By Cindy Cyr, Cindy@CinCyrCopywriting.com
1) Always have a contagious positive attitude. I know you’ve heard this before, but that is because it is vitally important. People break off friendships over negativity, so imagine what a client will do when you are negative. Plus, always remember, part of having a positive attitude is never complaining about anything.
2) Show excitement about helping your prospect’s business and about helping them succeed. Be enthusiastic about their success, and be both their cheerleader and advisor when they need one.
3) Be confident, not arrogant. Make up your mind to achieve whatever you set your mind to. Let your customers see a “determined to succeed” attitude along with self-assurance in your abilities without seeming like you can do no wrong.
4) Demonstrate your ability to assess and solve problems. Be able to look at real-world problems, prioritize what needs to be done and what can wait, and provide solutions.
5) Have fun and be happy. Have you ever noticed how magnetic fun people are? Smile. Find joy. See the humor in things and you’ll be one of them.
6) Be likeable and welcoming. Create a rapport that makes people feel like they could come to your house, kick their shoes off, help themselves to food from the fridge, and feel right at home.
7) Give 110% and do your best EVERY time. Long-time customers will get accustomed to your best. Once you stop giving it, they may decide it’s time to find someone new who is excited about their products and/or services.
8) Have integrity. Always be honest and ethical in everything you do. Keep your word and never do the slightest thing that casts doubt. Be aware of little white lies, jokes, or stories that may paint you as less than honest.
9) Don’t cast blame. This is especially important when and if you make a mistake. If you make a mistake, let the client know what the mistake was and your suggestions for solving the problem.
10) Keep organized. Keep things in order and be detailed (but not obsessive). This helps you run things error-free and builds your client’s confidence in you.
11) Make the customer feel like you are in business with him. Make your customers feel like they are your only customer-or better yet, like their success is as important to you as if you were a business partner.
12) Avoid telling your client about the difficulties you are encountering. Maybe you’re having personal problems or are having technical difficulties with your computer. Whatever the case, your prospect doesn’t care about your problems. When you share them, you are not only wasting their time, but you are setting yourself up as an “excuse person” or a “complainer.” This casts doubts in you and your ability and can severely damage your credibility.
Various military branches have guidelines for complex operations in stressful environments – which I have adapted to transportation operations. The last two months of the year are critical for most transportation operations. Most of our clients are running at capacity, weather is changing, and everyone wants to go on vacation at the same time.
How do you make effective decisions in your operations? Let me know your thoughts and ideas. Below are 7 components to consider for your fleet operations:
1. Analysis. Conduct an assessment. Each job, each load is different.
How critical is it for that load, that postal trip, or that drilling rig to be on site, on time? You’ve assigned people – how capable are they for this particular job? What is the risk of weather?
Develop contingency plans for problems that may arise.
Conduct another assessment when the situation changes.
2. Situational Awareness. To make good decisions, we must know what’s going on around us. Plans are critical to success, but we must be ready to change those plans when the situation changes.
Some examples; you have planned a lengthy postal run with 5 driver changes each way. What are your plans if weather forces the third driver to shut down for 12 hours? You have 6 people and 3 vehicles servicing an oilwell – what happens to that next scheduled job if the crew gets snowed in for a day?
Complacency and boredom inhibit our situational awareness, causing us to become lazy, stop monitoring, and not create contingency plans.
Highly stressful situations cause us to hyper focus – in the truck and in the office. This extraordinary focus causes us to lose sight of what’s going on around us – and to disregard some good advice.
Maintaining an awareness of our environment helps us to catch those little mistakes before they become big errors.
3. Adaptability. With proper situational awareness, we are able to detect and respond to changes cause by driver failures, equipment failures, changing customer demands, or weather events.
Are we flexible, and ready to listen to differing opinions? Do we think we have all the answers, or do we listen to those who may be closer to the situation than we are?
4. Communication. Clear communication is ensuring that people have a clear understanding of what we wish to convey. It is the sender’s responsibility to make sure communications are received and understood.
However, good communications involves a feedback loop – asking for feedback, monitoring behavior, or watching key performance indicators to make certain the message was received. In this two-way communications environment created when you ask for feedback, both parties are responsible for the message is received, understood, and effective.
5. Leadership. Leaders find a way to accomplish the goal. Leadership is not about giving orders. Leadership is not about your position. Anyone can be a leader – we all have that opportunity. Through hard work and example, leaders achieve the respect, confidence, collaboration, and loyalty of those we work with.
6. Assertiveness. Assertive people care more about the goal, mission, or job. Aggressive people are motivated by ego or self-image.
Assertiveness is about communicating concerns and striving for a reasonable resolution.
7. Decision Making. When we lay the foundation as described in the first 6 steps – we have the information and ability to make good decisions. Some decisions take 20 seconds, and some take 20 months. The process remains the same.
By Dennis McGee, and Joel Beal
As an observer of the safety roundtable hosted by Dennis McGee and Associates, I get to see new ideas to protect our industry. The following article was distributed to our group, and contains valuable information. It’s a matter of when – not if – you must defend yourself.
Our clients have a great deal of information available from their onboard computers and transportation management software. However, you will find yourself in situations where you simply need more information. If you’ve been in court or given a deposition – you know it’s an ugly, protracted battle. I encourage you to read and think about these ideas.
Battlefield Blunders As Decisive As Brilliant Tactics: New Ideas to Defend the Trucker
Battlefield blunders can be as decisive as brilliant tactics. The battlefields of history are littered with losers who failed to recognize and develop new strategies.
Burnside at Fredericksburg: The Battle of Fredericksburg was a humiliating meat-grinder of a defeat for the Union Army, and the fault lies squarely with General Ambrose Burnside. The man would be forgotten today but for the fact that he lent his name to excessive cheek hair.
Custer at the Little Bighorn: Why Custer thought he could go hey-diddle-diddle-right-up-the-middle into a swarm of angry Indians remains a mystery. The Plains Indians were among the finest cavalrymen ever. When the repeating rifle came into their hands, they weaponized a Spanish import: the horse.
I consider every case as a potential battle, or least a skirmish, that must be carefully executed. We cannot follow the fate of the unprepared or misinformed in defending our client, particularly trucking clients.
We must not be like the ego-centric Custer and wallow in the war stories of past glory, while ignoring new means and methods of defending against actions. We must constantly look for new methods of proof.
We must continuously consider and develop new means of persuasion. I would welcome your unique ideas on how to better represent the trucking industry.
The following is a brief overview of some of the tactics that have been successfully employed.
1. Video Cameras
Upon arrival at the accident scene, immediately check for video cameras-public or private.
Sure, it’s a long shot that any are present or even longer that the accident was caught on film, but you must act immediately to have any chance of preserving any possible capturing of the accident on video. Even a snippet of information can corroborate speeds.
Recently, I told a client that I had wished we had obtained the surveillance information immediately following the accident. He was somewhat perturbed for making this suggestion. I was not implying that he or his scene investigator had done anything wrong, but I knew this area and I knew that there were cameras all around the truck stop. Had we received this information sooner, we may have learned that the plaintiff had been driving at a high speed and could have avoided our driver who was making a left turn from the truck stop.
Video cameras can be both public and private. From municipal intersection cams to business security cameras, the myriad of possibilities constantly increases. Although it is rare that municipal or cameras on the highway preserve the information, a security camera outside a business captured the landing of the airliner on the Hudson River. My investigation of this particular area revealed that there was convenience store surveillance camera that would have captured the vantage point of the plaintiff. There was also a surveillance camera at a fast food restaurant that was directly pointing at where our driver would have been pulling out.
If you want this stuff, you need to get our there quickly and preserve it. Rarely does the private company keep this data more than a few days. Wouldn’t it be great to have unbiased documentation of your driver’s version in an intersection accident.
Lucky? Luck is the by-product of anticipation and preparation.
2. Early Surveillance
If you do traditional surveillance, do it early, immediately after the accident. Frequently this is far more productive than later when claimants are warned by an attorney or guarded for the sake of litigation.
3. Cheap Surveillance: Social Media
Social media is everywhere. Younger generations live there, but even the older generations engage it regularly. People constantly post their activities and photos. Those who do so before or after they assert a claim against our companies are handing us a gift.
A few years ago, I was defending an alleged closed-head brain injury claim. The plaintiff stated there were numerous activities, she was unable to do, including being in crowds. Oddly, she posted on Facebook, movie scenes in which she played an extra.
We cannot waste this resource of cheap surveillance. Act fast because personal injury lawyers know we are asking for this information now. Facebook has limited the access to this information, but good discovery questions can ensure this information is made available to you.
Check available public sources immediately upon the accident, before it can be taken down. All to often, by the time a lawsuit is filed, the information has been privatized or deleted. When your hire an attorney to oversee the investigation of an accident, you should also have him check public access to social media.
Neither you nor your lawyer can befriend someone, but often social media is not privatized, at first. Download and preserve photos and videos. Then follow up regularly. You can often save the expense of iffy surveillance by capitalizing on “self surveillance”.
There are ways to request this information in discovery, but it’s more difficult to get. Better to get it early and preserve that information for use later.
4. Push Back
Let plaintiff’s counsel know they are in for a fight. This is not “hit-a-truck, get-a-check.” Be aggressive and demand medical and employment releases even before you answer the lawsuit. Request a list of providers and employers also.
Many plaintiff’s lawyers move by inertia so follow up in at least thirty days, reminding them of your prejudice due to their delay.
Don’t let the braggadocio plaintiff’s attorney control the case, but keep some humor about it. An attorney in Texas told me that he liked to “cut the gonads of insurance defense lawyers.” My response, “Be sure you have a sharp knife.”
5. Pre-Litigation Medical and Vocational Evaluations
Request IME’s and vocational interviews early, before suit is filed even if it is just a records evaluation (assuming you have the records). If plaintiff agrees, you have early evaluation by your expert to rebut their claims. If they refuse, we have documented our attempt and their rejection, raising questions of their validity.
Plaintiffs often delay for months or years while they build their case, one visit at a time, before filing suit. We remove the argument that initial claims of injury and disability must be justified if our experts were not allowed to see the plaintiff until much later.
6. Dig Deep and Wide
Undermine plaintiffs’ claims of “no prior similar injuries” by digging for the data. Request the identity of all prior medical insurers, pharmacies and health care providers.
You may have a client who thinks the pre-accident information is unnecessary but it’s rare. Most of them know that the plaintiff’s pre-accident problems are highly relevant.
Okay, we know that the plaintiffs will not tell us the truth about all the pre-accident health care providers, but they may not realize that when we get their pharmacy records, we will know who has been prescribing them drugs. Identify all pharmacies filling prescriptions for any reason. These can often reveal prescriptions that can again be traced to similar previous maladies. Alternatively, they can reveal abuse that may be admissible based upon their effect on life expectancy.
Better yet, the health insurers will reveal ALL the providers and pharmacies that have been paid. Subpoena their files. These records can lead to prior treatment that plaintiff previously denied.
Conclusion:
We know that every case has its unique challenges. Our clients may not want us to do some of the things suggested, but any case can be LOST cheaply. Some cases will only be settled cheaply when we push-back and dig deep. To do that, we must anticipate and be prepared.
Prior to the battle at Little Big Horn, Brig. Gen. Alfred Terry had advised Custer to await the arrival of two columns before engaging the enemy. These reinforcements were approaching at the time of the attack. So why did Custer disregard Terry’s warning?
Some historians suggest Custer had lost the element of surprise and was compelled to attack. Author Mari Sandoz suggested it was because he wanted to be president. The Democratic National Convention was to begin in St. Louis in two days, and news of a victory would certainly have boosted presidential ambitions.
Dozens of other theories abound, but no doubt Custer used old methods and was unprepared for the battle. Of course, a legal battle pales in comparison to military battles; however, the lessons are applicable:
- Be overly-prepared
- Look for new methods to fight the battle
- Don’t get overly confident with yesterday’s success
- Don’t get overly burdened by yesterday’s failure
By the way, the Trucking Industry Defense Association Advance Seminar in February 2013 will have some unique and practical idea on how to defend the the FIVE-figure case (yes, those less than $100,000). Also, there will be a session on how the good case went bad and how the bad case turned out good.
Trailer Technology
When do truck and bus drivers need to log their time? In the US, drivers who are required to hold a CDL to operate a vehicle are required to log their time as described in Title 49 of the Code of Federal Regulations, part 395. If a CDL is required to operate a vehicle, you are required to log your time. There are several exceptions to this broad rule, which we will examine.
If the truck is not a Commercial Motor Vehicle (CMV), drivers need not log their time. Typically, trucks that are 10,000 lbs. GVW or under do not require a driver to hold a Commercial Drivers License (CDL). If the driver does not hold a CDL – that driver does not need to log their time. There are instances where a light duty vehicle driver is required to log his or her time, depending on the use of that vehicle.
Do you haul hazardous materials? If you have a “required quantity” of any hazardous material, you must placard that vehicle. A placarded vehicle by definition is a CMV. Therefore, any time spent operating a placarded CMV must be logged – regardless of its size or weight.
Do you transport passengers? If you transport more than 15 passengers (not for compensation) or more than 8 passengers (for compensation), that vehicle is a CMV – and the operation of that vehicle must be logged.
What about CDL drivers who are performing duties other than driving a CMV – including operating small vehicles? Any compensated work for anyone must be logged as “On Duty” by a commercial driver. Any work for a motor carrier, compensated or not, must be logged as “On Duty” by the driver.
What about local drivers? The federal rules state that a driver who operates within a 100 air mile radius of their domicile is a “short haul” driver. However, an examination of 395.1 shows that the driver is exempted only from 395.8 – filling out a log book. Short haul drivers are not exempted from the Hours of Service.
Many of our clients make local pickup and deliveries, and some of these operations fit the federal definition of a “short haul driver”. However, these short haul drivers must meet more stringent requirements if they choose to use that Short Haul exemption – and not fill out a log book.
Why is there a Short Haul exemption? It relieves the driver of making many log book entries within a short amount of time. This is a big burden for the driver, and the 15 minute increments of a paper log make this virtually impossible. With electronic logs, local driving is no more difficult to log than any other type of driving. Therefore most carriers who use electronic logs do NOT use the “Short Haul” exemption.
However, every shortcut comes with a price. Short Haul drivers must work no more than 12 hour shifts – 10 hour shifts for bus drivers. The carrier must keep accurate and detailed time records for each driver who is using this Short Haul Exemption proving that drivers are not working more than 12 hours in a shift, and have 8 hours off between shifts.
If you use electronic logs, invoking the Short Haul exemption only creates more paperwork and reduces your drivers productivity. We recommend that you let the computer do the work – and let drivers create their electronic logs.
If you are still on paper logs and choose to use the Short Haul exemption, be certain that you meet all the requirements of 395.1(e).
Some states have Hours of Service requirements that are different from Federal requirements. These may only be used if you are operating solely intrastate, and none of the freight carried by the truck has crossed a state line. For example, mail haulers and rail car unloading operations both deal with product that may have originated out of state. Both must meet Federal Hours of Service regulations.
The FMCSA’s June 2012 “guidance” did not change their exemption or their interpretations of the Hours of Service regulations as they apply to oilfield work. It is intended to clarify the regulatory exemptions for oil and gas work.
Let’s clarify the 2 components of this Oil and Gas HOS exemption:
Exemption 1 – “Waiting” Time at Well Site. Also known as “Line 5” or off duty at well site time, this allows drivers to go off duty at a well site. That “Off Duty” time in the middle of a tour of duty NOT count toward the total On Duty time for a driver’s day. Off Duty time is treated much like the sleeper berth provision. Logging “Off Duty at Well Site” (as we call it at LoadTrek) extends a driver’s work day.
Application: You can only use this Exemption if you are driving a “specially constructed” vehicle specifically made for oil or gas well servicing work. Examples are frac pumps, wireline trucks, coiled tubing units, workover rigs, etc. Pneumatics, liquid tankers (crude, water, etc) do not qualify.
Exemption 2 – 24 Hour Restart. This allows drivers to restart their cumulative workweek time after 24 consecutive hours Off Duty. This is available to all drivers who are working to service oil and gas wells. This includes the previously mentioned tankers, equipment haulers, as well as those specially constructed vehicles.
