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Premier Safety Culture Advice – Read NOW

The turning point in trucking lawsuits often lies within the deposition and discovery phase. You and your attorney will set the tone during discovery that carries through the rest of the case. This article contains premier safety culture advice from top leaders in the trucking industry.

One of the biggest factors that can determine the outcome of the lawsuit is the existing culture of safety in your company.

What is Culture?

Let’s break it down.

Culture is a collection of beliefs or systems held common between a group of people. Widespread groups could be as big as a country or even worldwide.

Language is an example of culture. English is the cultural language in the United States. While there are many different languages spoken in the states, it is the most commonly used between this particular group of people.

Culture can also refer to much smaller groups, even within your own immediate family. Think about your traditions, your habits, or even inside jokes between the people closest to you.

For example, during Thanksgiving dinner (which is also a cultural example), let’s say a particular family will only accept cranberry sauce in the shape of a can. If homemade cranberry sauce simply will not do, the family has created a traditional culture featuring cylindrical fruit spread with lines imprinted in the side.

Silly, yes. But a clear example of how culture shifts between groups, as some families may find homemade cranberry sauce the only option. Once a culture is set and accepted by a group, it can be longstanding, even with no real foundation.

What is Safety Culture?

If you are reading this, you are likely already aware of what “safety” means in the trucking industry. For those of you who work in the safety department, this concept is woven into the fabric of your career.

But for those who think safety only refers to the safe operation of motor vehicles, you may be fascinated by this conversation. While truck drivers are expected to always drive safely, safety as a culture refers to so much more.

In trucking, safety personnel are responsible for:

Fleet-wide safe driving, clear communication, ongoing training, technology, data analysis, performance, reviews, coaching, corrective action, accountability, maintenance, federal regulations, time management, documentation, accident response, hiring and retention, orientation, and proper background check before the driver is even hired.

This is a snapshot of the job description of a safety professional. Good safety directors have policies and procedures in place to keep control of all aspects of safety. Great safety directors make sure their employees stick to their safety protocols daily.

Unbeatable safety directors make sure their company cares. That is safety culture. If a safety director can make every person in the company passionate about safety, a culture of safety will form. This culture of safety impacts everything from the company’s reputation to insurance renewal rates, even legal liability.

Why is Safety Culture Important?

A culture of safety starts when you hire the right team, hire the right risk manager, and you hire the right lawyer. Building the right team starts with you. Look for people that will be part of the safety culture you create.

Strong safety culture has even been the determining factor in some nuclear verdict lawsuits. Trucks are a big-ticket target for personal injury attorneys.

Why? Here are two scenarios. Both will take place on the same highway. Both accidents occurred under the same driving conditions, under clear skies, sunshine, and no visibility obstructions. The only difference is the day of the occurrence and the victims.

Scenario 1: A drunk driver in a beat-up, rusted, uninsured Chevy 2-door sideswipes the rear panel of a minivan on the highway. The minivan spins across two lanes of traffic and skids off the highway into a row of trees in the median.

All passengers were injured and taken to the hospital. One suffered only scratches and a stiff neck, but x rays of the other passengers revealed multiple broken bones.

Scenario 2: An 18-wheeler is traveling down that same highway, entering his 12^th hour of driving that day. The driver of a giant SUV becomes distracted by an incoming text message.

The driver does not realize the trucker ahead indicated intent to change lanes a hundred yards back.

The truck driver uses the clear chance to slowly move into the other lane and never connects with the SUV.

The SUV driver, finally looking up from their phone, panics at the unfolding scenario, overcorrects the steering, and drives into the median into a row of trees.

The airbag deploys and the SUV driver is left with severe back and neck injuries that require surgery.

Which Case Would Win?

In scenario #1, the drunk driver was clearly at fault. The family may choose to sue the driver for putting them through so much pain and suffering. They may have difficulty finding a lawyer to take the case because:

1. The drunk driver has likely received an intoxicated citation, meaning justice was served.
2. The drunk driver was uninsured and driving an old, low-value vehicle. There is no insurance to cover the cost of a settlement.
3. Even if they win the case, they will likely never recoup the verdict award.

Attorneys will pounce on the chance to try scenario 2, however, since trucking companies are required to hold at least $750,000 in coverage.

Technically, the truck driver was not at fault but was operating outside of federal regulations by driving over 11 hours that day. Even if the driver was alert and operating safely, that one detail can mean a nuclear verdict is coming.

Safety Culture Risks

Experience

Trucking has its fair share of newcomers; young drivers who did not grow up around trucking. It may be more of a job to them than a career. For a safety director, simply knowing that your company hires less experienced drivers can be a liability.

On the one hand, you can mold those drivers into proper truckers. Their lack of preconceived ideas gives you the opportunity to hire and train them based on your expectation.

The risk, however, lies in their lack of experience and perhaps their desperation to find a decent-paying job rather than their dedication to trucking.

When you bring them on, you must look for people who take pride in their work that you can build a long-term relationship. The longer they are with you, you build confidence in their performance.

Training

A majority of trucking companies are turning to technology to make their drivers better, reduce CSA scores, and prevent accidents. Since so many companies now employ regular training, the lack of a training system can be a liability.

Learning management systems are the ideal software solution for trucking companies. Mobile accessibility is a game-changer since truckers can participate from anywhere. Now, truckers can receive training individually from their phone rather than being routed into the terminal for safety training.

Training your drivers on a regular basis proves that you are focused on safety and being proactive. The jury will see that you are taking steps to prevent accidents, rather than only responding to them.

Policies

If you have a strict termination policy in place, make sure you follow it, especially if your policy includes the words “always” or never. If you get sued for an accident that included rare circumstances, these words can wrap you up in court.

For example, your best driver could be involved in an accident while talking to their dispatcher on a hands-free device. Even if this is the first offense for a 20-year veteran, you may have to consider termination. Especially if your policy states: “Drivers will never use mobile devices while operating a vehicle.”

If you get sued for the accident, plaintiff attorneys will research your policies during discovery. If you failed to terminate that driver, ignoring your own policy, you will be in a bad spot.

They will blast you on the witness stand in front of a jury. A great attorney can paint you as an evil monster and get the jury to turn against you. This is the Reptile Theory tactic. Read more about Reptile Theory in our eBook: Avoiding Nuclear Verdicts.

Avoiding Nuclear Verdicts eBook

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Who You Need on Your Team.

Internally, you need a dedicated risk-safety individual who will stand up for you but has the temperament to handle drivers, the motoring public, lawyers, etc.

Find someone who is familiar with all the regulations, is safety-conscience, takes pride in your company. This person will represent everything your company stands for.

You will need to find the right insurance adjuster and broker, preferably a trucking expert. Your risk assessor will work with them directly to report accidents as soon as they occur. Your insurance company should advise you on accident best practices, what to document, and even how to act at the scene.

You will also need an attorney with extensive knowledge of the trucking industry. Billboard lawyers will not settle for a new bumper for their client. They want your whole company. Your attorney should be likable, personable, and partners with your risk assessor. If your attorney does not appeal to the jury, it can hurt your case.

Infinit-I Workforce Solution protects your company from nuclear verdicts.

How a Communication Failure Left my Driver Stranded

Join us Thursday, October 15 @ 10:30

Intersections are one of the most high-risk areas for truck drivers. Two industry experts will be discussing the dangers, both preventable and nonpreventable, of intersection traffic and the threat they present to your drivers. Free sign up here.

Presentation to include:

– Dangers of distracted driving – and how to get your drivers to stop.
– Dash Cams – real-life footage of some nasty accidents at intersections
– Flashing yellow lights – What do they mean?
– The likelihood of intersection accidents:
- – How to prevent intersection accidents
- – How to lower your insurance risk.

In the spirit of the webinar, I felt compelled to share a personal experience that occurred during the fleet management portion of my career.

The Pre-plan

Danny P. ran on my fleet for about a year before this particular incident. During that time, we developed a working relationship in which we were truly a team. I trusted his judgment and he never let me down.

Danny was the kind of driver who could, “see the future.” He relied on his past experiences and trucking knowledge to make the best decisions possible for the company and for himself. He made my job easy as a fleet manager. I would simply call him up for a status check and let him roll.

I called him on a Tuesday to discuss his plan for the day. Our conversation surrounded the typical trip planning discussion. Did your pre-trip look good? Did you check the traffic? Are we good for OTD?

Of course, he had everything under control. “Yes ma’am, everything is great. Need to get some fuel though; didn’t see an in-network station on my route.”

I advised him to call the fuel department and ask to insert an emergency fuel stop, as that was our procedure.

The Miscommunication

The fuel department ran like a well-oiled machine. They employed algorithms and formulas; they could calculate to the mile the distance a driver could travel on the existing amount in the tank. And they rarely made mistakes.

The problem is, the fuel department did not take into account idle time spent at red lights, outside temperature variances, traffic jams, or road grade. All of which can incrementally affect a tractor’s fuel economy. It was a task considered impossible, as they sat in cubicles above the operations department and not behind a windshield.

He called me back with an urgency in his voice that thinly masked his frustration. “They won’t let me get fuel. The computer says I have plenty to get to the next fuel stop. I’m telling you, boss, I am not going to make it.”

I immediately recognized this as a communication issue between departments. I empowered my drivers to make the right decision on the road, the fuel department focused on the bottom line. Our contracts with in-network fuel stations allowed us to purchase fuel at a lower rate. The fuel departments goal: to save money. Allowing Danny to purchase fuel from an out-of-network station would impact their numbers in a negative way. However, in this instance, its more than “just business.”

I went knuckle to knuckle with the fuel department. “He is going to run out of fuel. I cannot fail this load, please let him stop out-of-network. What if he gets just enough to run to an in-network station and then he can fill up?”

“No. He has enough fuel to make it to the in-network stop.” – Fuel

It was absolute gridlock. Danny and I had a task to complete. The fuel department had metrics to meet. We could not come to an agreement; Danny would roll on until he reached an in-network fuel stop.

The Potential for Tragedy

The following conversation occurred 55 minutes later, 17 miles from the in-network fuel station he was to attend:

“Lindsay, I ran out of fuel. My tractor is sitting under the traffic light. It is blocking the entire intersection. I don’t know what to do.”

“Are you ok? Did you call 911?”

“Yes, and yes. The sheriff is on his way here. What do I do now?”

The panic in his voice added to the sound of car horns blaring and incoming sirens painted a picture of his terrifying experience. He was scared, so was I.

He repeated the question, “What do I do?”

“Ok. The sheriff will take care of the scene, leave the truck. You get somewhere safe,” I advised.

It was my best guess, as this was not a typical occurrence.

We did not have a set procedure regarding performance expectations when your tractor happened to run out of fuel in an intersection while traffic is backing up and civilian drivers are screaming at you. I had to rely on my past training and relay information based on my experiences.

After the sheriff arrived and Danny managed to calm down, I asked him to give me a description of the scene.

“Uh, my truck is sitting diagonally in the intersection, blocking 3 of the 4 lanes at the crossroad. Traffic is backed up at least a half-mile. The light has switched from green to yellow to red about 40 times since I broke down. And I have been flipped off at least that many times. The cops are directing traffic around the truck. Emergency is on the way with fuel; just enough to get to that in-network station. We aren’t going to make this load, ma’am.”

Fortunately, no injuries occurred. This incident, however, could have turned dire in a matter of seconds.

What We Learned

We experienced a failure that day. The mechanical failure was not the only one that occurred in this particular scenario. The entire company experienced a major communication failure, which is typically easy to avoid.

We became more focused on profit than the safety of our driver and the public area through which he was hauling. This breakdown in communication was a product of our company’s cultural relationships.

Cultivating a solid safety culture as a foundation leads to increased morale, productivity, and retention. We may have saved a few dollars by prohibiting an out-of-network fuel stop, but we could have lost a driver. And we definitely lost his trust.

A solid cultural relationship ensures each department trusts each other. A solid safety culture ensures each person in your enterprise is educated and empowered enough to make the right decision.

Infinit-I is transportation’s most trusted, preferred, and referred learning management system on the market. The platform is proven to increase communications, enhance safety cultures, reduce turnover, and save lives.

Thanks for sticking with me, here’s a free demo. During this high-level overview, our safety experts will demonstrate the power of Infinit-I Workforce Solutions and how we will elevate your safety culture.

Join us Thursday, October 15 @ 10:30

Presentation to include:

– Dangers of distracted driving – and how to get your drivers to stop.
– Dash Cams – real-life footage of some nasty accidents at intersections
– Flashing yellow lights – confusion, what do they even mean?
– The likelihood of intersection accidents:
- – How to prevent intersection accidents
- – How to lower your insurance risk.

October 7/0 Comments/by Jesse Mullinax

News

Why You Should Be Focused on Your Employee’s Cultural Relationships Now More Than Ever

Truck drivers are in high demand, and they know it. Because of the driver shortage, truck drivers expect more from their employers than ever before.

You must become the kind of company a driver wants to work for.

Truckers move fast. Formalities disappear when communication is hurried. In the rush, sometimes we forget to see each other as people.

As someone’s mom or dad. As someone’s son or daughter; grandma or grandpa. Sometimes we forget about each other’s lives lived outside the walls of the company.

The Cultural Relationship

Retention is one of the key factors in the profitability of a trucking company. And to achieve long-term retention of your drivers, they must value your company and want to be there.

Establishing a cultural relationship focuses on enhancing the employee experience. Building positive working relationships between employees improves employee retention and satisfaction.

From Drivers, Operations, Shopworkers, Recruiting, and everyone in between. Add enterprise-wide value with these takeaways:

Employee Development
Improve Communications
Encourage Cooperation
Foster Professionalism
Reinforce Company Culture

Drivers and Everyone else

A driver’s relationship with your company is formed by every single interaction, from day one. Think about your recruiters, your dispatchers, your mechanics; their job performance of determines the driver’s perception of your company.

An adequately trained and competent workforce leads to greater driver satisfaction. Which, in turn, reduces your turnover and saves you money.

Every employee is responsible for your company culture, a critical factor in retention. Every single employee is a key piece in making your company the place drivers want to stay.

Think about your drivers’ typical day, whether at the terminal or on the road. Every point of contact they meet is potentially a pivotal interaction.

Each of those points of contact determines the driver’s perception of the company. Each interaction is an opportunity to create value for the driver.

At any moment, your driver could experience an unfulfilling encounter with another employee. If that driver decides to leave your company, the cost of a new hire replacement is tremendous.

Your winning team depends on motivation, encouragement, and employee morale. Discover the secret to all three with The Cultural Relationship Program: The People Side of Trucking with Dan Baker.

The Dan Baker Cultural Relationship Program

The son of a trucker, Dan Baker utilizes his 40+ years in the industry to improve trucking operations. His consultation builds relationships between employees that bridge generational gaps.

Dan has developed the Dan Baker Cultural Relationship Program, designed for all employees. From the administration to the shop, from the CEO to the custodial staff, this program will improve their communication skills.

The Dan Baker Cultural Relationship Program is available now on the Infinit-I Workforce Solutions platform. It is presented in three sections:

Employee Development (71 videos)

Company Culture, Parts 1 & 2
Conflict Resolution, Parts 1 & 2
The Most Important Part of the Process is You
Our Five Basic Needs
Perception
How We Perceive Ourselves
What Makes People Tick?
Comfortable With Yourself

Dispatcher Development/Communication Training (64 videos)

Dispatcher Foundations
Perception
Trust and Respect
The Generational Challenge
The Functions of a Dispatcher, Parts 1&2
Successful Communication
The Dispatcher/Driver Relationship
Managing Your Own Thinking, Parts 1 & 2

Recruiting Insights (18 videos)

Generational Turnover Parts 1 & 2

Poems & Stories (2 videos)

6 Things Your Safety Documentation Needs to Succeed

How Reporting Reduces Insurance Costs and Litigation Risk for Transportation Firms

Are you ready for your next deposition? How about your next audit? No trucking company wants there to be a next deposition or audit. But you’ve got to prepare. What does your safety documentation need to succeed? Can you ensure it’s working for you at the critical moment?

Wearing Your Armor

Your business relies on reliable documentation. No matter how tough the situation, if you can prove you’ve done the right thing, it’s like wearing armor into battle. Without it, you’re literally going on a wing and a prayer.

Too often safety documentation is a chink in the armor. During a deposition, typically that’s what you’ll be asked for first: safety training documentation. If it’s not signed, dated, and complete, or you can’t find it, your safety and compliance efforts are non-existent in the eyes of the law. Because when it comes to DOT, OSHA, and the courtroom:

If it’s not signed, dated, or you can’t find it, it didn’t happen.

Fines, fees, court settlements, and lawsuits can leave you doling out tens of thousands to millions of dollars per year.

And that’s just indirect costs. Indirect costs of losing a court case or doing poorly in an audit include:

• Higher insurance rates
• Getting flagged for additional audits
• Reputation as a high-risk company
• Losing employees and clients
• “Unsatisfactory” rating shutting you down
• “Conditional” rating giving you lots of extra work to do

Documentation can make or break a business. When confronted by an auditor or an attorney, this won’t make much of an impression:

• “It’s complicated running a business these days…”
• “Our drivers are hard to get hold of.”
• “We’ve had a tough year.”
• “We trained our drivers, but we’re having trouble pulling together the paperwork.”
• “I can’t show you our safety plan, but I promise we’ll do better.”

Only successful safety documentation will reliably protect you in the eyes of the law.

Your External Hard Drive

Think of safety documentation like an external hard drive to your valuable work computer. If the computer crashes, you’ve got a backup. When the unlooked-for occurs on the road, you’ve got a plan. It proves, in black and white, “I did the work.”

Look on any website for people looking to sue trucking companies, and you’ll realize how frequently trucking companies take shortcuts to their own detriment and don’t plan ahead. It’s hard to hear, but at this point, you could almost call this tendency common knowledge. That’s why proof of safety training and remediation is a good investigator’s first line of questioning.

When you cut corners with safety, you’re not giving yourself much of a chance in the case of accidents, audits, and suits. But if you are working to improve, doing due diligence, and backing up your work with a reliable system, you’re on your way.

6 Things Safety Documentation Needs to Succeed

So what makes a safety documentation system reliable?

1 – Consistency

Don’t put up with costly chinks in the armor. Successful safety documentation closes the gaps with a consistent system of signing, dating, filing, and retrieval. The method you use needs to work, and it needs to stay the same. You need to be able to collect 100% of the documents you need from 100% of drivers. This can be hard to do unless you go paperless.

2 – Accuracy

Are the correct documents time-stamped for the right people? Can you easily decipher what’s written? You need to be positive that what you’re seeing is accurate, no matter other variables. None of these should EVER affect the accuracy of documentation:

• Handwriting
• How tidy or messy your office is
• Driver, dispatcher, or office employee turnover
• Whether you’re understaffed
• Honesty of drivers, dispatchers, or employees
• Leadership change

3 – Details, details

What time of day did Driver X complete the remediation series? What training did you send out on March 23, 2019? What topics did you include in every training on distracted driving you required between January and June? Can you answer questions like that for every driver and every training? You will face these kinds of questions.

4 – Integrity

Documents can’t be easily edited, changed, or created. This is pure accountability. If a lawyer can show that it’s possible to add to records, change scores, etc. in your system, no matter how honest you may know people to be, it’s a chink in the armor. They’ve got to be stored securely, so not even you can modify them.

5 – Accessibility

You’ve got all your paperwork. To the best of your knowledge, it’s accurate and secure. Now, do you know where it is? The key is secure and accessible. Documentation won’t do you much good if you can’t find it, or can only find part of it! It also needs to be easy to sort through and easy to read.

6 – Retrievability

Finally, can you get to it quickly? An online, cloud-based training and documentation system can provide security, accessibility, and retrievability. Push a few buttons, and you have what OSHA, DOT, or the lawyers need in their hand.

At Infinit-I Workforce Solutions, we believe in making life simple and safe. That is why we’ve developed a paperless safety documentation system tied with your safety training program.

Once a training session is complete, it is:

• Automatically dated
• Timestamped to the minute and second
• Held on a secure, 3rd-party server
• Part of an accessible, easy-to-read database

Every training you send — recorded. Every completed training — recorded. You will also see every training missed or refused.

Our safety documentation is admissible in court and has helped our clients reduce fines and fees, impress at depositions, change CSA scores, and avoid the courtroom altogether. We are building an industry reputation. Research, real-world experience, and a world-class Client Success Team support our system.

Download our free whitepaper to learn more about how we’re building training partnerships, more secure businesses, and a stronger culture of safety in trucking.

December 12/0 Comments/by infinitiworkforce