Don’t let safety culture changes be a missed opportunity

By TCA Senior Director of Outreach & Engagement Marli Hall

It is not every day that you have the opportunity to do something truly great for others – something that is life-changing or even life-saving. These chances only present themselves a few times in a person’s life, and often, we look back at the missed opportunities with regret.

Right now, the truckload industry has an opportunity in front of it. In the past, we focused on improving safety simply by measuring and grading ourselves on metrics such as reduced accidents and fewer out-of-service violations. While those metrics are important, they do not help us delve deeper into the root cause of why many accidents and safety violations happen in the first place.

As we have written before on Truckload Indexes, today we are presented with the chance to address these causes and truly affect holistic safety improvements that permeate the industry through the increased focus on overall safety culture change, both within individual organizations and the industry as a whole. The best example of this is the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration’s (FMCSA) overhauled Compliance, Safety, Accountability (CSA) program. The new CSA Item Response Theory statistical model that will be used moving forward does not focus on predicting crash risk. Rather, the FMCSA’s hope is that it will point to potential flaws in the safety culture of a motor carrier. FMCSA believes that identifying these problems with organizational safety culture will do more to accurately identify unsafe carriers than crash and enforcement statistics alone ever could.

It is with this theme of safety culture change in mind that TCA has crafted the agenda for our upcoming 2019 Safety & Security Division Annual Meeting. The event, which will be held June 2-4 in Memphis, Tennessee, will offer substantive opportunities for safety, human resources, and operations professionals in the industry to learn more about key safety topics. These topics include achieving safety culture change for your organization, utilizing an internal safety committee, ensuring onboarding success, and the upcoming CSA changes, and will be presented by industry veterans and current practitioners who are experts in their fields. We will also have a deep dive into data presented by FreightWaves, which will help attendees interpret ELD data to glean important safety trends.

Do you know someone who is already going above and beyond to implement safety culture change in your organization? Is it you? Nominate yourself or another industry professional for the 2019 TCA Safety Professional of the Year – Clare C. Casey Award. This award recognizes a person whose actions and achievements have had a profound and positive impact on safety on our highways and is dedicated to serving the industry, his/her company and the motoring public. TCA is honored to present this award each year, and we are looking forward to another impressive winner in 2019.

Featured

Jun 2, 2021

Updated CDC, OSHA guidance on mask wearing

Jun 2, 2021

Although new guidance on mask wearing returns the industry to some semblance of normalcy after over a year of lockdowns and restrictions, employers should remain cautious in revising policies.

Jun 2, 2021

Jun 1, 2021

Everything – including VMT – is bigger in Texas

Jun 1, 2021

While Texans are accustomed to living life free of excessive state-level taxes, they were in for a shock when their own U.S. Senator, Republican John Cornyn, used his national platform to advocate for the establishment of a truck-only vehicle miles traveled tax.

Jun 1, 2021

May 28, 2021

“As I See It” from the Trucking Activist – Scarce commodity

May 28, 2021

As we discuss ways to improve the sales relationship between carrier and shipper, the term “commodity” always comes up. Most carriers feel being a commodity diminishes the services they provide. It doesn’t have to be that way.

May 28, 2021

May 27, 2021

TCA to offer workshop series on leadership communication strategies for worker retention

May 27, 2021

Three-part workshop series to focus on effective leadership communication strategies to motivate and retain your essential workers.

May 27, 2021

May 26, 2021

ATRI plans studies on marijuana, younger drivers

May 26, 2021

The nation’s top trucking research group plans to update previous studies on the effects of legalized marijuana and other drugs on truck safety along with integrating 18- to 20-year-old drivers into the industry.

May 26, 2021

May 21, 2021

Detention time woes? It’s time to do something about it.

May 21, 2021

Throughout the entire 90-year history of trucking in the United States, excessive detention has been a scourge on the industry. An upcoming 90-minute immersive workshop will share tools and strategies to combat this issue and keep the wheels moving and profitable.

May 21, 2021

May 19, 2021

Ninth Circuit allows enforcement of California’s AB5 against motor carriers

May 19, 2021

While a request for Supreme Court review of the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals decision to overturn an injunction banning enforcement of California’s AB5 will almost certainly follow, at this time, motor carriers who operate in California must be prepared to act in accordance with AB5.

May 19, 2021

May 15, 2021

Safety is more than a tagline

May 15, 2021

The word “safety” is everywhere in the trucking industry. It is talked about nearly every day in the press, Congress has zeroed in on it, and most carriers will say that it is their top priority. With all this attention, it’s easy to believe that safety has become cliché. But it’s not.

May 15, 2021

May 12, 2021

Colonial Pipeline impact: Diesel shortages are rare so far

May 12, 2021

A day after Colonial Pipeline said there was light at the end of the tunnel for the line’s closure due to a cyberattack, the impact of the shutdown on the ground is being felt.

May 12, 2021

May 10, 2021

Operation Safe Driver Week is scheduled. Here’s what inspectors will look for

May 10, 2021

Truck drivers and fleets have two months to prepare for the Commercial Vehicle Safety Alliance’s (CVSA) annual Operation Safe Driver Week, which is set for July 11-17. Here is what inspectors will be looking for.

May 10, 2021