Safety Management in Small Motor Carriers (2012) / Chapter Skim
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Pages 33-64
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From page 33... ...
BUSINESS, OPERATIONAL, AND SAFETY MANAGEMENT IN SMALL COMPANIES This section addresses management in small companies, including business management, operational management and supervision, and safety management. Some of the studies cited relate specifically to transportation companies, but most of this section relates to business and industrial management in general.
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They identified three types of executive personality types or styles, each with its own strengths and potential weaknesses. The three types were (1)
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Safety Management This section presents general concepts relating to safety management in organizations. The context is not specific to motor carrier safety, although many general safety management principles apply directly to transportation.
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(2007) examined the role of safety culture in motor carrier safety.
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Safety climate is similar to safety culture. Although culture embodies values, beliefs, and underlying assumptions, climate is "a descriptive measure reflecting the workforce's perceptions of the organizational atmosphere" (Flin et al.
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From page 38... ...
Statistics, broken down by seven carrier size categories, were based on U.S.DOT MCMIS statistics for an unspecified period. The 13 compliance measures were total OOS rate, vehicle OOS rate, driver OOS rate, average total violations per inspection, average number of vehicle violations, average brake violations, average steering component violations, average wheel violations, average total driver violations, average driver qualifications violations, average medical certification violations, average HOS violations, and average log violations.
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From page 39... ...
This study is significantly out of date; federal enforcement systems and practices have dramatically 0 0.05 0.1 0.15 0.2 0.25 0.3 0.35 Carrier Number of Power Units Total OOS % Vehicle OOS % Driver OOS % FIGURE 6 Total, vehicle, and driver OOS percentages by carrier size from Stock (2001)
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Inspections effective in improving road safety? Are carriers treated fair during inspections?
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, so there is high potential for large liability claims against truck drivers and their companies. A company that can afford to equip its vehicles with proven safety technologies is likely to reap positive returns-on-investments (ROIs)
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Motor carriers of all sizes consider vehicle maintenance to be a priority safety management activity. Regular practices include pre- and post-trip inspections, annual vehicle inspections, PM, and repairs.
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From page 43... ...
I know owner operators that do their own maintenance work but don't keep very good records." In the project interviews, approximately half of the small carriers interviewed indicated that vehicle maintenance was their single biggest safety activity and concern. Cargo securement was also a major concern, especially for flatbed operators, but for others as well.
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From page 44... ...
Question 10 asked respondents to rate the safety importance of "Delays associated with loading and unloading cargo." For truck respondents, this safety problem received a mean importance rating of 2.9 on the 0–4 Likert scale, placing it in the top half of the items. This was not an important issue for bus respondents.
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Specific selection procedures and tests described are generally those designed to target one of these areas or, often, a more specific dimension within one of these areas. CTBSSP Synthesis 21 included a survey of both carrier safety managers and other experts in motor carrier safety.
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In the I-95 Corridor Coalition Coordinated Safety Management study (Stock 2001) , a large majority of respondents from all carrier size categories considered driver hiring criteria to be important to safety.
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Survey and Interview Findings Survey Question 6 asked respondents to rate the safety importance of "recruiting and selecting good drivers." This item received an average of 3.3 on the 0–4 scale, the highest average rating assigned to any of the 14 safety problems presented. In Question 31, driver selection and hiring was rated as the most important of ten safety management areas presented.
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From page 48... ...
Thus, the adequacy of driver skills and knowledge is a major industry safety concern. For example, improved commercial driver training was the top recommendation from the 2002 International Truck and Bus Safety Research and Policy Symposium (Zacharia and Richards 2002)
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From page 49... ...
found that fleets held regularly scheduled safety meetings, generally with mandatory attendance and paid attendance for drivers. Topics addressed include recent crashes or incidents, vehicle maintenance and inspection, defensive driving, health and wellness, fatigue management and HOS, winter driving, and nondriving topics such as loading dock practices and hazardous material handling.
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Play by the rules." Two case study interviewees noted the driver training support their companies receive from their insurance carriers.
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These three functions are addressed in the following sections. Driver Evaluation Measuring and evaluating driver performance is a key element of carrier safety management.
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As noted previously, driver evaluation was rated the most important of five safety management areas in the CTBSSP Synthesis 21 survey (Knipling et al.
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Nevertheless, nearly all carriers must also issue reprimands and penalties for driver offenses, and they are rated effective by managers in surveys (e.g., Corsi and Barnard 2003; Knipling et al.
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As a safety management practice, it received a mean effectiveness rating of 2.8 on the 0–4 scale. Question 31 presented ten areas of carrier safety management and asked respondents to select up to three that were most important.
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The departure of older, longer-tenured drivers from small carriers for jobs with larger ones was usually motivated by higher pay and/or benefits. Question 9 asked the safety importance of "Driver turnover resulting in an unstable workforce." Respondents gave this safety problem an average rating of 2.7 on the 0–4 Likert scale, putting it near the middle of the 14 items surveyed.
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crashes, but they may be significant for nonpreventable crashes as well. CARRIER PERFORMANCE TRACKING AND BENCHMARKING As noted earlier in this chapter, a company's safety climate is best measured by leading indicators of safety activity and performance (Flin et al.
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MANAGEMENT DEVELOPMENT In an earlier section of this chapter, the general challenges of business management, operational management, and safety management in small companies was reviewed. This section deals with the challenge of professional development for small carrier owners and managers in the area of safety.
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Previous CTBSSP Synthesis reports have addressed carrier management development, including CTBSSP Synthesis 1: Effective Commercial Truck and Bus Safety Management Techniques (Knipling et al.
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Survey Question 12 asked respondents to rate the safety importance of "Not enough management time to adequately address all safety management problems and issues." The average importance rating for this item was 2.4 on the 0–4 scale, the 10th highest of 14 average ratings. Thus, the item was considered important, but not a priority among the problems presented.
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describes a straightforward "basic safety process" for addressing safety issues. First, a safety concern is raised, hazard identified, or a crash or other accident happens, which is then brought to the attention of the manager.
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From page 61... ...
These drivers, mostly managers or technicians, were held to ìActor "/Factor: Ti me fra me : Hum an (Driver) Vehicle Roadway/ Environm ent Pre-Crash Driver licensing Driver traits Driver training Brake, tire condition Vehicle safety equipm ent Roadway markings Divided highways Curves Crash Restraint use Bone density Vehicle size Crashworthiness Guard rails Em bankm ents Post-Crash Victim general health Rehabilitation Gas tank integrity Van/cargo tank integrity EMS availability EMS response EMS = emergency medical service.
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From page 62... ...
Figures 15 and 16 document Suckling's safety improvements using two metrics. The company director added that, "the benefits of our Zero Incident Project are multiple and include a significant reduction in vehicle downtime, improved fleet and fuel efficiency, a reduction in driver turnover and improved relationships with our customers contributing to new contract wins .
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From page 63... ...
Drivers in small companies rated their fellow drivers more highly than did drivers for larger companies. This External Influences Company Policy Level Areas of Safety Management Safety Conditions Created Political Contracting strategy Recruiting & selection Competence Regulatory Ownership & control Pay and conditions Compliance Market Organizational structure Training Motivation/morale Societal Safety management Procedures Awareness of risk factors Labor relations Operational planning Fatigue management Profitability Incident management/feedback Safety attitudes noisivrepus/tnemeganaM Stress/pressure management snoitacinummoC Drug/alcohol control htlaehlacisyhPgnisahcruptnempiuqE snoitacinummoc/noitamrofnIngisedecalpkroW secruosernamuhelbatiuS ecnanetniam&noitcepsnI ytilibarepoelciheV tnemnorivneelcihev-nI staerhtlanretxefolortnoC FIGURE 17 Occupational road risk model.
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From page 64... ...
Based both on the study interviews with truck drivers and a subsequent series of group workshops, priority areas for safety management improvements were operational planning, driver fatigue reduction, and supervision of drivers. Additional priority areas based on workshop discussions included incident management and feedback, driver training, and reduction of work pressure.
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