Tag Archive for: safety

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Insurance – COVID-19 impacts Premiums and Renewals

The financial effect of the Coronavirus pandemic has been widespread among the citizens and businesses of the United States. As many people are being temporarily laid off, the economy has taken a swift downturn. Most people are only purchasing essentials.

Many businesses have been forced to close their doors because of the loss of revenue. Some may be closed for good.

Are you covered?

Let’s take a look at how the trucking industry will be affected by insurance costs after the national emergency.

Trucking companies may resort to cutting costs to recover from the economic slowdown we have experienced over the last several months. They must be careful, however, as some cost cutting measures could lead to diminished safety for their drivers. Decreasing staff could mean that drivers will have to run longer hours, leading to frequent driver fatigue.

It will also put more wear and tear on the trucks and trailers. There might even be delays in installing safety technologies like in-cab cameras or online training. These situations bring about increased claim activity.

How does that affect your company?

Insurance companies have to maintain a delicate balance between inflow of premiums and what claims they can afford to pay out. Just like in the trucking industry, if that balance is interrupted, the company has to adapt to stay afloat.

Insurance companies will experience changes in their loss ratio, which means will be paying out more than usual in relation to the premiums they receive. Those covered might see an increase in premiums and renewal costs as insurance companies try to recover from the additional losses.

If the loss ratio changes too drastically, underwriters may begin performing risk assessments on existing clients. They will be very selective about who they choose to take on as insureds. It may be difficult to find coverage for companies with a higher risk for accidents/incidents.

Underwriters are already cautious about making decisions when it comes to premiums, coverage, and renewals. The COVID-19 situation can have a serious effect on their current insurable metrics. Future determining factors are likely to include conditions to coverage based on in-cab cameras, safety culture, and availability of online training.

Responsible carriers will actively manage their risks. Investing in safety is the only way to win. Carriers who cut back on safety efforts to save money are setting themselves up for failure. Insurance providers may have to resort to raising their premiums or charging a higher down payment.

How should you respond?

Communicate your efforts with your current insurance partner. Let them know you have a plan on how to survive during the crisis. Include that you are focused on safety. Even though there are social distancing requirements right now, your safety training cannot be put on hold.

Find ways to adapt to the situation if safety remains a big concern. Technology allows safety training to be delivered directly to your drivers, wherever they are, through an online platform. Your current insurers will keep that in mind when performing your risk assessments.

While it is important for your insurer to be aware of the safety measures you are taking, it is just as important for your drivers. They will enjoy the convenience of taking online orientation, remote training, and monthly training classes from anywhere. And employers can retain their peace of mind knowing they are still focused on safety, even during trying times.

What factors affect a risk assessment?

Risk assessment factors usually fall into these two categories:

  • Tangible – things that are quantifiable such as loss run, miles, commodities, CSA scores, etc.
  • Intangible – things that are difficult to measure like company culture, awareness training, technology usage, security, etc.

What might a loss control professional ask about the intangibles?

Intangibles are difficult to measure. The amount you are charged will be up to your insurer’s discretion. Your best bet is to be prepared and make sure your drivers and employees are up to date on safety training. To give you an idea, here are some questions related to the COVID-19 pandemic they might ask:

  • Did you continue safety training through the pandemic?
  • How did social distancing requirements affect your orientations?
  • How did you lead safety efforts working remotely?
  • How did you help your drivers through this time?
  • How did you manage the waivers issued by the DOT and FMCSA?

Make sure you retain records of everything provided to every driver. The only way to prove that your company has a solid focus on safety is to have documented records. The documentation should be readily available in case you need to show that all drivers are adhering to your policies.

Are we at risk of losing our business due to insurance coverage issues?

Short answer: yes.

There are many examples of trucking companies hanging up their keys because of insurance costs. If premiums increase too drastically, it can become impossible to remain operational. Here are a couple of examples of that happening:

  • Carney Trucking – Insurance premiums doubled for this flatbed carrier. They had to close their doors after 27 years in business.
  • 101 Transport – This Wisconsin based carrier ceased operations after a 70% increase in premiums.

Is there anything I can do to protect my company?

Yes. That’s the good news! As always, be proactive in managing your risk. Your insurance broker needs to see your safety-focused efforts.

Remember that if it isn’t written down, it didn’t happen.

Always keep a record of what training was performed, when it was performed, and make sure your drivers sign everything. For years, “billboard attorneys” have been attacking the trucking industry, encouraging the general public to sue truckers.

And they are ruthless when it comes to safety.

During the pandemic, truckers have been running with relaxed regulations when carrying designated items. If an incident were to occur while a driver is over normal hours, a lawyer might view this as preventative. They could say the driver was negligent and possibly fatigued because he isn’t used to this much road time.

Document everything!

In case of litigation, your best defense is proving your company’s focus on safety. Always be proactive with your safety training and awareness programs. Make sure your drivers are familiar with all your policies (drug/alcohol testing, incident reporting, etc.).

Most importantly, you must be able to prove they have been provided with proper safety training and equipment. Eliminate all reasonable doubt. Carriers need to focus on documenting training and information exchange, especially for upcoming insurance renewals.

Let’s say it again: If it isn’t written down, it didn’t happen.

 

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Pre-planning During a National Pandemic

Safety First – Prepare for Inspection

Amid the COVID-19 pandemic, E-Commerce usage has increased as the desire for social interaction has decreased. Standard operating hours are becoming a rarity as businesses are operating with a decreased workforce. Pre-planning is no longer simply about your origin and destination. Because of the widespread panic caused by the Coronavirus, now you must be prepared for closures, availability of food, and whether you’re at risk for cross-contamination.

Shippers and Receivers

Warehouse operations may have to restrict their hours as not to overwork their healthy employees. Whether or not warehouses will change their operational hours from their normal operating hours will depend on many factors:

  • Location– Is the warehouse located in an area with a dense population of people affected by COVID-19?
  • Category of Industry – Does the warehouse contain emergency or non-emergency related inventory?
  • Global Operations – May be difficult to maintain inventory if the majority of stock comes from overseas

So, what should a professional driver do if their shipper or receiver is temporarily closed?  

  1. Contact your dispatcher or fleet manager. There could be internal communication circulating about the location you are questioning.
  2. Be prepared to wait. If your shipper or receiver is operating under reduced hours or with a reduced workforce, they are likely offering detention pay for the time you have to wait.
  3. Be patient. Even though professional drivers are the heartbeat of logistics, it can take time for the flow of communication to reach you.
  4. Keep your eyes on the prize. Perhaps the most frustrating thing about trucking is waiting to be advised on what to do. Be productive while you wait. Spend your down time catching up on paperwork or watching safety videos.

Don’t forget about these!

Breakdowns and Parking

When pre-planning your trip, always keep in mind which truck stops exist along your route. Some may have shops that are closed or operating with a short staff. While it is difficult to predict when a breakdown will occur, it is important to be mindful of your options.

Know how far you will go and where you will park before you start driving for the day. Many states have closed rest areas in an attempt to stop the state-to-state spread of the Coronavirus.  If you have a favorite truck stop in your destination city, call ahead to reserve parking. If you can’t find parking at a truck stop or rest area, operate your vehicle to the nearest safe haven instead of parking on the side of the road or other dangerous areas. Remember that even though we are facing new challenges, your safety is still of the utmost importance.

Don’t get stuck without food

Many safety managers suggest it is always a good idea for drivers to keep a case of water and extra snacks in their cab in case of detention. The recent pandemic and nationwide shutdowns prove just how lifesaving this practice can be. Fast food restaurants across the nation have had to reduce their operations to drive-thru only, and are now inaccessible to those in a tractor trailer.

The next time you are in a grocery or convenience store, look for food goods that will sustain you but also have a long shelf life such as protein bars and/or beef jerky. This will ensure that you have something to keep you going if there are no dining options available.

Cross-Contamination

Professional drivers are encouraged to limit exposure to contaminants during the COVID-19 outbreak. But for a truck driver, life on the road means encountering many publicly accessed locations in their daily routine. Drivers are at a high risk of cross contamination as a hazard of the job from the fuel pump, to the communal shower knob, to their money back that has changed many hands.

The cab of a tractor trailer is a breeding ground for the Coronavirus. Think of all the surfaces you touch throughout the day. How many times do you touch your seat belt, steering wheel, gear shifter, and knobs on a daily basis?

The Coronavirus can live on these surfaces for days without proper disinfection according to the CDC. Use disinfectants such as Clorox and Lysol products that kill bacteria to clean commonly touched surfaces.  There are many tips and tricks specifically for truck drivers in these videos.

Stay Safe

Your main focus over the next few weeks is simply to be prepared. Truck drivers should always pre-plan, stock up on food goods, and keep their truck and themselves clean. Your best chance at getting through the nationwide crisis unaffected is to keep these things on the top of your mind every day.

 

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If Truckers Stop, We All Stop

If Truckers Stop, We All Stop

WHAT DRIVERS NEED TO KNOW TO KEEP ROLLING.

The country has come to a grinding halt when it comes to social interaction. Citizens have been sheltering in place to avoid crowds in churches, schools, stores, etc. Employers have sent much of their workforce to their homes to conduct business. Self-isolation has become the nation’s hot topic.

Moving freight is still in high demand, though, due to the short supply in grocery stores plus an increase in E-commerce activity. We are a nation dependent on truck drivers. What is a trucker to do when they aren’t able to self-quarantine?

For them, the answer is simple: Keep rolling.

In the beginning of their career, some truck drivers are enticed by the idea of getting paid to tour the country. They love the idea of watching the sun setting over an open highway every night. Or carefully navigating the winding roads of a beautiful mountain. Or breathing in the fresh coastal air after driving all night. While they get to experience all manner of landscapes and cultures, being an over the road truck driver comes with many challenges.

The general public looks forward to the end of the workday. You can go home, relax, cook dinner, play with your kids. All these activities can help you distance yourself from the stresses of work. Let’s say one day, while relaxing at home, you get a fantastic job offer. More money, solid company, better benefits. What is there to think about?

For an over the road truck driver, the decision cannot be made lightly. Most importantly, he could be thousands of miles away from his home. It could take more than a week to reach the home terminal. So, until he gets routed back to the terminal, he is stranded with indecision.

The same is true if a trucker gets sick over the road.

He could be thousands of miles away from his primary care doctor. Thousands of miles away from his family. For most truck drivers, this happens all too often. Their only hope is to ask their dispatcher for a break and crawl into the sleeper until it passes.

And during that time, most will not earn sick pay. A professional driver’s paycheck usually comes from mileage driven. So, if the wheels aren’t turning, they aren’t earning. If a driver becomes infected with Coronavirus, he could have to make a tough decision between his health and his paycheck.

Exposure risks

Truck drivers are in contact with all manner of the public on their way from the shipper to the receiver. Every facility they utilize is publicly accessed. In and out of truck stops, fast food restaurants, and rest areas, there are many opportunities for a truck driver to become infected.

The roads they choose to travel can increase their risk factor as well. A driver routed through a major metropolitan area could be at a higher risk depending on the number of occurrences in each city he travels through. Some drivers may travel through several major cities in a single day. Drivers must remain diligent in their hygiene habits to stay healthy. America stops if truckers can’t go.

A Trucker’s Responsibility? Transmission.

Because there is a high exposure risk for drivers, there is also a high transmission risk. Just as drivers could contract the virus from all the places listed before, a driver could also spread the virus to those places.

Be proactive. Wash your hands, clean your cab, and know the symptoms in case you need medical attention. Keep in mind that even though there are many exposure risks for drivers, you can take these preventative measures to keep yourself healthy.

Everything is confusing right now. You might find it difficult to quarantine in your cabin or find a place to park while others do the same. Truck stops are essential for truck drivers, not only for food and supplies, but also for showers, sleep, truck repairs, etc.

The best plan is a pre-plan. Check out these links to find updates from big truck stops. Always know where you’re going before you start rolling.

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Why Enhanced Safety Culture Is Your #1 Money Saver

enhanced safety culture

You’re probably working on the budget about now. Looking at 2020 with tight margins, what do you do? Where do you cut? Do you negotiate better prices on tires? Fuel? Do you start eliminating positions or cutting back hours? The solution is not saving in dribs and drabs. You need to break through the pattern of diminishing industry returns. A decisive, comprehensive commitment to enhanced safety culture does this. Save money while reducing accidents and incidents and saving lives.

Ignoring Safety = Revenue Loss

Most owners and managers don’t tend to think of safety as something that saves them money. If “Keep the customer happy, cut corners, and pray” is how you’re doing business, it’s time to change. In a highly safety-conscious era, you’re paying too high a cost.

Putting “savings” before safety means:

Accidents and incidents get worse and more frequent. The average truck accident with significant damage easily costs $200-300K. If this doesn’t hit the threshold for insurance to kick in, you’re paying out of pocket. You’re paying damages and repairs in the best scenarios, lawsuits, and high human costs otherwise.

Insurance goes up. CSA scores are part of determining your insurance premiums. If your rate only goes up 10% this year, you’re lucky. Industry-wide, they’re going up 20-40%. And insurance companies are getting pickier about who they insure. Some major companies, like AIG, no longer insure trucking companies at all. And if you become uninsurable, you’re out of business.

Reputation declines. With a poor safety record, you won’t be able to attract the best employees or the best clients. You can even lose clients and drivers who don’t want to ship with an unsafe carrier or a carrier who can’t protect them. 

Inspections, fines, and fees increase. When a company has a poor safety record, they get targeted for more inspections. Your chances of paying fines and fees go up. Drivers are put out of service more often. This pattern drains money and discourages drivers from wanting to work for you.

Expensive technology doesn’t pay. If you’re not harnessing your expensive safety technology to change behaviors, you’re only wasting money. All the technology in the world can’t guarantee you fuel efficiency, better braking, proper lane changes, and hands-free communications if your drivers aren’t doing their job.

Enhanced Safety Culture = Survival

Here’s the fact: improved safety preserves business. The FMCSA is preaching the safety culture gospel for a reason. All your safety issues are linked to business viability. Not only does safety protect the motoring public, but it also makes it possible for trucking to have a future. 

Safety culture is no longer your “goal” — it’s your straight-up, base-level survival; non-negotiable:

  • • You’ve got to have the resources to respond to increased vigilance of regulators and insurance companies. 
  • • You have to start building awareness and changing behaviors in drivers to avoid fines, fees, and lawsuits. 
  • • You’ve got to stay positively connected with drivers in order to reduce turnover. 
  • • To protect yourself in court, you’ve got to document your efforts and do it effectively. 

These are the building blocks of an enhanced safety culture and major savings. 

Cost Savings Breakdown

You can’t afford not to improve safety. But your ROI depends on how you go about it. 

Training costs – Save up to 70%

Safety awareness training is most effective when it’s frequent, consistent, and keeps best practices top of mind. If you’re trying to train by pulling drivers off the road for several hours 4x a year, it’s like expecting your kid to clean his room every Friday because you asked him to once. Repetition and consistency build memory and response. That’s where online training provides exceptional ROI. Our cloud-based safety training solutions can save you up to 70% on training. 

Violations and Accidents – Save a minimum of $80,000/yr

Industry statistics show that training your drivers yields a 70:1 ROI by reducing violations up to 50% and accidents up to 40%. For an average company of 100 drivers (who align with national statistics for accidents), our system can save you a minimum of $80,000 a year in preventable accident costs and reduce the severity of accidents when they occur. 

Insurance – Slow, stop or reverse rising premiums

Insurance companies know that if you have a web-based training platform that allows you an increased frequency of safety messaging and training, you’re setting yourself up for better CSA outcomes. Underwriters see this as a positive checkmark when calculating your premiums, and it pays! Insurance partners and associations trust us to reduce their risk of lost revenue, which often translates into best possible insurance premium rates. 

Safety technology – Get the most for your money

You can invest a lot in safety technology. When there’s an event, an online platform lets you turn it into a learning opportunity. Stop bad behavior, improve CSA, and avoid costly fines, fees, and lawsuits. You can train and remediate based on the data and footage you’ve captured. You can upload custom content, and have the driver who made the mistake teach other drivers, explaining what they did wrong. Train and re-train on the events that occur. 

Commitment to Safety Is the Solution

One of our clients is the 2nd largest contractor for FedEx. After using our system, they’ve upped their game: if drivers don’t do their safety training, the dispatcher doesn’t give them work. That’s how serious they are about safety and about seeing outcomes. They know it saves lives, saves money, and saves equipment. In one year, they saved $100,000 on insurance. They’re committed to enhanced safety culture, and it’s paying off.

Download our free whitepaper to learn more about safety scores and savings and how to get better business outcomes with Infinit-I Workforce Solutions.

Decrease yearly accident costs

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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.

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7 Ways to Get Drivers to Participate in Safety Training

Safety compliance is one of the key components of a successful strategy in trucking. But it’s still common for companies to struggle when getting drivers on board. What’s behind the resistance? 

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