FMCSA’s “Carrier Compliance Questionnaire.”

• Reference Great West’s “Road Test Evaluation” form to create your process to evaluate and qualify drivers.

• Identify manual processes that could be replaced with automation or modern technology solutions.

• Develop a schedule to periodically review safety policies, procedures, and training programs.

Note: These lists are not intended to be all-inclusive.