Trucking Podcast: Safety Topics

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Logos: What The Truck?!?, Dynamic Logistix, Carl's Junior, Northland Insurance. Subscribe. Logos: YouTube, Indeed, Facebook, Apple Podcasts, Spotify, TikTok, X. -- On the left, host Timothy Dooner sits in front of a laptop and a monitor that displays a What the Truck?!? logo. Timothy's desk holds a toy truck and airplane, action figures, and other trinkets. To the right of Timothy's video feed, Anthony Slamar's video feed appears. To the right of the video feeds, a Today's Show menu displays "Anthony Slamar," "A.D.A.S.," "Meanwhile," "Alex Mai," and "The Muthatrucker Story" as upcoming items. At the bottom of the screen, headlines scroll continuously: Transportation and logistics provider ArcBest beat fourth-quarter expectations on Tuesday. ArcBest (NASDAQ: A.R.C.B.) reported adjusted earnings per share of $2.47, 26 cents ahead of the consensus estimate and 5 cents higher year over year.

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SPEAKER: Anthony Slamar, he's risk control transportation specialist for Northland Trucking Risk Control, a little bit of a mouthful. But it's awesome to meet you, sir. How are you doing today?

ANTHONY SLAMAR: Hey, real good. Thank you for having me.

SPEAKER: Where are you coming in from? Where are you at? Where are you dialing in? What part of the world are you at today?

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Text: Anthony Slamar, Risk Control Transportation Specialist, Northland Trucking Risk Control.

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ANTHONY SLAMAR: Yeah, so I'm out of the Milwaukee, Wisconsin area. Like you said, I work for Northland Insurance. I'm a transportation specialist.

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Headline: FreightWaves SONAR and e2open partner to empower shippers with real-time rate visibility. FreightWaves SONAR and e2open are pleased to announce a strategic partnership for mutual customers — a collaboration that will integrate FreightWaves’ industry-leading T.R.A.C. spot rate and contract rate data directly into e2open’s Transportation Management System.

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Prior to this role, I was a compliance officer for federal OSHA for 13 years, did a lot of accident investigations and inspections, both construction and general industry, including a lot of transportation companies as well. I always loved trucking, always had an interest in it. And that led me to getting a class A CDL back in the day, which really helped my current role.

SPEAKER: Oh, interesting. Did you used to—did you used to drive a truck?

ANTHONY SLAMAR: I did just a little bit of driving, not as much as I would want to. But still, that experience really gave me a good foundation and really helps me in my current role here at Northland.

SPEAKER:
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Pilots flying Amazon cargo saying employer stalling contract talks. The chair of the pilots’ union at Air Transport International, the largest air carrier in Amazon’s delivery network, Accused A.T.I. management in an interview of dragging its feet on a new contract for hundreds of pilots until the existing transportation services agreement with the mega-retailer can be renewed in two years.

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Well, interesting. Well, as someone who’s head of CDL and someone who’s in the position as a risk controller, what are your thoughts on ADAS system? Tell us how they work.

ANTHONY SLAMAR: Yeah, so ADAS stands for Advanced Driver Assistance systems. It's essentially a package of safety features that help that driver monitor their surroundings and kind of take action, if the driver doesn't react to a potential crash, right?

It operates on sensors. There's going to be some alarms within the vehicle or alerts, I should say, and to help that driver be notified if there is a possible crash that could occur. If that driver doesn't take action, the vehicle could take action itself, right?

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A first since September: Benchmark diesel price up 2 straight weeks. After months of almost steady decline, diesel prices are showing signs of having hit a bottom, at least relative to crude prices.

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Some of the main features of these systems are going to be pre-collision assist, lane keeping assist, blind spot monitoring, all that type of thing. Some of the more advanced features, too, might even have driver monitoring systems, which are looking to see if the driver might be fatigued or not.

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Radiant Logistics looks for back-half 2024 inflection. Management from 3PL Radiant Logistics said Thursday it was hopeful for a demand turnaround in the second half for 2024, noting it has seen some lift in ocean container traffic.

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SPEAKER: Very interesting. So it sounds like these can be pretty beneficial to truck drivers. What are some of the main benefits though that the driver themselves are getting out of this?

ANTHONY SLAMAR: Yeah, so one thing we have to understand is that accidents involving trucks, they can be kind of costly compared to a smaller passenger vehicle. And that's one thing we really hope to see is a reduction in accidents with these things, which is also ultimately going to be less of a financial burden for the industry. So that's one thing to keep in mind with these things.

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FleetCor's Q4 revenue and profit rise y/y, but miss analysts' estimates. FleetCor Technologies Inc. announced its fourth-quarter and full-year financial results for 2023 after the market closed Wednesday, reporting increases in revenue and earnings.

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One thing when we look at is we have to understand that these systems-- keep in mind, they're still evolving. They're still emerging. And there's going to be renewed developments in these as we go on. So that's one thing to keep in mind.

SPEAKER: They're still evolving and still emerging, but they're becoming standard on a lot more trucks. Was there some evidence that put these in more vehicles? And how do we get drivers to understand them and train them on them, and not be afraid of them and understand what they're trying to do, and make them work for them?

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R.X.O. touts performance even as numbers show impact of weak freight market. Although the financial performance at R.X.O. improved from the third to the fourth quarter of 2023, the year-to-year comparisons showed a stark downturn.

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ANTHONY SLAMAR: Yeah, that's a really good question. So when you look at some of the statistics, roughly 30% of accidents are going to be rear-end collisions. Another 30% are going to be lane change or merging accidents. And that's one thing that we hope to see. That's one thing that these systems are really trying to address with that. We want to see ultimately a reduction in those types of accidents.

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329 layoffs hit freight-related firms in Texas. Shearer's Foods is permanently closing a production facility in Lubbock, Texas, and laying off all 176 workers, and Transportation and logistics provider Hollingsworth is shutting down a distribution center in Fort Worth and laying off 153 workers.

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These things represent a really good training opportunity for companies. At the end of the day, we still have to understand that the most important safety feature in a vehicle and these trucks is the driver. ADAS does not replace good, safe driving techniques.

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Water level projections threaten future Panama Canal transits. Dry season in Panama is in full swing, and the impacts to trade through the Panama Canal will remain challenged in the months to come. The situation in the canal, after a wetter-than-expected November, wasn't as dire as many believed, allowing the number of daily transits to increase in January.

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So when we talk about training, one thing that we want to look at is what do these systems do for the driver, what do the different alerts and sensors mean, and also, what are the limitations of these systems. Keep in mind, these are not 100% accurate. That's one thing I've heard from talking to a lot of companies about this. And that's one thing I really want to see is more accuracy within these systems.

So that represents a really good opportunity for trucking companies to take their drivers, tell them, hey, this does not replace good, safe driving techniques. Having a really good distracted driving policy is crucial, good fleet safety programs, all of which are things we really love helping our customers develop and build at Northland Insurance. So these are really the type of things that we want to be looking at.

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Spare part delays keep Lufthansa Cargo A321 freighters grounded. Two Lufthansa Cargo narrowbody freighters remain sidelined for a third week because of technical problems discovered after the aircraft entered a maintenance hangar to repair small cracks in rear floor boards. F.M.C.S.A. calls out sham towing fees charged to truckers. A proposed rule aimed at cracking down on junk fees charged to consumers has caught the attention of the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration. The proposed rule, issued by the Federal Trade Commission last year would, among other things, allow the F.T.C. to seek civil penalties against fraudsters and more readily obtain financial remedies for consumers who are harmed.

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SPEAKER: You mentioned something interesting there. What kind of insights, what are you hearing back from your customers about the tech? How is this proving its value to them? What kind of feedback are you getting on the systems?

ANTHONY SLAMAR: Yeah, so one thing that we hear constantly or I should say, on a regular basis, is that we would like to see more accuracy within these systems, OK? Some of the things that could be beneficial would be the blind spot monitoring.

So again, keep in mind the size of the vehicle. With a large commercial vehicle compared to a smaller passenger car that could be to their left or right, that's one thing that we would-- that's one thing that customers are looking at in a positive way. But ultimately, what we're hearing is that they do want to see more accuracy within these systems and get better in the future.

SPEAKER: Interesting. And how do you guys take that and develop and make sure this serves them?

ANTHONY SLAMAR: Yeah, so one thing we do is-- one thing that we could look at is, OK, so what are we doing with the driver? We still want to make sure that the driver is not-- that good, safe driving techniques are still being performed within the company, right? That's one thing that we always look at.

The other thing is training the drivers on these systems. There could be some training needs with that associated with different types of systems. And that's one thing that we would really emphasize with them.

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Imports of avocados, beer from Mexico score big on Super Bowl Sunday. The latest consumer spending data from the National Retail Federation said the U.S. will spend a record 17.3 billion dollars on the Super Bowl this year, up 5% from last year.

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SPEAKER: Interesting. So how do people learn more about this? Where can they get more information? Where can they connect with you and get educated on this brave new world of technology?

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Tanker transits plunge 20% in Red Sea: Lloyd's List -- New data from Lloyd's List Intelligence shows an acceleration for tankers diverting away from the Red Sea. Since January 12, when the first of three U.S.-led military strikes began on Houthi land targets, more than 106 tankers have changed routes to avoid the area.

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ANTHONY SLAMAR: Yeah, so sure. We have our website, Northland Insurance. Also, another thing to look at is different operators manuals of these vehicles that will describe the systems and how to use them to their fullest potential. And then also again, keep in mind with that training and the orientation of that driver, just ensuring that they're using it to the fullest potential, that they're not disabling it, that type of thing.

SPEAKER: Very, very cool. Thank you so much for joining us on the show. Everyone go check out Northland and go find out about these ADAS systems. We appreciate your time. You have an amazing weekend.

ANTHONY SLAMAR: Hey, thanks for having me. It's great being here.

SPEAKER: Take it easy. All right, meanwhile--

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Uber Freight's revenue.  

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On Deck, What the Truck? Anthony Slamar, Giovani Gubbels, Gubio Henrique. Today's Show, Nooner with Dooner. Cali Freight Thieves Strike Again. On Deck, Anthony Slamar, Driver Training. A book titled Insights to Near sharing appears on a desk, followed by the Northland Insurance logo. World news headlines and the FWTV schedule scroll across the bottom ticker for the duration of the video.

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TIMOTHY DOONER: It's this weekend. All right. But right now, we got our first guest, Anthony Slamar, risk control specialist at Northland Trucking. Risk control. Anthony, great to see you.

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Timothy and Anthony's video feeds appear side by side. Timothy wears a black shirt and a trucker hat as he sits behind the microphone at his desk. Anthony wears a blue dress shirt and a pair of headphones with a mouth piece.

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ANTHONY SLAMAR: Hey. Thanks for having me. Appreciate being here.

TIMOTHY DOONER: Crazy topic I had to start today. I wish I didn't have to start show with topics like that. Why? Freight theft is crazy. I know it's not our main topic, but freight thefts crazy right now.

ANTHONY SLAMAR: Yeah. Actually, that was one of the things I was going to talk about is cargo loss today.

TIMOTHY DOONER: Let's start at cargo loss, then we'll go to driver training. Let's tie it into the beginning.

ANTHONY SLAMAR: Yeah. Yeah, absolutely. So cargo loss is a big thing out there. One thing that we-- emerging trend or growing trend, I should say, is something that's really common, unfortunately. But it's something that we deal with a lot. And I'll say this right off the bat. Really successful trucking companies are going to have policies and procedures in place to address all different types of loss, all right?

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Anthony Slamar, Risk control, transportation specialist, Northland Trucking Risk Control.

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Successful trucking companies know that having a good, strong fleet safety program is crucial to the overall success of that organization. Right? So part of that fleet safety program is going to have a lot of things such as safe backing procedures, getting through an intersection safely, ELDs, hours of service, pre-trip inspections, preventative maintenance, speeding, seatbelts, cell phones. The list goes on, right?

It's a heavily regulated industry so we want to have the good policies and procedures in place for that. And cargo loss is no different. Right? Cargo loss is a big subject. And cargo theft is obviously a part of cargo loss. Other types of cargo loss are also going to include temperature variances and a reefer unit. Could be rust on sheet metal that's on a flatbed tractor or flatbed trailer.

So these are all things that we want to address in that overall fleet safety program. We want to have policies and procedures in place to address this. Right? We don't want this type of loss from occurring. So I'll give you an example of something I recently dealt with. I had a-- there was a driver who was going from point A to point B across the country, and along that route his place of residence was located.

The driver stopped, went home. But before he went home he left the truck and trailer in an abandoned parking lot, came back a couple days later, and it's gone, right? So just like accident management, which we're going to talk about today extensively, we want to have some policies and procedures in place that would address cargo loss. Maybe not making that tractor trailer such an easy target for theft, right? Talking about temperature control and reefer units, that type of thing. It's really important.

TIMOTHY DOONER: Yeah. Of course. Everyone out there, talk to your-- make sure you have cargo insurance. Check your cargo insurance. Vet your brokers. Vet your carriers. I'm just warning you, this has been a big, big issue. Let's talk about something else, too. Driver training and how that factors into accidents.

ANTHONY SLAMAR: Yeah. So you know, accident management or sometimes, as it's called, post-accident management, it's a crucial component for a fleet safety program. Right? This is something that we want to see in a fleet safety program. Ultimately what this is it's a tool that we can use to make that company get better, right?

We want to make the driver-- that's not just involved in the accident, but maybe even fleet wide, better drivers out there on the road. The big part of accident management is coaching and retraining, which we'll talk about. But ultimately, it's a formal policy. It's a formal procedure that we would include in that overall fleet safety program.

TIMOTHY DOONER: Yeah. So you mentioned something interesting there. How do we find a positive within in a mishap, in an accident?

ANTHONY SLAMAR: Yeah. So when we look at this, when we look at the overall fleet safety program, what this is is it's a tool that's going to help us get better. Right? It's something that ultimately is-- it's actually a really good tool to make the driver and the fleet better at what they do, right?

We are gentle giants out there on the road setting the example for other motorists, and having a good accident management program is something that helps us get better. Big part of it, like we talked about, coaching and retraining are important elements of that. But to begin, to start from the very beginning, first and foremost, we want to make sure that our drivers are taken care of. Right?

The driver is the most important safety element in that vehicle. So what if there's an injury after a crash? How is that driver going to get medical attention? These are things that we want to address properly in that accident management program. Also mental health issues as well, something we also want to look at. We want to make sure that driver is OK. All right? This is not something that we want to prolong. We want to get on this right away.

TIMOTHY DOONER: How do you make it not--

ANTHONY SLAMAR: Next thing we want to--

TIMOTHY DOONER: How do you make it not feel punitive? Because you get into-- we're saying accident here. The driver's not at fault. How do you make it so it doesn't feel like they're being attacked when you're trying to approach this?

ANTHONY SLAMAR: Yeah. Really good question. Nobody wants to be the subject of this, right? You feel like you're under scrutiny. And there's a few ways to deal with this. Number one, you really want to treat that driver with respect, kindness, compassion. Right? We want to make sure, at the end of the day, we are using this accident management program to make that person a better driver. Right? A better individual on that road.

Another thing that we want to do-- and a lot of companies do this and it's a really good technique. Sometimes they will not just focus all of that coaching and retraining effort and energy on that lone driver, but they will make this a fleet wide issue. And that's really important. That's really helpful because now we're taking this bad situation, we're going to make it positive.

We're going to teach our drivers, OK, this is what happened on the road. This is how we can avoid it. And we're not just going to necessarily single out this driver. Of course we're probably going to have some one on one time with him or her, but we also want to take that and train the company on what they did. Really, really important.

A lot of the times, too, is let's say the driver does something good where they avoid the accident or if they do something that greatly reduces the actual damages. Right? This is something a lot of companies will do-- will take. They will take that information of the accident and they will distribute that fleet wide. So now that driver who took that positive action feels good about themselves, that they did something to really make prevent a bad situation from becoming worse.

TIMOTHY DOONER: Yeah. And look, when you think about an accident in this industry, this is one of the few ones where you have a giant logo on the side of the trailer advertising what just happened over there. Obviously the drivers, this is a two sided thing. The drivers and the company both play a big part in this. But what other issues have you seen come up through driver training? And actually, you mentioned cargo loss. Does driver training factor that into that too? Is there a way to keep these drivers from finding themselves doing some of these duplicitous turnovers like what happened in that TA parking lot?

ANTHONY SLAMAR: Yeah. So obviously the driver training is a big part of accident management and cargo loss, right? It's something that's really important to address. And one thing too, and kind of going back to what we were talking about earlier, is when we look at this accident management program that is going to hopefully prevent that loss, that future loss or that future crash from occurring in addition to cargo loss issues or cargo theft.

Ultimately what we're looking at is, like we were talking about, gathering the information. Right? And also then performing our own investigation. OK? We want to see if there's any holes in our overall fleet safety program that we can adjust. But another thing, too, is when we look at that accident, when we talk about doing our own accident investigation, we have to realize sometimes the government might not get back to us with what happened. Right?

As someone who's done accident investigations, fatality investigations from the government, I can tell you, sometimes you might not get the information right away, or the government's findings. This is why you want to start this process sooner than later and start trying to figure out what happened. And then from there you kind of base your coaching and retraining. Again, talking about cargo loss, maybe we-- or, I'm sorry. Cargo theft.

Maybe we don't want to put a tractor trailer in a spot that's, for example, an abandoned mall that's known for theft issues. That type of thing. And the other thing, too, is a really big crucial element of this accident management is looking at trends. Right? In insurance, we love looking at trends. We look at statistics, because it kind of helps us figure out what could happen in the future.

And so for example, if I'm working with a company and they have seven losses on their record, and four of which are rear end collisions-- or let's talk about cargo loss. Let's say four of which are cargo loss claims. We're going to have more of a conversation to figure out how we can proactively prevent the loss or the next loss from becoming a cargo loss issue, right? So trends are really big and very, very important to look at.

TIMOTHY DOONER: No doubt. And some of those trends are not looking great, some of the cargo theft ones. We got to have good fleet safety programs. We have to have good training. Where do people go to get your advice on this and protect their drivers and their freight?

ANTHONY SLAMAR: Yeah. So we have a lot of resources on our website at Northland Insurance. We specialize in the trucking industry. That's what we do. We love helping our customers deal with DOT issues, fleet safety, improving their overall posture on the road. On our website we have a lot of resources that address cargo loss, cargo theft, preventative maintenance, tons of driver training. Really good stuff. It's northlandins.com. That's northlandins.com.

Another thing we really provide our customers is we have a group of safety professionals strategically located throughout the United States. Every single person on the Northland Risk Control team has either had a CDL, been a safety director at a transportation company, or both, in addition to some law enforcement officers who have done hundreds if not thousands of DOT inspections, as well as some veterans. So we really love meeting with our customers, helping them with their fleet safety, and improving their overall safety posture out there on the road.

TIMOTHY DOONER: Very cool, Anthony. Thank you for joining us on the show and you have a great weekend.

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ANTHONY SLAMAR: Hey, thanks for having me. Appreciate it.

TIMOTHY DOONER: Take care. All right.