
There are a number of best practices in which trucking companies should be engaging in an effort to meet their legal obligations from a carrier safety perspective.
Having these types of practices in place will be helpful to avoid incidents that could result in increases to a carrier’s overall violation rate and potential safety rating downgradings.

In the event a carrier is at risk of having their safety fitness certificate suspended or cancelled, showing transport regulators that the company has these types of practices in place can also assist with building a defence to demonstrate that the trucking company takes safety very seriously.
Driver vetting
When hiring drivers, fleet operators should always request a copy of the prospective driver’s “driver abstract” and review it to determine if they have a clean driving record, and if they do not, then to consider the nature of past actions and incidents.
Once hired, in addition to checking the validity of drivers’ licences and medical certificates, trucking companies should also be monitoring their drivers’ abstracts more regularly (at least on an annual basis, if not more frequently) to highlight any changes to driving records as well as behavioral trends.
Driver training
At the time of onboarding, companies should also be verifying that new drivers have received proper training prior to starting to provide services. Ideally, this training would include classroom and on-road training. Additionally, drivers should be subject to annual “refresher” training.
The company may also need to consider whether any type of specific re-training and/or coaching is necessary in the event that that a particular driver is subject to an infraction, whether related to an accident, a vehicle defect, or some other kind of incident. Copies of any prior training, training conducted during onboarding, and any annual or incident-related training/coaching records should be kept in the driver’s file, along with their contract and any other applicable documents.
Regularly scheduled safety meetings
Trucking companies should be having safety meetings on a regular basis (ideally at least monthly) with their drivers to discuss any particular safety issues that have occurred in the prior month and how to avoid those issues.
These meetings can be used as an opportunity to discuss carrier safety more generally, new policies to be implemented by the company, particular safety trends noted on the company’s safety fitness certificate (e.g. CVOR) abstract reviews, and also to celebrate positive actions and behaviors. Companies should be keeping track of attendance at these meetings and keeping records of attendance and topics discussed.
Safety fitness certificate abstract/profile reviews
The company’s safety team should be reviewing the safety fitness certificate abstract/profile of the company on a quarterly basis, if not more regularly.
More frequent reviews may be particularly necessary if a carrier’s overall violation rate has been increasing or if there has been a upward trend in the number of infractions. This review should be similar to the review of the driver abstract, except that the safety team should be looking at the fleet’s operations as a whole. The review should involve considering what infractions have occurred, whether there are any trends in the types of infractions that suggest a broader issue that may need to be addressed with drivers, and comparing violation rates to the prior rates and noting any changes.
This review will assist in determining topics for future safety meetings, whether a particular type of refresher training is needed for drivers, whether any changes to business practices are required, and whether any incidents indicate a need for a particular driver to receive retraining, coaching, and/or discipline in accordance with the company’s progressive discipline policy. Copies of the abstracts/profile, and any relevant determinations should be kept on file as evidence that these steps have been taken.
Incident reporting
The company should have a policy that requires drivers to report any infractions and that sets out the investigation steps to be taken by the company. Depending on the severity and frequency of incidents, the company will need to determine what type of disciplinary action, if any, is needed.
The nature of the incident may warrant a warning, re-training, coaching, or termination, but as discussed above, these types of steps should be set out in a progressive discipline policy so that drivers know what to expect. The employment contract or independent contractor agreement with the driver may also impact what steps are taken by the company and should also be considered. A record of the results of the investigation and any actions taken should be kept on file.
Vehicle maintenance
Trucking companies should ensure that they have a vehicle maintenance policy in place that clearly sets out maintenance timing and the roles of the safety team in ensuring that maintenance is completed. Similarly, in the event a repair is needed, the company should have measures in place to ensure that someone is responsible for ensuring that the repair occurs. Documentation should be kept on file for each vehicle demonstrating when maintenance and repairs have been reported and addressed.
Carrier safety plan
Trucking companies should ensure that all of the practices and procedures discussed above are set out in a written policy document (or combination of documents), forming the company’s carrier safety plan. Some provinces require that the plan is in writing while in other provinces, having a written plan is prudent and generally considered best practice by the applicable provincial regulator. Companies should also ensure that drivers and applicable company personnel are made aware of these policies and procedures, and are provided training to ensure proper implementation.
These are just some examples of best practices that trucking companies can take to help ensure compliance with carrier safety requirements, to build a due diligence defence and to reduce the risk of having their safety rating downgraded.
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