BENCHMARKING tank truck safety management allows a carrier not only to analyze its own safety performance, but to compare it with other companies, said Fred Clark of XL Environmental.
Carriers gather data for internal evaluation and can compare the information with other fleets, Clark said at the National Tank Truck Carriers Safety Council Seminar March 29-31 in Phoenix, Arizona.
Data that can be plotted includes total accidents per million miles, total Department of Transportation statistics on accidents per million miles, and numbers of high severity accidents by type, missed deliveries, spills, driver out-of-service by type, and vehicle out-of-service by type.
Safety activities can be benchmarked, such as hazard management, training, driver monitoring, and personnel safety.
With information in hand, carriers can identify safety/training priorities in order to improve, Clark said.
Knowing when to schedule retraining can be determined by evaluating instruction programs — looking at supervisory roles, new driver orientation, remedial policies, on-going training, safety meetings, driver manuals, and other safety manuals.
By gathering driver feedback, carriers can observe the work that is being done. The feedback should not be used for discipline. “This is where you observe the work being done,” Clark said.
For a successful benchmarking program to work, all personnel must understand their roles and responsibilities so that conflicts can be avoided.