May 9, 2014 Avery Vise Fleet Owner
Carrier Safety Administration is clarifying the display requirements for automatic onboard recording devices (AOBRDs) that have electronic displays and is reminding motor carriers and law enforcement officials that the devices are not required to be able to print out a hard copy. In guidance to be published in the May 12 Federal Register, the agency also said that an enforcement official may request that additional information be provided following the roadside inspection.
FMCSA’s new guidance was prompted by reports that inspectors sometimes ask drivers to provide printouts from AOBRDs or to e-mail or fax records of duty status (RODS) to an enforcement official. The agency also has learned that on occasion inspection officials have issued citations to commercial motor vehicle drivers because their AOBRDs did not display certain information.
AOBRDs are not required to be capable of providing printed records at the roadside, although a driver may voluntarily provide it if his AOBRD has the capability. Printed information must meet the display requirements of Sec. 395.15.
Requirements for recording, but not displaying, information reflects the technology in place in the mid-1980s when the regulations were adopted, FMCSA said. Small electronic displays were rare and expensive, and they could display only limited information. So the regulations call for “time and sequence of duty status” rather than the Part 395.8 graph grid.
FMCSA is adding two new questions to Part 395 guidance adopted on April 4, 1997. The first states that AOBRDs with electronic displays must be capable of displaying:
• Driver’s total hours of driving today
• The total hours on duty today
• Total miles driving today
• Total hours on duty for the 7 consecutive day period, including today
• Total hours on duty for the prior 8 consecutive day period, including the present day
• The sequential changes in duty status and the times the changes occurred for each driver using the device
Part 395.15 requires the recording of additional info, but only the items listed above must be displayed because of the data display limitations of a minimally compliant AOBRD, FMCSA.
FMCSA’s guidance also confirms that the regulations don’t require AOBRDs to provide a hardcopy printouts for an enforcement official. “As long as the information made available for display on the AOBRD meets the requirements of § 395.15(i)(5), the driver and motor carrier are not required to provide additional RODS documentation to an enforcement official at the roadside,” FMCSA said.
“However, an enforcement official may request that additional information be provided by email, fax, or similar means within 48 hours for follow-up after the conclusion of the roadside inspection.”
Carriers and law enforcement officials welcomed FMCSA’s clarification.
“ATA is grateful that FMCSA issued this guidance clarifying the long-standing AOBRD requirements,” Rob Abbott, vice president-safety policy for the American Trucking Assns., told Fleet Owner. “The confusion on the part of several enforcement officers had resulted in erroneous enforcement action and disparate enforcement from jurisdiction to jurisdiction. ATA is hopeful that the guidance will resolve these problems.”
“We are glad FMCSA has finally put this guidance out,” Stephen Keppler, executive director of the Commercial Vehicle Safety Alliance, told Fleet Owner. “We and others have been asking for this guidance for more than a year, and there have been inconsistent views on this particular issue. This will help to clarify the regulation so it can be more consistently enforced and the industry knows what is expected of them.”
FMCSA’s proposed rule on electronic logging devices reflects huge technology changes since the AOBRD rules were adopted in 1988, but they still would not require that devices print log information.
Two Worlds, One Road
Many transportation companies struggle with how much time and money to spend on safety. They say the right things like, “Safety is number one,” or “Safety is our highest priority.” However, their actions may not match their words. That’s because safety, and the processes by which better safety results are achieved, are often misunderstood.
Try this test… Ask a few of your key people if they are running a safe operation. We can almost guarantee they’ll say, “Yes.” Next, ask them to define the word safety. We bet you’ll get a lot of different answers but few will be right.
Most people don’t actually understand what safety is. In fact, very few people can even define the word. You may wonder, “Why is it important for us to define safety the same way?” Imagine what would happen if each person in a factory had a different idea of what quality was. There would be no consistency from product to product. Or to use a sports analogy, imagine if each official on the football field had a different opinion of what “pass interference” meant. There would be no consistency in calling penalties. If everyone defines safety differently, how can your transportation company pull together to operate in the safest way possible?
‘POINT #1: Many business leaders have concluded that their accident frequency is acceptable. They believe that additional efforts to reduce it would be costly and yield marginal improvements. They are wrong.
You have a tremendous opportunity to achieve better safety results by simply changing this mindset.
It Takes a Change of Mindset
So how should you define safety? Our definition of safety is “freedom from risk.” It’s that simple. In other words, if you or any of your transportation company’s employees work in a situation that’s “risky” – posing some risk or danger to them or others – then, practically speaking, that workplace isn’t safe.
Naturally, you could say that every job inherently involves some risk. And for fleet and warehouse people, many aspects of their jobs are risky or somewhat dangerous. But undertaking efforts to reduce the risk…that’s working in the right direction.
Freedom from risk… Misunderstanding the definition of safety is only a symptom of a larger problem.
Along with defining safety, measuring safety is equally important. Most companies measure their safety results in two ways: the number of accidents and injuries and their overall cost of loss. This is like counting the missing horses after the barn door was left open.
The biggest leap occurs when one truly understands that virtually all accidents are caused by human behavior.1 They aren’t the result of fate or chance. That’s when it dawns on you that strategically, “we can do something to reduce accidents and their wasteful costs.” A behavior-based approach is both proactive and far more effective. You can minimize risk by eliminating unsafe behaviors, thereby reducing accidents and injuries.
The challenge is in knowing what to do and how to do it.
POINT #2: Accidents are caused; they are not “accidental”. Reducing accidents takes 1) a change of mindset and 2) a change in strategy.
The Strategy
There are three fundamental components of a safety-focused organization:
1. a culture that promotes a safety mindset,
2. systems to modify behavior so that people take responsibility for behaving safely and
3. support systems to encourage and reinforce those desired behaviors.
To achieve a safety-focused organization, there are twelve specific sets of activities that need to be implemented. They are:
Safety Culture
1. Safety Measures
2. Safety Communications
3. Safety Leadership
Safety Behavior Safety Behavior Modification Systems
1. Employee Recruitment & Selection
2. New Employee Orientation
3. Safety Education
Safety Training Safety Support Systems
1. Behavior-Based Reinforcement Systems
2. Performance Management Systems
3. Disciplinary Action Process
4. Corrective (Developmental) Action Process
Most companies’ safety efforts already include some of those activities; however achieving world-class safety requires a balanced, integrated and consistent strategy. The way to reduce accident costs is to implement a comprehensive safety strategy throughout the organization. Such a strategy includes shoring up existing efforts and introducing new ones.
Where does your transportation company rank as a safety-focused organization? Each of the twelve topics listed above can be utilized as a rating scale to assess your organization’s efforts toward achieving world-class safety. An organizational safety analysis conducted by unbiased, external experts can provide you with a wealth of information regarding your strengths, your weaknesses and your opportunities for improvement.
Jeff Cassell
Senior Vice President
Avatar Management Services, Inc
Macedonia, OH
jcassell@avatarms.com
References:
1 Large Truck Crash Causation Study (LTCCS) Analysis Series: Using LTCCS Data for Statistical Analyses of Crash Risk—FMCSA,2006
One of the longest running issues in the trucking industry surrounds the topic of driver retention. What are the secrets of keeping your best drivers? Why do drivers leave a company? There are many answers to these questions, some of which apply to individual situations while others are perennial and impact all trucking companies. Several issues and strategies that apply to all trucking companies are addressed below and are a starting point in beginning an examination of why drivers may be leaving your company at a higher rate than you would prefer.
Before examining each of the 10 issues, it is essential to understand two initial issues:
First: how to calculate driver turnover. Second: understanding the difference between constructive turnover and destructive turnover. A company should calculate its driver turnover at least annually, and better yet more often such as quarterly or monthly. The formula is relatively simple:
(Number of drivers who have left during the year divided by average number of driver positions available.)
A driver turnover rate of over 100% means that more drivers left the company than there were driver positions.
Constructive turnover is driver turnover that is initiated by the company in an effort to improve the quality of the driver pool. Drivers in this category do not leave of their own accord. These are drivers who may be discharged for safety reasons or for violating company policy, or for a lack of acceptable customer service skills or for any number of other reasons. This type of turnover is relatively unavoidable and somewhat expected over time.
Destructive driver turnover is turnover that is initiated by the driver due to dissatisfaction. These are drivers who are leaving the company that you would prefer not to leave. It is destructive because it leads to additional costs and other problems. Drivers may leave for a number of reasons such as pay, lack of home-time, or equipment concerns. When devising driver retention strategies it is these drivers who a company is targeting in an effort to keep them.
An in-depth look at constructive turnover reveals several common reasons that drivers leave a company voluntarily, as well as strategies that will improve the odds of a driver staying with a company. These reasons can be separated into two categories:
First: These issues which initially attracted the driver to your company and where they will be the quickest to choose to leave if their expectations are not being met:
1. Driver pay. A primary incentive that attracts a driver to a company and possibly the number one reason that a driver will leave a company if their expectations are not being met. To keep drivers a company does not need to be the best paying outfit around but the driver pay must be fair and be reasonably in-line with what other area/segment companies are paying. Also, ensure you are meeting your drivers’ expectations as far as miles, as for many drivers there is a direct correlation between miles and income.
Strategy: Do a wage survey to find out what other companies are paying their drivers and make adjustments as necessary. Listen carefully to what your drivers are saying with regard to this issue.
2. Health/retirement benefits. Another top reason that attracts drivers to a company, especially those with families. Again, the benefits do not have to be the best around but they should be comparable to other area companies.
Strategy: Companies should examine their health/retirement benefits and ensure they are meeting driver needs.
3. Home-time: All drivers have some expectation of when and for how long they will be able to spend time at home. Many of these expectations are addressed at the time of hire. It is during the first few months of employment where a driver will strongly evaluate whether the company is meeting these expectations.
Strategy: Ensure that all operations personnel are aware of the importance of meeting driver expectations in this area and strive to make this a non-issue in the company. A single experience where a driver missed a family event is enough in many cases to convince the driver that this company is not the place to be.
4. Equipment: Similar to pay and benefits, this is an area that attracts a driver to the company initially. Clean, modern and safe equipment is what drivers are looking for. Older equipment that breaks down a lot is what will drive them away because this impacts directly on their income and possible home-time. Also, this is an area where many companies truly differentiate themselves from everyone else. Driver amenities such as satellite radio and customized sleeper berths really are things that drivers value.
Strategy: Keep equipment well maintained, and keep this issue in front of management/ownership as a top driver issue that affects driver retention.
5. Driver Treatment: Drivers don’t expect to be treated like kings but they won’t tolerate being treated like serfs either. Similar to home-time, a single bad experience in this area is enough for a driver to make the decision to leave. Companies with low driver turnover realize this and everyone at the company treats each other with a high level of respect. Drivers can come into the office and discuss just about any issue in a professional manner. Drivers don’t expect that every single issue be decided in their favor but they will have a healthy respect for the organization that listens to their concerns.
Strategy: Recognize your company’s culture in this area and work to improve it if the company does not have a culture of personal respect.
Second, the issues that, although not primary reasons the driver was attracted to the company, are of significant importance in keeping a valued driver with the company. These are the areas where a driver will choose to stay with the company if they can be made to recognize the value as well as what they will lose if they leave the company.
6. Bonus pay and other incentives: Drivers do a lot more than just drive a truck. They are required to do a thorough pre-trip inspection, keep a clean and legal logbook, and may do extra work such as tarping and load/unload. Do your drivers have to wait for an excessive amount of time in the loading/unloading process? Remember, time equal money in a driver’s eyes. In many cases the amount of effort a driver puts in makes a direct impact on company measureables, such as CSA scores. Many companies pay the drivers for these efforts and the time involved and many do not. A driver knows what companies pay and which ones don’t.
In addition to monetary incentives, many drivers appreciate recognition for safety and other achievements. Annual and milestone safety awards as well as programs such as Driver of the Year can yield excellent results in morale and retention.
Strategy: Ensure that your comprehensive compensation strategy includes compensation for all of the work and time that drivers put in on the job. Look for ways to recognize your drivers for their safety achievements and other exemplary work behaviors.
7. Driver Training and Development: Drivers, just like most workers, are interested in their level of skill and knowledge and want to become better at what they do. With all of the varied issues involved in trucking there is no shortage of areas from which a company can choose to offer training and development. Issues range from FMCSA regulations to the CSA program, to defensive driving to specialized industry training topics.
Strategy: A company that recognizes the importance of driver development and offers training to their drivers will benefit not only from a better trained workforce, but from lower driver turnover.
8. Advancement within the company. While many drivers won’t have the desire or ambition to move up within the company, there will always be some who will. Many safety managers and dispatchers got their start as drivers. Or, possibly a driver is looking to become a mentor/trainer within the organization for newer drivers.
Strategy: Always be on the lookout for drivers who express a desire to learn more about the company’s internals and who may be candidates for staff or training positions.
Finally, there are 2 other strategies that companies can consider in their efforts to improve driver retention:
9. Develop and maintain high hiring standards. Resist the temptation to lower these standards in an effort to fill seats. A driver with a marginal safety record, un-related or limited experience or several jobs in the past couple of years is not likely to last with you either, no matter how hard you try.
10. Have a practice/policy of no-rehire or limited rehire. For example, if a driver leaves voluntarily they won’t be considered for rehire for at least a year. Or, if they leave a second time they will not be eligible for rehire. Partly due to the high-profile recruiting tactics many companies use, drivers may start to believe that a driving job is just a commodity where they can leave a company and come back anytime they choose.
Leo Hughes, CDS, ARM, AIS
Sr. Safety Representative
Great West Casualty Company
l.hughes@gwccnet.com
You should pay special attention to every component that can affect any part of your insurance program. Generally speaking these are the drivers, equipment and contract Master Service Agreements with shippers to ensure any problems are resolved before they happen. Installing procedures to ensure no driver ever leaves the yard with a faulty piece of equipment and without the proper CDL type matched to the asset being driven will save you money. Having your lights all working properly, brakes properly adjusted, tires at proper depths and inflation pressure, hoses in good condition and the cleanliness or lack thereof the tractor and trailer can be the difference in getting pulled over or bypassed by enforcement agencies. Also the culture of your business will make a huge difference in the way you are perceived by the outside public. Create the right impression by having the right attitude with law enforcement and with insurance loss control personnel. You are in a highly regulated industry with governmental agencies just waiting to get a shot at coming in your doors to review your operations and find something to fine you or write you up for.
Important Insurance items:
1. Control your agents, they are working on your behalf and should consider it a privilege to be able to be involved with your company. Set the rules for them as to how you want each insurance line rated, deductibles, financial strength of the insurance company and the final date to have proposal to you, then stick to it.
2. Drivers List, be sure to keep up with years of experience even though DOT doesn’t require it, this will help. Years’ experience can be calculated automatically each year on the drivers list from assumptions.
3. Projections for Mileage, Revenue and Units and Values, don’t let the agent determine these. When the agents present the proposals to you be sure to check this against what they are proposing. Finally, check the rating basis when the policy comes in against what you asked them to use, resolve any discrepancies.
4. Garaging locations with assets that are parked there. Be sure to be completely upfront here as some insurance companies are not filed with the some state insurance boards.
5. Keep up with losses over $20,000 in value and give every detail to your agents.
6. CSA Basic Score above the 75% threshold will cost you money.
7. (CAB) Central Analysis Bureau is being used by almost every insurance underwriter to evaluate your business and will determine if you’re offered a renewal or an initial proposal. This entity is giving you a grade on: safer data, radius of operations based on inspections, financial health, accident and inspection details. So keep those CSA scores in the non-alert status.
8. Be sure you give the agent a breakdown of your routes and radius of operations; they need 8 quarters of IFTA’s. If you have multiple terminals or are utilizing Owner Operators that are dispatched from home then the actual distance traveled for routine shipments can vary.
9. Make sure your agent has a direct appointment with the insurance company they want to approach. Having a direct appointment your agent has the underwriter’s ear and can communicate better on your behalf. There are a few exceptions where the insurance company does not have direct contracts available (Carolina Casualty, Maxum Specialty, and Northland to name a few).
Next you probably get multiple sales calls from agent making all kinds of claims:
Insurance Myths:
1. Hey I can get you better pricing by writing a short synopsis of your operations.
2. I can save you 20% on your insurance when the guy has never looked at your loss history or your account.
3. I need more time to get your quotes; I am beating up on the underwriter and will have your best number a day or two before time has run out to renew your account.
4. The insurance company told me they are going to get you really good pricing; they just have to firm it up.
5. I need a particular insurance market because I am the largest writer with them and I will get preferential pricing.
6. I’m sorry I can’t get your loss history to you quickly it takes two weeks to get back.
Of course, none of the myths are true and if you are working with an agent that keeps you strung out each year give me a call. I will work with your directly as an agent or we can discuss a consulting agreement to handle all your insurance needs. If we all try our best to keep this process as God honoring and professional as possible the outcome for all will be consistently better.
Tracy Lange, CIC, LRM
Capps Trucking Agency
tlange@cappsinsurance.com
903-434-4720
When did you last review and revise your company’s driver/vehicle safety policy? What is it’s “expiration date”?
Creating an effective, enforceable safety policy to govern how drivers drive, how vehicles get maintained, what to do in the case of a crash and so on is vitally important for a host of reasons:
1. Education: you need to communicate your expectations as a management team so that the drivers know what to do and how to do it.
2. Compliance: your standard provides a benchmark for enforcement of minimum acceptable performance.
3. Anticipates contingencies: well-crafted and communicated policies enable managers to deal with the vast majority of situations that may arise during a day, week or month without having to seek guidance from above while providing an escalation path for true exceptions.
One thing that the best policy can’t become is “timeless” — the world changes around us continually and as new technologies are introduced and case law is established our policies need to be reviewed to determine whether these changes warrant a revision to the policy.
Setting an artificial “expiration date” on driver/fleet safety policies would be one way to assure that the review is scheduled, budgeted and completed on a periodic basis. Assuming that policies will be reviewed and revised “on the fly” as changes occur may be fruitless as the demands of the moment may rob even the most dedicated manager of the time needed to complete the review/revisions in a timely fashion. By scheduling the review in advance, the manager can take a deliberate approach to the review.
Self-Audit Against an Industry Standard
One way to assure that any policy review is comprehensive would be to conduct a self-audit of the existing policy against a published industry standard or benchmark. The ANSI Z15.1 “sets forth practices for the safe operation of motor vehicles owned or operated by organizations” and was most recently revised in 2012. The standard covers seven key areas including “Definitions, Management, Leadership and administration, Operational environment, Driver considerations, Vehicle considerations, Incident reporting and analysis.“
While the standard may not cover all details of a specialty operation with unique exposures to loss, it does provide a baseline for comparison. For the vast majority of fleets, it will cover those critical areas that are found in most driver/fleet safety policies.
Fleets who discover gaps in their current policy can document why the gap exists and whether the gap should be filled or ignored (i.e. the fleet doesn’t engage in that type of operation or the scenario will not present itself in the context of the fleet’s current or anticipated operations, etc.)
Paul Farrell
CEO
SafetyFirst Systems
Parsippany, NJ
paulf@safetyfirst.com
