Career Highways: Safety and Loss Prevention

The safety and loss prevention function at a road transportation company is an important one. Safety and loss prevention include many components ranging from training of personnel in safe operating and driving procedures to administering drug and alcohol testing, to developing and implementing policies that reduce personal injury, cargo, and equipment loss claims. Further, more and more governments are maintaining safety data on carriers and assigning ratings for use by shippers when selecting carriers. Perhaps just as importantly, safety is good business and the most successful companies will operate with an emphasis on safety.

Click on one of the job catagories above for more information on each role. Follow the training and education link to find out what schools offer related programs.

Some trucking specific institutions will offer instruction in managing safety for motor carriers; however, these courses and programs are few and far between. While to some extent, safety can be taught, there is a heavy reliance on experience. For these reasons, safety personnel often come from other job functions, and the majority of training is offered on-the job.

Driver Trainer

Though most drivers are hired possessing the full set of driving-related skills, most companies offer a thorough training and orientation program for new driving recruits. This allows the company to focus on processes and procedures that drivers are expected to follow on a day-to-day basis. It also allows companies to ensure that drivers are sufficiently trained in key safety areas such as the handling of dangerous goods (a legal requirement), as well as specific commodity handling procedures. This can include tarping and chaining a load of steel, or learning the safe loading and unloading techniques of gasoline. Depending on the specific company requirements, training can last anywhere from one day to several weeks.

The driver training function is a critical component due to the level of responsibility riding on the drivers. In addition to the training component, many companies rely on driver trainers to recruit, assess and hire drivers. Driver trainers are often former professional drivers, but don't necessarily have to be. In all cases, they must be solid communicators, and accessible. Training in adult learning is an asset, though not always a requirement. Since a great deal of training is offered in a classroom environment, skills and a comfort level in public speaking are also important.

Freight Claims Personnel

From time to time, most companies are challenged with freight claims, which is essentially a claim by a shipper or receiver over the quantity or condition of the freight upon delivery. Typically, the customer will file a claim with the carrier, detailing the nature of the complaint. The freight claims personnel will investigate the claim with an aim of resolving where the error or damage occurred. Based on the outcome of the investigation, the freight claims department will attempt to resolve the claim, bearing in mind that he/she is dealing with a customer, whose patronage the company may not be willing to risk. Like many other trucking specific jobs, this position is usually learned on-the-job. Again, strong communication skills are essential. In addition, this position requires strong organization skills and the ability to be attentive to detail.

Loss Prevention Administrator

A key component of any organization is managing personal losses and injuries. The trucking industry is no exception. Injury prevention is key, and companies spend a great deal of time and money training employees and other workers to work smart and safe. This is critical since drivers are largely unsupervised while on the road or at customers' facilities. The loss prevention administrator works with provincial workers' compensation boards to ensure that employees are covered for work-related injuries. They also work with the safety and loss prevention function to develop and implement solid prevention policies to minimize employee risk.

Safety and Compliance Administrator

While many of the safety-related functions within an organization are company driven, federal, provincial and state laws regulate safety in the trucking industry to some extent. Companies are required to adhere to these laws, and demonstrate upon request that they are. This is usually done through a facility audit, where training, maintenance, vehicle and driver operating and qualification records are thoroughly checked. From the company perspective, it is vitally important that these records are accurate and complete.
The safety and compliance administrator works with the safety maintenance and operations functions to ensure that records are being maintained as prescribed. This includes initiating regular checks on driver records (driving abstracts), as well as the company's official safety/operating record to check for accuracy. It also includes reviewing drivers' logbooks to ensure that they are not driving in excess of the allowable hours. This is often done with the assistance of trucking specific application software. Strong record keeping, organizational and computer skills are paramount. Most, if not all, training occurs on-the-job.

Safety & Loss Prevention Manager

The safety & loss prevention manager is a critical member of the management team. A company's safety record can make it, or literally break it. A solid understanding of the company's operations functions, as well as the laws imposed on trucking companies by all relevant jurisdictions is critical. In addition, some business and analytical skills are required. The manager's responsibilities may include all safety and loss components, ranging from road safety to safety compliance and from freight claims to personal injuries for employees. In other organizations, the role may be limited to the operations-related functions, such as the tasks related to the driving function. Typically, this is a progressive position, which relies on extensive experience in related areas. However, there are some private institutions that offer training for managing safety and risk.

6. Sales/Fuel Tax Administrator

Like the Licensing and Permitting function, the job of a Sales/Fuel Tax Administrator is unique to the trucking industry. Trucking is not a static business. The industry's assets - its vehicles - are mobile, and as such, engage in business in each state or province that they travel in. As a result, trucking companies are responsible for meeting the various tax requirements imposed on them by each jurisdiction. This can include remitting sales tax based on the value of the vehicles and fuel tax based on how much fuel is consumed by vehicles in each state or province. In addition, some jurisdictions impose other business taxes which are based on the extent of a trucking company's operations in a particular state or province. The sales/fuel tax administrator is responsible for ensuring that each jurisdictions tax requirements are met, and that accurate records are maintained in the event of a compliance audit.

7. Sales

Every business environment must include a strategy for generating new sales, as well as for maintaining the existing client base. In that regard, trucking is no different. However, unlike selling cars or dishwashers, the trucking industry does not sell a tangible product. There is nothing to touch or feel. In the trucking industry, the sales force can only sell a service. The service, of course, is the service of moving a shipping companies freight - be it cars, car parts, dishwashers, cans of food, or computer equipment - from one point to another. The sales staff must be fully conversant with the company's equipment, routes, rate structure, service options, and limitations. Sales personnel are required to generate new business, and to ensure that the clients' requirements are met.

8. Marketing

Again, like the sales component, the marketing function offers unique challenges in the trucking industry. Marketing a service is very different from marketing a product. People in the marketing function of a trucking company are faced with the complex challenge of differentiating the services of his or her trucking company from that of the competitors. People in the marketing function have to be innovative, creative, and fully understand the range of services being offered by the company, as well as what additional services can be introduced to strengthen the company's market position.

9. Human Resources

While the Human Resources or HR function is one of those functions that is utilized by virtually all industries, again, trucking offers it own set of unique challenges. The HR function includes virtually anything that involves human capital - from ensuring compliance with the appropriate labour, health & safety, and highway safety laws, to creating an appealing place to work. The HR function is responsible for the hiring function which includes recruiting, screening and interviewing, hiring and orientating new hires. It is also responsible for developing and enforcing personnel related policies and procedures. Some HR functions that are specific to the trucking industry include contracting with owner-operator drivers, developing and implementing performance-based incentive programs and training programs, as well as administering the company's drug and alcohol testing program for drivers (if it has one). While many of the responsibilities are associated with the driving function, a full one-quarter to one-third of positions in a trucking company are non-driving.