Some Important Things that Trucking Companies Should Know About Runaway Juries and ‘Nuclear Verdicts' Part 3 of 3

Get Your House in Order

The first step in keeping the cost of risk down is to avoid claims to begin with, with no exceptions. The first thing is to join either your applicable state association or the NorthAmerican Transportation Association. Just compare the NTA enrollment fees and the benefits to your own state’s organization to see which is better.

I don’t want to hear that “I don’t need to join an association” because it’s nearly impossible to keep up with the everchanging laws and regulations because having employees and/or independent contractors is like day and night, totally different.

NorthAmerican Transportation Association is known for its safety culture. The President, Wayne Schooling, came from the California Trucking Association’s Safety Department.

Wayne has been in the transportation business since 1962, over the years he has accumulated 22 various awards and honors, been involved with 6 professional affiliations, writes for 5 publications, has spoken at 5 lectures, has 3 professional diplomas, 1 certificated US DOT course, 4 certificated courses from the California Trucking Association.

He was invited by the FMCSA to attend the drug and alcohol training course with other agents when the drug regulations came into play around 1989. He was on the Board of Directors for the Drug and Alcohol Testing Industry Association.

NorthAmerican Transportation Association can help you upgrade your company policy. They offer a professionally written policy by a prominent law firm in Georgia. This is the beginning of your company safety culture. You will learn the top five (5) DOT fixes.

Now you need a software program to do your driver files and maintenance files. NTA endorses our PassBook Software, which will make your company look very professional. Data entry is so easy a 12-year-old can do it.

All of your forms will have your company name and address etc. on them. If any item such as a driver’s license, medical card, etc. expires or is near expiration, the program will send an email to those person(s) designated and will also give you a visual warning when you sign on.

Next, let’s talk about with background checks. There is one on the market that NTA offers that background check companies use on other trucking companies. NTA endorses IntelliCorp. Be smart, bypass the middleman and go direct. NTA has negotiated 5 different check for about $20.00. All activation fees and monthly fees will be waived upon NTA registration.

Next, who is reviewing your drivers and/or independent contractors MVRs on a daily basis? Yes, I said Daily. There are some very good programs on the market that will do this. Some are so good that you will know the violation before it hits their driving record. In this way, you can spot a bad driver before he has a major accident. NTA can help you come up with the most cost-effective program that meets your budget.

And speaking of accidents, this is the most crucial time you need information as it happens. Once again, there are some very cost-effective programs that will tell you the exact location, time and weather conditions as soon as the driver clicks on the app on his phone. NTA endorses Accident Plan as it is very cost-effective app with no long-term contracts. The cost is less than one cup of coffee at Starbucks per month or about $0.16 cents a day.

What I like about this particular app is that it actually guides the very shook-up and nervous driver through a set of directions to obtain a complete accident report while still at the scene.

Next, are you using a Electronic Logging Device. NTA Endorses KeepTruckin. We have had hundreds of companies use this device with ease. But best of all KeepTruckin’s new program called “Drive” a risk score tool and “Safety Hub” also a new tool to identify risk and prevent accident, now gives fleets an overall view of their drivers’ safety performance using telematics data and AI-insights from the company’s Smart Dashcam, while also centralizing the data in one place.

What I like about KeepTruckin’s Drive it amasses tens of millions of data points produced every day from KeepTruckin’s network of over 350,000 drivers. By calculating variables such as driver behavior, road conditions, vehicle type, location, weather, and more, the system creates insights into driver safety.

Last but not least, if you are utilizing Independent Contractors, you should make sure they have their own Occupational Accident policy in their name and NOT in the company’s name. This helps facilitate the fact they are truly in business for themselves. NorthAmerican Transportation Association endorses Great American Insurance Co through its NTA Administrative Services Division. 

Over the years, NTA has insured thousands of independent contractors all across the United States in one of the most cost-effective month-to-month coverage you can find.

Don’t forget every state has three divisions; work comp, wage and hour, and unemployment. Even though they are all in the same State sometime they do not always have the same guidelines in treating independent contractors. NTA will make sure that you are aware of all the regulations regarding independent contractors in your applicable state as well as at the federal level.

Don’t make the mistake of misclassifying your drivers, NTA can help.

Remember, if you do not have your house in order, they’re going to come after you. It all depends on the preventions and what written safety practices you have within your company.

“Even if the trucking company wasn’t liable in any way, the attorneys are convincing the jury that the motor carrier doesn’t care about the public.”