Safety Management in Small Motor Carriers (2012)

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79 APPENDIX A Survey Form Text [Actual survey was administered online.] MANAGER SURVEY: STUDY ON SAFETY MANAGEMENT IN SMALL MOTOR CARRIERS Transportation Research Board CTBSSP Synthesis Study MC-25 Dear Motor Carrier Owner/Manager, The Transportation Research Board (TRB) is conducting a synthesis study on Safety Management in Small Motor Carriers. This is being done under the TRB Commercial Truck and Bus Safety Synthesis Program (CTBSSP). The project seeks to identify useful practices for safety management in small companies and help small companies improve their safety performance. This survey is being sent to trucking and bus company owners/managers. It will take about 20 minutes to complete. Your participation is greatly appreciated, and we hope you will find the questions to be interesting. Participation in the survey is voluntary . All answers are confidentia l and will be aggregated with other responses in the reporting. No survey comments or other responses will be attributed to an individual. Answer only those questions you wish to answer. If you have any questions or wish to provide additional information or materials, please contact the study manager at tbsafety@aol.com. Importance of Various Safety Management Problems Items 1–14 present various safety management problems you may face. Rate the importance of each problem. Extremely important items are those with the strongest relation to crash risk, and requiring your greatest attention. If you have no opinion, leave it blank and move on to the next question. Safety Problem: Not Important Somewhat Important Important Very Important Extremely Important (1) Lack of basic driving skills among your drivers 1 2 3 4 5 (2) At-risk driving behaviors (e.g., speeding, tailgating ) 1 2 3 4 5 (3) Driver fatigue/drowsiness 1 2 3 4 5 (4) Driver health, wellness, and nutrition problems 1 2 3 4 5 (5) Driver personal, family, and financial problems 1 2 3 4 5 (6) Recruiting and selecting good drivers 1 2 3 4 5 (7) Assessing driver on-road safety (i.e., knowing how safe your drivers are) 1 2 3 4 5 (8) Correctly rewarding good driver behaviors and disciplining bad behavior s 1 2 3 4 5 (9) Driver turnover resulting in an unstable workforce 1 2 3 4 5 (10) Delays associated with loading and unloading cargo 1 2 3 4 5 (11) Non-driving injuries and other accidents (e.g., slips and falls, cargo-related) 1 2 3 4 5

80 (13) Lack of training materials (or easy access to them) or drivers 1 2 3 4 5 (14) Lack of training materials (or easy access to them) for yourself as a manager 1 2 3 4 5 CSA (Compliance, Safety, Accountability) Compliance Challenges (15) In the CSA, there are seven Behavior Analysis and Safety Improvement Categories (BASICs). Which two BASIC are are the biggest compliance challenges for your company. In other words, the areas where compliance is most difficult? If you are not sure, leave the answer blank. a) UNSAFE DRIVING—speeding, reckless driving, improper lane change, inattention b) FATIGUED DRIVING—HOS, logbook violations c) DRIVER FITNESS—missing CDLs, medical qualifications d) ALCOHOL, DRUGS—impairment by alcohol, drugs, or medications e) VEHICLE MAINTENANCE—failure to make repairs; adjust brakes, etc. f) CARGO SECUREMENT—shifting, spilled, dropped cargo, size-weight violations, unsafe hazmat handling g) CRASH HISTORY—frequency, severity of DOT-defined crashes. (16) Which two BASIC areas are the smallest compliance challenges for your company. In other words, the areas where compliance is easiest? a) UNSAFE DRIVING—speeding, reckless driving, improper lane change, inattention b) FATIGUED DRIVING—HOS, logbook violations c) DRIVER FITNESS—missing CDLs, medical qualifications d) ALCOHOL, DRUGS—impairment by alcohol, illegal drugs, prescription, or over-the-counter medications e) VEHICLE MAINTENANCE—failure to make repairs; brakes, lights, other mechanical defects f) CARGO SECUREMENT—shifting, spilled, dropped cargo, size-weight violations, unsafe hazmat handling g) CRASH HISTORY—frequency, severity of DOT-defined crashes. Which Operational Practices Do You Regularly Use? For each of the operational practices below, please indicate yes or no whether your organization uses the practice. If yes, rate its overall safety effectiveness using the 1–5 scale provided. If no, leave the ratings blank. Carrier Practices: Do you regularly use? If “Yes,” please rate safety effectiveness: Highly Ineffective Ineffective Not Sure/ Neutral Effective Highly Effective (17) Conduct road and range driving tests with all driver applicants Yes No 1 2 3 4 5 (18) Have driver applicants complete questionnaire on attitudes, personality, or driving behaviors Yes No 1 2 3 4 5 (19) Conduct regularly scheduled safety meetings with drivers Yes No 1 2 3 4 5 (20) Give drivers bonuses or other rewards for safe driving Yes No 1 2 3 4 5 (21) Use online web-based training programs for drivers, other employees, or yourself Yes No 1 2 3 4 5 (22) Use training media in-house (e.g., DVDs, PowerPoint presentations) Yes No 1 2 3 4 5 (23) Use Electronic Onboard Recorders (EOBRs ) Yes No 1 2 3 4 5 (12) Not enough management time to adequately address all safety problems and issues 1 2 3 4 5

81 (24) Monitor individual driver fuel economy Yes No 1 2 3 4 5 (25) Purchase advanced vehicle safety systems (forward collision warning, lane departure warning, electronic stability control, onboard computers to monitor driving, etc.) Yes No 1 2 3 4 5 (26) Maintain preventive maintenance (PM) schedule and record for each vehicle Yes No 1 2 3 4 5 (27) Charge extra fees to customers for excessive loading/unloading delays Yes No 1 2 3 4 5 (28) Reimburse toll charges to drivers and/or provide ”EZ Pass” transponders Yes No 1 2 3 4 5 (29) Track overall company safety statistics (e.g., crash and violation rates, financial losses from crashes) Yes No 1 2 3 4 5 (30) Participate in formal or informal meetings with your peers; e.g., truck or bus association meetings or other gatherings Yes No 1 2 3 4 5 Important Areas of Safety Management (31) All areas of carrier safety management are important, but some may be more important than others. Pick up to three (3) of the following carrier safety management areas which, in your opinion, have the greatest effect on carrier safety outcomes (i.e., crashes, incidents, and violations). (a) Driver selection and hiring (b) Driver training, orientation, and communications (e.g., safety meetings) (c) Driver evaluation (i.e., violation and incident tracking, ride-alongs, covert observations of driving, onboard computer monitoring) (d) Driver performance consequences; i.e., rewards and discipline (e) Driver scheduling and dispatching practices (f) Trip planning, routing, and navigation (g) Loading, cargo securement, unloading, and dock/yard practices (h) Vehicle safety equipment (e.g., technologies such as collision avoidance systems) (i) Vehicle preventive maintenance (j) Monitoring carrier CSA scores and other safety performance measures (32) Although all carrier safety management areas can be important, some may be less important than others. Pick up to three (3) of the following carrier safety management areas which, in your opinion, have the least effect on carrier safety outcomes (i.e., crashes, incidents, and violations). (a) Driver selection and hiring (b) Driver training, orientation, and communications (e.g., safety meetings) (c) Driver evaluation (i.e., violation and incident tracking, ride-alongs, covert observations of driving, onboard computer monitoring) (d) Driver performance consequences; i.e., rewards and discipline (e) Driver scheduling and dispatching practices

82 (33) Other comments regarding safety management in small carriers: Information about You and Your Fleet (34) Which best describes you and your company? (a) Solo owner–operator (i.e., you are the only driver) (b) Driver (drives 50% or more of the time), but also operates other vehicles and employs other drivers (c) Company owner/manager. Drives less than 50% of the time. Performs most management and supervision tasks, including safety and compliance (d) Owner/manager of company large enough to have multiple managers, including a designated manager of safety and/or compliance (e) Other: ______________________________________________. (35) How many NON-DRIVER employees do you have? Do not count yourself. (a) 0 (b) 1 (c) 2 (d) 3 (e) 4 or more (36) Number of years you have been a carrier owner/manager: ___________ (37) Your total years experience in commercial truck/bus operations: _____________ (38) Number of power units in your fleet: _________ (39) Circle the operation type that best characterizes your fleet: (a) Truck for hire: long haul/truckload, national (b) Truck for hire: long-haul/truckload, regional (c) Truck for hire: local/short haul (most trips <100 miles) (d) Truck private industry: long haul, national or regional (e) Truck private: local/short haul (most trips <100 miles) (f) Passenger carrier: scheduled service (g) Passenger carrier: charter (h) Other: ____________________________ (40) Provide your e-mail address if you would like to receive pdfs of the project report and presentation in early 2011. This information will be used for no other purpose. ___________________________________________________________ (41) A few survey respondents will be asked to participate in a follow-up phone interview to discuss innovative fleet safety practices. Responses will be confidential; interviewees or carriers will not be identified unless desired. You would be paid $50 for a 45-minute interview, scheduled at your convenience. If you are potentially interested, please provide your name, e-mail address, and daytime phone: ____________________________________________________________. Thank you for completing this survey! [Questions or additional comments? E-mail the project manager at tbsafety@aol.com] (f) Trip planning, routing, and navigation (g) Loading, cargo securement, unloading, and dock/yard practices (h) Vehicle safety equipment (e.g., technologies such as collision avoidance systems) (i) Vehicle preventive maintenance (j) Monitoring carrier CSA scores and other safety performance measures