Fontana: Improve your fleet's safety culture in 2025

I write a lot about safety. That’s because I am passionate about making the trucking industry as safe as possible and will take every opportunity to talk about the steps we can take to improve our safety record.

I was not happy to learn, according to data from the National Safety Council, that fatalities involving “large trucks” are up. Truck crashes with fatalities increased to 5,837 (1.8%) from 2021 to 2022 (the latest data available). The number has been trending up; accidents with fatalities are up 49% in the last decade.

Most accidents that involved injuries or fatalities took place in rural areas on roads that were not interstates. I am not sure why that is. Perhaps drivers tend to be more focused when driving on interstates that have a higher volume of traffic.

Regardless of the reason for the accidents, the numbers remind us that we need to reinforce our driver safety efforts continually. With the new year approaching, now is a good time to review your new driver safety training as well as the ongoing safety training you do for your drivers. Does your training need to be upgraded? Are you enforcing safety violations? Are you celebrating safety milestones?

See also: Data reveals a rising trend in fatal accidents involving trucks

You should have both a seat belt policy and a distracted driving policy, both of which should have consequences for drivers who fail to adhere to the guidelines. And those consequences must be enforced by driver managers and fleet managers.

We are lucky to have technology that allows us to track things like fast acceleration, hard braking, and speeding. In some cases, those incidents indicate that a driver is operating the vehicle unsafely. It is important to remember, however, that drivers sometimes have to brake hard to avoid hitting a passenger car that did not leave enough room between the car and the truck when it changed lanes.

Review defensive driving techniques with drivers so they can avoid as many of these incidents as possible. Remember the saying, “The best offense is a good defense.” In other words, drivers should be active in driving safely rather than simply reacting to conditions around them. Focus on teaching defensive driving techniques.

I am not letting passenger car drivers off the hook regarding safety, either. They, too, need to wear their seatbelts, put their cell phones down, pay attention to traffic conditions, and realize that a truck needs more room to stop than a car does. We need to remind them to be mindful of that when they are changing lanes.

I realize that despite our best efforts, accidents will happen. However, each of us can do our part to reverse the upward trend of truck-involved fatal accidents.