Statistics are all around us. From sports stats to mathematical stats, to health & safety stats, and more, there’s no way to avoid the world of permutations and combinations that make up a significant part of our daily lives. The same is true in the trucking industry. Statistics are tallied and calculated in different fields and used by various parties in the trucking industry to justify and rationalize almost any position.
Statistics either lead or lag, meaning they either are used proactively to implement decisions and processes, or they are used in a reactionary method after an event. Both are necessary, and you cannot tell a full story without all the details that both leading and lagging statistical indicators provide.
On November 19th, 2024, the Commercial Vehicle Safety Alliance (CVSA) released the results of their annual Operation: Safe Driver awareness campaign. Some of the numbers released included the following:
Total vehicles pulled over in Canada & US (combined, both commercial and passenger): 11050
Total tickets issued: 2712 / Warnings issued: 3228
Warnings (commercial drivers only): 2439 / Tickets (commercial drivers only): 1583
Looking at these numbers, we’re seeing that commercial driver warnings accounted for 75% of the total number of warnings and tickets accounted for 58% of the total number of tickets/citations. Given the adage that commercial drivers are encouraged to be better trained and more competent behind the wheel of their vehicle, this indicator could represent that despite best intentions, industry still has a long way to go in shoring up compliance and transforming their safety culture where there is no longer a need to cut corners and sacrifice one’s integrity for expediency.
While not all data on the types of violations were available, the 2024 Operation Safe Driver’s focus was on reckless/careless/dangerous driving. Thankfully, this statistic was low with only 31 citations given to drivers out of the total number provided. However, 31 is still 31 too many. The ability to operate a vehicle on a public highway is a privilege, not a right. Reckless driving is indicative of a willfulness to disregard safety. It’s a conscious choice, as well as a selfish one. There’s no job out there worth risking one’s life or the life of others. While the number of violations was small, the potential for it becoming more serious exists and it should be a canary in the coal mine moment for everybody in the trucking industry.
Three other incidents were reported during Operation Safe Driver related back to reckless and careless driving included the following:
- Speeding (1221 warnings with 502 tickets/citations issued to commercial drivers)
- No Seat Belt (328 warning sand 473 tickets/citations issued to commercial drivers)
- Distracted Driving aka texting or using a handheld device (158 warnings and 169 tickets/citations issued to commercial drivers)
These are among some of the most rudimentary rules of the road, and yet the fact that these violations exist should also be alarming to many. When one hires a commercial driver, one expects that this driver is competent enough to operate the vehicle, and that they’ve passed the prescribed requirements to hold the necessary class of license. However, how many of them are being tested by their own companies once hired? How many are receiving competency reviews or driver assessments on a regular basis? Can a trucking company indicate their due diligence when these types of statistics exist? There are some who can. There are some who cannot. It’s easy to point fingers and say that it’s someone else’s problem. It takes real leadership to take those lagging indicators and make them your own, even if they’re not. Why? Because when one chooses to lead and take ownership in a situation, it sets a paradigm and mindset for others to adopt and emulate. These deficiencies, as it pertains to driver performance, are easily managed by paying closer attention to those who drive for you. They’re easily managed by demanding better of oneself and one’s industry. They’re easily managed when you put your foot down and say, “no more”.
The fascinating thing about leading and lagging indicators is that they’re continuously in motion. A leading indicator can become a lagging one while a lagging one can become a future leading one. The role they perform is dependent on the attitude and mindset of the individual or company evaluating them. Indicators tell a story and have reasonable success in predicting future behavior. The opportunity before industry is to decide what story they want to tell. To lead or to lag; that is the question that presents itself.
JEREMY WOOLWARD, NHSA, CTSP
FLEET SAFETY MANGAER
CALGARY, ALBERTA, CANADA