Know Your Drivers

James B., Supply Chain Project Management A Structured, Collaborative and Measurable Approach, Boca Raton, FL St. Lucie Press, 2004. Chapter 3. 

Johnson, Bradford C., Retail the Wal-Mart effect, The McKinsey Quarterly, 2002, Number 1. 

Murray, Alan, Intellectual property old rules don t apply, The Wall Street Journal, August 23, 2001, p. Al. 

Ansberry, Clare, Manufacturers find themselves increasingly in the service sector. The Wall Street Journal, February 10, 2003, p. A2. 

A conversation with Jack Welch, MSI Executive Series (Internet broadcast), April l6, 2002. 

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A self-admission program is more humanitarian by nature, but entails more liability. It encourages drivers to come forward, obtain treatment, and return to duty. You run the risk that a driver will continue to use drugs or alcohol after treatment, but at least you have identified the problem, and your drivers will be more apt to come forward knowing that their jobs are safe. 

Your drivers must never have advance warning about a test. The tests must be imannounced and evenly spread throughout the year. If you wait until November each year to start testing, your drivers will know to avoid drugs and alcohol in November and December. With tests throughout the year, the better the chance your drivers will choose to avoid drugs and alcohol all the time. 

Develop a detailed company policy that shows zero tolerance for drug use and alcohol abuse while maintaining compliance with the minimum requirements of the DOT regulations. To reduce your liability, go above and beyond the regulations. Educate your drivers on those policies and make sure they know what is expected of them and what actions are prohibited by the regulations and your policies. 

Establish standard procedures for the reporting of convictions and suspensions. Make scu e your drivers know when they have to notify you, and make sure they re aware of the consequences of not notifying you. 

Know your at-risk drivers and educate all drivers about the dangers high blood pressure and how to control it. ... 

Adopt the DOT s higher willful intent to comply standard with regard to the investigation and inquiries requirements of 391.23. Your drivers have the mostimpact (good or bad) on your overall safety results. Make sure you know exactly who you re hiring ... 

While very few roadside inspection violations related to the 30-minute break were written in 2013, during 2014 the violation has climbed to the third most common hours-of-sen/ice violation written during roadside inspections (following only form and manner and log not current). This tends to indicate that drivers do not understand the rule or are knowingly or unknowingly not obeying it. Be sure to train and retrain your drivers on this fairly new requirement ... 

Whenever your drivers receive an inspection report (the MCS-63 or ASPEN report) at a roadside inspection, make sure they all know the following requirements ... 

Drivers are to report any and all safety-related problems to the Maintenance Department, Dispatch, or their immediate supervisor before operating any vehicle. In addition, no vehicle with a reported safety problem shall be operated until the defect or deficiency has been repaired or corrected. Under no circumstances will a driver operate a vehicle if that vehicle is likely to cause a breakdown or accident due to an unsafe condition or defect. If you use intermodal equipment provided to you, be sure your drivers know... 

Whether it is an on-site review of your DOT records, or a law enforcement officer asking your driver for the appropriate papers, you and your drivers need to know the regulations and what is required in the event of each. 

Training of the FMCSRs, along with company policies and procedures, will allow your drivers to know what is expected of them, how to conduct themselves, and what papers will be asked of them during a stop. Drivers should be trained to be cooperative, courteous, and professional at all times during an inspection. In the same respect, a safety professional that is knowledgeable in the regulations will have greater ease when posed questions or asked to provide documents. 

Driver reporting is another key to cargo claim prevention. This applies at both the shipper and receiver. If your drivers are inspecting the freight and notice damage, do they know what their next step should be Many shippers will note the damage on the bills, but was it noted correctly and on all copies of the bills ... 

What do you tell your drivers to do if a receiver says, 1 don t like, it but I ll take it, and notes the damage on the bills What if the receiver tells your driver, 1 don t like it, but doesn t note the damage on the bills Do your drivers know all yom- shipper requirements on damaged cargo at a receiver Can you expect them to know all your shippers claim requirements and procedures ... 

Cargo claims are much more difficult to track and manage than the more traditional vehicle accident claims that safety pros deal with. In the case of an accident claim, the compands representative (your driver) is on the spot and knows what to do. In cargo claims, this may not be the case. A company can receive cargo claims days, even weeks, after the cargo has left your company s care. 

You can confront the problem by letting your drivers know about the hazards of sleep deprivation and what they can do to prevent it. 

Your drivers have been through enough tight spots to know that it takes a sharp mind and a steady hand to control a commercial motor vehicle. So, when your driver starts to consider going just a little farther before resting, he or she needs to ask him or herself, Is it really worth it ... 

Heightened awareness — A defensive driver knows what is going on in front, behind, and to the sides of the vehicle at all times. Remind your drivers to get into the habit of doing a constant visual scan aroimd the truck. This will include cleaning and properly adjusting mirrors. 

You just never know when it might happen to your driver. How he or she responds in the first few minutes at the scene following an incident may determine if the situation goes fi-om bad to worse. By taking the time to train your drivers (and dispatchers) on the appropriate responses during a chaotic situation, you just might prevent future ramifications. 

Even if a professional truck driver is using all of his or her defensive driving skills, an accident can still happen. In 2006 there were more than 5,973,000 accidents, 369,000 involving large trucks. Most of the over 369,000 commercial motor vehicle accidents each year are not the fault of the motor carrier. When the unforeseeable happens, a driver only has a matter of minutes to get a grip on his or her emotions. By learning some basic steps, your driver can immediately go into action. Drivers need to know what to do, and not to do, at an accident scene to prevent further injury, liability, and future problems. 

Have your drivers use a disposable camera. This may be the most useful thing they can have at the scene. Taking pictures will help determine how an accident occurred and how much damage was involved. But, they need to know what to photograph, and what not to ... 

Know your audience — Generally speaking, a motor carrier job fair is attended by three types of driver candidates — each demonstrating very different behaviors ... 

Now that you know what to look for, what should you look out for when reviewing your driver applications ... 

Driver managers who know their drivers, know what they prefer to do, know how often they want to be home, listen to their concerns and act on them, are worth their weight in gold in your retention efforts. In many operations most drivers have nearly aU their contact with your company through this one person, so make sure it is favorable contact. 

Your drivers must know that management considers them to be the company s most important asset and the key to the success of the entire organization. Your drivers must understand, and constantly see visible examples, that their efforts are sincerely appreciated. 

Drivers are the company — Often drivers fail to do their best work, or simply leave, because they re not recognized for their efforts in making a difference. Make sure your drivers know that the company s safety success hinges on their individual efforts. 

Do your drivers know that commercial motor vehicles generally cannot negotiate curves at as high a speed as automobiles without the possibility of rolling over ... 

Do your drivers know what conditions make rollover more likely ... 

Do you know if your drivers are practicing safe passing maneuvers ... 

Do you and your drivers know that most lane use and lane changing accidents result from following too closely ... 

There is no room for error when using explosives. Whether you are a quahfied blaster, blaster helper, powderman, or explosives driver, you must know your job stone cold. You must be dehberate and precise each step of the way toward firing the blast. This takes training, training, and more training. 

Transporting equipment and loads on stable ground is essential to avoid accidents and injuries. Take the time to know your duties involved with safely backing vehicles, whether that is as a spotter, driver, or worker. 

Never let a driver operate a vehicle he/she is not licensed to operate. This requires two things you need to know what license is required for each type of vehicle the company operates and what licence each of your drivers has ... 

Fatigue is a major cause of on-site and on-road accidents. As well as making sure your drivers know and understand the hours-of-service limits, make sure your drivers know how to recognize the signs of fatigue ... 

Make sure your drivers know to get adequate rest during the waiting periods and how to spot the signs of fatigue. 

By reviewing a driver s record of duty status, you will know if you are dispatching him or her before receiving a verified negative result. If you discover this violation with one of your drivers, you may want to pursue it even further ... 

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