Safety, Fleet and Driver Audits

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I know this is from Canada, but similar regulations exist in the US as well. This company had the unfortunate experience of two fatality accidents recently, which triggered an investigation of the company.

As you can see in the article, these incidents caused a great deal of grief and loss for the families in the community and the drivers who were involved, but also time and expense for the company.

This article proves once again the importance of a company’s 100% commitment to safety, proper safety training of employees, the documentation of these practices, and the proper procedures and documentation of equipment maintenance and repair. When the auditors come knocking at you door, its far too late to scramble to get this put together as they are sitting in your office going through you whole operation with a fine tooth comb. It doesn’t matter if you have one truck or one hundred. these proper procedures may someday save your business.

I am familiar with a similar audit several years ago where the officers conducting the audit took an entire day just to calculate the fine to be levied on the company being investigated. Fortunately for the company in this article, they had the proper things in place, and while it wasn’t perfect, because of their sincere efforts, it sounds like they came out in as good of shape as could be hoped.

Would your company have the same result?

What Every Waste Company Needs.

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What Every Waste Company Needs.

Communications

  • Develop a strong, consistent brand.
  • Communicate the company Mission Statement to customers, community, and employees in a clear and concise manner.
  • Have a concise message to customers, team members and the community.
  • Commercial Service Agreement that is fair and easy to understand
  • Website maintenance
  • Social media monitor and responsiveness
  • Sales and Marketing

Operations

  • Emergency Response Plan
  • DOT driver qualification files
  • DOT driver alcohol and controlled substance files
  • DOT substance abuse testing
  • Separate personnel (non – DOT) files for each driver
  • Regular driver’s / safety meetings, complete with meeting agendas and attendance documentation
  • Operations Safety Manual
  • Light Duty / Return to Work Program
  • Inventory control of carts and containers
  • Identify and track operational KPI’s (Key Performance Indicators)
    • Lifts per hour.
    • Lifts per mile.
    • Miles per gallon.

 

Fleet Management

  • Pre- and Post-trip inspection procedure
  • Preventative maintenance schedule
  • DOT annual inspection schedule
  • Truck spec files for each vehicle
  • Maintenance files for each vehicle
  • Shop Safety Manual.
  • Identify and track fleet KPI’s (Key Performance Indicators)
    • Preventable road calls.
    • Trucks are serviced when they are scheduled.
    • Repair costs per unit.
  • Have a Predictive Maintenance mindset.
  • Parts inventory control and ordering system.

 

Administration

  • Employee Handbook.
  • Identify and track financial KPI’s (Key Performance Indicators).
    • Monthly billing totals by type.
  • Company Calendar, what gets done when, billing, collections,
  • Procedures manual.

 

Leadership

  • Provide and communicate a culture that is transparent and reflective of the company’s Values, Mission and Vision
  • Core Values – What makes us uniquely us.
  • Mission Statement – What we do and how and why we do it.
  • Vision Statement – Where we are going.
  • Goal setting in the other 4 areas.
  • Industry and Government relations and involvement by City, County, State, Region
  • Financial responsibility as it regards pricing, vendor relationships.
  • Exit / Succession plan

Looking for some Summer reading? Try “Every Stop Has A Story” by Owen Deckinga

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Here is a great book written by  a veteran Chicago garbageman who has just about seen it all.   I met Owen a couple of times, and we actually shared some of the same alleys back in the late ’70’s and early ’80’s.  He was a wonderful man and a great story teller, and went home to the Lord this past February.  He will be missed.  This book is strictly stories from the streets and alleys of Chicago, told only the way you would expect from a guy like Owen.

 

Available on Amazon.