Trucking must view safety as investment, not expense, CEO says

Chris Lofgren, president and CEO of Schneider National, responds to a question from ATRI President Rebecca Brewster during a panel discussion of truck safety. (The Trucker/Kevin Jones)

By LYNDON FINNEY
The Trucker Staff

10/7/2008

NEW ORLEANS — Safety must be viewed as an investment, not an expense, the head of one of the nation’s largest carriers said Tuesday morning.

Participating in a panel discussion on “Changing the Face of Industry Safety: the Role of Alternative Compliance” at the American Trucking Associations Management Conference and Exhibition under way here, Chris Lofgren, president and CEO of Schneider National, said trucking companies had to work hard at improving safety rates.

“It would be nice if you could buy a safety program,” he said.

To improve safety, companies must invest in the right things.

By doing the right things, such as installing sophisticated simulators for driver training and installing safety equipment on tractors and trailers, the company has reduced preventable accidents by 12.8 percent and realized a 40 percent reduction in roll accidents.

Craig Harper, chief operating officer at J.B. Hunt, said that his company was using hair testing to identify high risk drivers.

Hair testing can detect drivers who use drugs, he said.

“With 56 percent of our drivers having undergone hair testing, our positive urine test rate has declined 71 percent to less than 0.5 percent of our driver population,” he said. “This is good for our drivers and the motoring public with whom we share the road.”

Douglas Duncan, president and CEO of FedEx Freight, reminded delegates that while it was important for the industry to show an improvement in safety data as a commitment to reducing accidents, safety is more than numbers.

“Behind the numbers is a human life,” he said. “We must explore new ways to improve safety. We have to bring the numbers down and that’s going to take extra effort on our part.”

Rose McMurray, chief safety officer and assistant administrator of the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration, said her agency was under pressure to improve safety.

“Just as companies are judged by their profit and loss statements, we are judged by safety,” she said.

“We have driven down the nationwide fatality rate, but we’ve been under tremendous pressure the last several months as to whether we’re meeting our mandate.”

The FMCSA must work with trucking companies to find the right solutions, she said.

Steve Williams, president and CEO of Maverick USA, said improving safety was also important for the industry’s image.

“Until we bring raw numbers down, we’re not going to win the battle with media,” he said, adding that it was really important for the industry to meet a charge to improve safety as it relates to crashes with private automobiles.

The ATA meeting concludes tonight.