Defensive Driving Best Practices for the Non-DOT Fleet
John J. Meola CSP, ARM is a practicing safety engineer and consultant based Richmond VA. He has worked in Construction and Industrial trades and is an expert.
On Best Practices and OSHA compliance, including do’s and don’ts, and red flag conditions. He is an Instructor at VA Commonwealth University, School of Business, Risk Management Institute.
Meola is a
published author and technical writer and contributor to several
business magazines. He will share these learnings in a lively and
energetic manner and take your questions.
Practically every person in the US will either drive a vehicle or be a passenger in one at some point.
Usually this is a Daily Exposure. In order to maximize the safety elements associated with this ‘exposure’, It is pretty much staring us in the face that we learn at least the basic safety metrics associated with all things automotive.
This includes such things as hiking, walking the dog, bike riding, driving the company van, the church bus, the choir bus, etc. There is a long list of inclusives on this metric. Most persons are relatively unaware of the factors associated with safe transit. The numbers associated with this topic are frightening.
After a 20 year gradual decline, US traffic fatalities have been increasing at a 8 to 10% clip for the last few years. Now they are spiking post Covid. A few basic elements can help mitigate this trend, which we will cover in this webinar. Protective measures for your Company, for your family, your church/school/affinity group, etc. There are a number of simple, easy to achieve steps, for preventing automotive incidents, accidents and losses.
Even among the professional safety community there is minimal awareness for the criticality of this issue. Most safety and health programs are focused on ‘Compliance’ with OSHA or some other rule making body. What happens when there are no rules on educating your drivers? It becomes a highly variable situation. Doing nothing – which is what most companies do- is not an option. A minimal program can provide a lot of cover for your organization, and this is what we will review in this webinar.
Areas Covered
- Understanding the ANSI Standard for fleet maintenance – consensus standard
- Inspections – daily visual, weekly hands-on; reporting of defects; maintenance programs; tire mechanics; nature of fleet.
- Company liability once you hand over the keys
- Insurance company participation
- Incident reporting and investigation
- Understanding the metrics affecting your fleet, type, radius of operations
- ‘Frivolous Use’ vs permitted personal use of company vehicle
- Best Practices - policy and procedure
- No weapons, no guns, no ammunition, no drugs, no alcohol, no smoking, no food, other prohibitions
Who Should Attend
- Drivers of all types of vehicles - commercial, incidental, occasional use, daily use, specialty fleets; church bus, school bus, private group transport; farm and food production, agricultural, etc.
- Fleet and logistics managers; CDL compliance managers
- US and state DOT administrators, engineers, inspectors, regulatory officials
- Highway maintenance department persons, utility crews and administrators, gas, water, waste water/sewer; road paving, striping, recycling crews, waste collection, etc.
- State and local police and EMS and fire, first responders, tow truck and recovery vehicle specialists
- Warehouse, supply, mechanics, and supervisors
- HR Managers, full and part-time; administrative assistants
- Office managers; technical writers, accountants, insurance agents and clerical
- Delivery drivers, route salespersons; materials handlers, loading dock personnel
- Recruiters, headhunters, hiring offices, temporary staffing companies
- Safety trainers, teachers, educators, technical writers
- QA/QC staff and managers
- Plant and production managers
- Supervisors; lead working persons; crew chiefs, designated drivers
- Company owners, officers, CEO’s
- Diversity, ESG officers
- Sustainability officers
- Insurance agents, underwriters, claim adjusters
- Attorneys and paralegals
- Safety Inspectors, loss control representatives
Why Should You Attend
Why a written Fleet Safety Program is important, and some suggestions to get one on the table. Employee/Driver safety awareness training – tips and techniques to achieve this OSHA Consensus Standards and State Plan requirements
The five critical elements for every driver to know and practice employee safety committee can help Workers Comp/3rd Party/Collision and Property Damage – the ‘Triple Whammy’ Telematics, GPS, Electronics; driver behavior monitoring EDR, forensics, distractions, cell phone policy.
Topic Background
Over 40% of annual US occupational fatalities arise from some form of transportation related incident. About a third of these fatalities, or roughly 1250, are from Big Rig heavy truck, semis, and other DOT regulated vehicles. Which leaves about 55-60%, or 3200, fatalities from non-DOT, non-CDL vehicles.
The statistics surrounding all-things driving related are pretty grim. In fact, they are downright horrific and for the most part, they are under the radar from a regulatory perspective. Post covid economic activity has caused a spike in the critical metric of MMT (Million Miles Traveled). And for some reason, the highly infectious disease of ‘Lead Foot’ has become epidemic among drivers of all types, occupational, discretionary, leisure, recreational, etc. The corresponding traffic fatality numbers are consequently headed north, notably for pedestrians, bicyclists, motorcyclists and highway work zone boots on the ground. Texas, florida, the carolinas, and a few other states are in the lead on this last category.
Essentially, OSHA has ZERO regulatory language oriented toward defensive driving or fleet safety. And they very candidly admit this- deferring to the much larger US DOT for practically anything transportation related. And the US DOT is not exactly a ball of fire when it comes to any kind of drivers education, even for commercial drivers. The US DOT is pretty much focused on their ‘Hours of Service’ rule, Substance abuse testing and a few other peripheral issues. In light of a chronic deficit of drivers, the feds are not exactly looking to raise the performance/qualifier entrance requirements anytime soon.
The average company fleet of 5 to 20 vehicles is often left to their own devices on how to educate drivers on defensive driving practices. This webinar will review the top five elements all companies with fleet operations should have in their safety profile
1. A written plan suited to the nature of the fleet type and intensity of use
2. An inspection protocol
3. Some type of definable selection and screening process for drivers
4. A safety/Driving performance evaluation system
5. A mechanism for providing ongoing education of best practices
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$200.00
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