Opinion: Just Who Is Qualifying Whom?
By Larry Kerr
President
EBE Technologies
This Opinion piece appears in the April 30 print edition of Transport Topics. Click here to subscribe today.
Carriers have many reasons for maintaining good scores on the new Compliance, Safety, Accountability program introduced by the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration.
First and foremost, CSA scores reflect a carrier’s safety factor, with poor scores impeding its ability to:
• Attract the most profitable loads from shippers and logistics providers.
• Keep freight coming and the bottom line growing.
• Avoid being shut down by FMCSA.
• Recruit and retain the kind of drivers who keep those CSA scores looking good.
That last item is something many carriers haven’t realized yet — the connection between scoring well on CSA and attracting high-quality drivers.
Although most trucking companies have figured out that having bad drivers can drag their scores into the unacceptable zone, many haven’t realized that the opposite is also true: The best drivers are learning — sometimes the hard way — that their own safety records are directly affected by the safety practices of the company employing them. As a result, good drivers aren’t pawns anymore — they’re players who can pick and choose among carriers.
The stakes are high. Through no fault of their own, drivers for carriers with high CSA percentiles risk collecting points on their own records simply because a carrier is lax about maintaining vehicle standards, adhering to a safety plan, abiding by hours-of-service regulations or investing in systems that manage driver compliance, such as electronic onboard recorders (EOBRs).
The return of the driver shortage means the men and women behind the wheel are beginning to avoid the less-stable carriers, and trucking operations that dismiss this effect’s importance may be losing opportunities, not just for hiring new drivers but even retaining the best drivers they already have.
Here’s the way things will work when CSA settles in. A driver who considers switching carriers will evaluate the new company’s CSA score and assess what any potential additional points would mean in terms of future employment.
Professional drivers looking for job security and good working conditions will be more inclined to drive for a carrier that maintains higher standards and attracts profitable freight from leading shippers. More quality loads mean more miles driven.
Meanwhile, with today’s high demand for quality drivers putting the good ones literally in the “driver’s seat,” carriers will scramble to figure out the best way to reach them and entice them to come on board.
Social media, industry websites, job fairs, job boards and referrals are all great tools for getting the most sought-after drivers to notice you. And once you have a top driver’s attention, don’t be shy: Showcase your company’s good CSA scores as a valuable asset.
Another reason drivers are paying considerable attention to carriers’ CSA scores is FMCSA’s Pre-Employment Screening Program (PSP) — and carriers themselves are placing more emphasis on this report.
However, the PSP report must be assessed with some amount of subjectivity.
Consider this scenario: While a driver looks good on paper because his record includes very few violations or incidents, it may just mean he hasn’t been getting enough miles; i.e., you’re less likely to have a bad driving report if you rarely drive. Your great recruit may be a disaster once he’s finally out on the road.
Another scenario suggests just the opposite: A driver with a high number of “Fatigue” or “Vehicle Maintenance” violations is perceived as a bad candidate, but those two CSA Behavior Analysis and Safety Improvement Categories, or BASICs, could be the result of a previous employer’s disregard for HOS regulations or fleet maintenance and nothing at all to do with the driver’s skills.
The most recent recession saw driver turnover sink to record lows, and many carriers shut down their driver training programs. Today, demand is high again, but the roller-coaster economy reminds drivers that a return to high unemployment is not unimaginable, and their family’s economic health may depend on signing with the right carrier. As the CSA program matures against that background, its role as a deciding actor in carrier selection by shippers and drivers alike will become even stronger.
Adding CSA to freight rates as a criterion for carrier selection will allow carriers that perform well within CSA’s guidelines to have a greater probability of maintaining fleet capacity with higher freight rates. Conversely, fleets that don’t perform well within CSA’s parameters will have less access to the better shippers, be forced to compete for second-tier freight at even lower margins and have to make do with drivers with uninspiring CSA scores.
To get the best drivers onboard, carriers must develop creative recruiting efforts, have a strong value proposition wrapped around CSA compliance and be positioned to move the best drivers through the qualification process as quickly and efficiently as possible — without compromising standards.
And finally, once the drivers have been hired, the carrier must live up to its commitments with strong retention programs. As with any initiative to influence another person’s actions, you can go a long, long way by providing education, resources and a consistent message.
EBE Technologies, East Moline, Ill., provides integrated document and content management, workflow and business process automation solutions for the transportation and logistics industry.
