The Private Motor Truck Council of Canada and Aviva Canada announced awards for private fleet safety during the PMTC’s annual conference on June 9th of 2022 in Niagara Falls, On.
The competition is open to all Canadian private carriers, and membership in the PMTC is not a requirement. Judging is conducted by an independent panel and follows established criteria with a focus on the company’s overall safety regime and it’s over the road record.
The 2022 award winners were:
Mid-Sized Fleet, under 75 Power Units: John Deere Canada ULC.
Large Fleet, 75 and over Power Units: Walmart Canada ULC
Most Improved Fleet, Giant Tiger Wholesale
“The members of the PMTC appreciate the support of Aviva for these private fleet safety awards. The awards are a tangible sign of the commitment of Aviva and the PMTC to truck safety, a commitment that has been part of the PMTC’s mandate since our inception in 1977.
“The process of applying for one of these awards provides a checklist for fleet managers to see what the best in class fleets are doing to maintain their safety programs. Even if you do not believe you will win an award, there is an immense benefit to going through the process of entering”, said PMTC President Mike Millian.
“Along with Aviva, we at the PMTC congratulate the management and drivers of these fleets,” Millian went on to say. “The efforts of everyone involved with these fleets, and many others in the PMTC membership, points to their desire to keep road safety foremost in their operations. All of the 2022 award winners and applicants deserve our congratulations.”
Millian also expressed the PMTC’s appreciation to Aviva for making these awards possible, saying that “Aviva is an example of a company that promotes and supports the safe operation of truck fleets – we, along with the trucking community, appreciate their involvement and support.”
Additional information on award winners follows.
John Deere Canada ULC has operated its private fleet in Canada for 45 years. It consists of 56 power units and 190 trailers running 11.5 million kilometers in 2021.
The fleet distributes agricultural parts throughout Canada and the United States. It is C-TPAT, CSA, and FAST approved.
The fleet personnel includes 82 employees, of which 75 are drivers supplied by CPC Logistics Canada. As a 9-time winner of the Private Fleet Safety award, John Deere has demonstrated a strong commitment to safety in its operations.
The company has a written safety policy that is updated annually. Prior experience, education, and reference checks all factor into the hiring process.
Potential new hires for driving positions are preferred to have 3 years of verifiable driving experience, are required to submit current driver and CVOR abstracts, undergo a pre-employment medical, drug and alcohol screening, and must pass a written and road test.
New hires receive 2 days of in-house training on company procedures, product handling, and safety practices. Drivers are trained and certified on TDG, HOS, CDA, CTPAT and Load Securement regulations and participate in quarterly safety meetings. John Deere also uses Electronic Logs, and utilizes EOBR’s to monitor its driver’s compliance with speed limits.
John Deere conducts a full investigation into every incident involving the fleet, including written reports, interviews, and remedial training where required.
Monthly supervisory and management safety meetings are held, and quarterly driver meetings.
The company also offers a broad-based safety related awards program for the drivers, which includes tracking performance on HOS, fuel consumption, over speed, sudden stops and on time performance, which can result in performance bonuses. This program has been strongly embraced by the drivers and resulted in significant performance improvements.
All of this effort pays dividends as the John Deere fleet has a CVOR violation rate of only 3.72% and an accident/incident ratio of 1.04 per 1 million km’s.
Walmart Canada ULC has operated its private fleet in Canada for 7 years. The Fleet consists of 711 fleet related personnel, including over 500 professional drivers. The fleet consists of 400 tractors and 4,100 trailers, in 2021 they operated 42.6 million kilometers.
Selection of new drivers for Wal-Mart consists of a review of their application, a minimum 2 years CMV driving experience, no more than 2 moving violations on their abstract with in the last 2 years, and no dangerous driving, DUI or similar convictions in the last 5 years. If the application documentation is satisfactory, an interview is scheduled, followed by a road test. If the candidate successfully passes the interview and road test, references and background checks are requested, and the candidate is provided a conditional letter of employment & scheduled for Drug & Alcohol testing.
New hires attend a 2 day orientation that includes Health & Safety Policies, Canada Labour Code part 2, Defensive Driving, Winter driving, Vehicle inspections, Hours of service, Smith System, accident reporting, workers’ rights, right to refuse unsafe work, among others. Annual refresher training is conducted for both defensive driving & winter driving, as well as violence in the workplace.
Supervisors do 30-60 & 90 day check ins with drivers as well as annual meetings.
Wal-Mart has a safety bonus program that awards drivers weekly with a cash bonus on their pay.
All incidents are reported through dispatch and the safety team. All are investigated by the safety team. If the driver is found to be at fault, the driver will lose their safety bonus and accountability is applied in accordance with the progressive discipline policy. Retraining based on the investigation results will occur before the driver goes back on the road.
Wal-Mart currently has an impressive CVOR violation rate of 8.38% & an accident incident ratio of .84 per million km’s.
Giant Tiger Wholesale has operated its private fleet in Canada for 35 years. Giant Tigers team consists of 170 fleet related employees, of which 129 are drivers. The Fleet consists of 115 Tractors, 5 straight trucks, 3 light commercial vehicles and 628 trailers, and operated 17.2 million km’s in 2021.
Giant Tiger is a Canadian owned discount store that was opened in 1961, and now has over 260 locations and 10,000 team members across Canada, with its fleet in operation since 1987.
Giant Tiger has a safety policy that is reviewed annually, or sooner if new locations open or have changes. New drivers must be a minimum 25 years of age, submit their drivers abstract as well as their commercial vehicle abstract, and have no more than 2 demerit points to be considered for hire. Criminal record and reference checks are also done, as well as a three hour road test. Once hired, each driver goes through a minimum 50 hour on-boarding program, which is extended if the driver trainer feels it is required. Training includes company policy, health & safety, product handling, defensive driving, sleep management & electric pallet jack. Each driver must also pass self-assessment at the beginning of each shift as per the “Fit for Work policy”. The fleet is equipped with telematics on all trucks that track hours of service, speed, sudden stops and fuel mileage. Carriers Edge modules are used for annual refresher training. Annual ride alongs are completed with all drivers with Giant Tigers in house trainers.
All incidents are reviewed by a Joint Health and Safety Committee as well as an incident review team comprised of the hiring manager, safety manager, fleet manager & a senior driver. If an incident is found to be at fault, in class and in cab training is conducted.
To bring the program all together, bi-annual driver safety meetings are held with all incidents being reviewed that have occurred since the previous meeting. The team has a million mile club that showcases all drivers in the club in their lounges across the country. In addition, drivers receive a bonus for all clean level one, two or three inspection.
Giant Tigers level of commitment clearly is getting results, as their accident to incident ratio in 2021 was .40 per 1 million km’s, and their CVOR has improved steadily from 29.84% in 2019, to 19.70% in 2020 and 13.93% in 2021.
