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Category Archives: Customer Stories
What’s a Clean Inspection Worth?
So…You read the title. How much is a clean inspection worth? What do you think? Some motor carriers have driver incentive programs: Get $50 for each clean inspection, for example. That is certainly one way to measure it. I am talking about something else though. Specifically, what is the impact of a clean inspection under CSA?
Vigillo has been helping transportation professionals better understand CSA since the first methodology was published in 2010. I’ll tell you some of the misconceptions I’ve heard. More importantly, let’s really unravel it. Let’s dig deep and lay out exactly what the effect (or non-effect in some cases) that a zero-defect inspection has on a motor carrier’s CSA score. The answers may surprise you. Read more
Ostrich or Safety Director?
We’ve all heard how having high CSA scores is a bad thing: loss of clients, increased insurance rates, potential for good drivers to leave, increased scrutiny by the FMCSA, blah blah blah.
But what if you’re okay? What if none of your CSA scores are currently over the intervention threshold? What do you have to worry about then? Can’t I just stick my head in the sand and ignore CSA? It can’t hurt me!
Update: Driver Mike Schiotis – 2011 North America Highway Hero
You may have seen the original story regarding Panther’s driver Mike Schiotis. I wrote a blog post about it previously here. Now he wins Driver of the year. The other 3 finalists stories are mentioned too. Congratulations to Mike and these other fine citizens of the road! Read the Truckinginfo.com article about this latest news by clicking the link below:
http://truckinginfo.com/news/news-detail.asp?news_id=76459&news_category_id=9
There’s Lies, Damned Lies, and Statistics
One sure fire way to lower your CSA scores in a particular BASIC would be to avoid inspections, thus avoiding violations. Seems like a sound operating premise to me…….
Well, let me tell you a little tale about midwest carrier who adopted that approach, executed on that approach, and was rewarded with a nice yellow triangle on their public-facing SMS site.
This story illustrates, perhaps to the extreme, that gremlins are still lurking within the CSA Methodology and they’re nasty little buggers.
The issue in this case occurred in the Fatigued Driving BASIC. The carrier was over threshold in September and October of 2011. In December of 2011 they fell under threshold and appeared to be headed in right direction. But not so fast……..
Does your dog bite, Monsieur?
Here at Vigillo, we get a lot of questions about the story that lurks in a carrier’s CSA data. Recently, one of our customers asked about the connection between OOS Driver Violations and high Fatigue BASIC percentile scores. His hypothesis was that carriers with high OOS ratios (driver OOS Violations as a % of all driver Inspections) would likely have higher Fatigue BASIC scores. In other words, his OOS violations were biting him. This very smart fellow thought that he might focus on OOS violations as a lever to drive down his Fatigue BASIC score. I found this line of reasoning interesting, so had a look at the data on the 3/4 million carriers we monitor. Read more
Challenges Still Ahead in 2012
Now that CSA has been around for a year, we’ve had time to gather stories about how CSA has affected fleets. Read more
The Best of the Best
Another great day in Packer Nation Thursday! While the NFL lockout has us football fans wondering when the season will start, a gleeful night – or blingful night took place in Green Bay WI last night.
Our Super Bowl Champion Green Bay Packers received their rings in a private team ceremony Thursday. While everyone can say their team is the best, Green Bay Packer Fans currently can prove it with the Super Bowl XLV Title forever ours. So for now our joy can again come to the forefront as we wait for the lockout to be settled. We celebrate as Boston joins this pinnacle of team joy as their Stanley Cup Champion Bruins hoist the Cup! Nice run!
Who are your Champions? Who are the best of the best in your world? [Some military folks come to mind… Navy Seals, Top Gun Pilots, Delta Force, Rangers…thank you all!] Read more
Welcome Pam Jones!
Three Notable Women Make Career Changes
And we aren’t speaking of Mmes. Winfrey, Vieira, and Couric. Three more notable women have also made life changing career moves with all roads leading to Vigillo. Marissa Hirt’s promotion to the inside sales role opened the door for Katie Stuvland to pick up where Marissa left off. Recently, I also joined the Vigillo Sales Team.
I have spent my professional career in the trucking regulatory arena. I was indoctrinated into trucking with fast food distribution trucking carriers and most recently supported various trucking company through my compliance assistance work at HNI. I have now joined Vigillo as the sole Vigillo contact in the east. I thank all the attendees at the recent TCA Conference in chilly Murfreesboro TN for the warm welcome.
In addition to trucking company support, I have been & will continue to be heavily involved in industry great programs like…. the WI Motor Carrier Association’s safety council and the WI Special Olympics Truck Convoy on Sept 17 (someone has to drive the car while the photographer gets that action shot while we travel up Hwy 41!).
Please be patient if the killer dogs are playing security guard in the background when we talk. I’ll do my best to contain them…. the doggy day care might have to be considered.
I can’t wait to start working together.
WMCA Safety Council: http://witruck.org/safety_programs.html
Sp Oly Convoy: http://www.specialolympicswisconsin.org/torch_convoy.asp
Contact Info: Pam Jones, Regional Account Manager,
630 NW 10th Ave. | Portland | Oregon | 97209
p. 855.614.8089 | f. 503.218.9004
Red Flags: What You Need To Know
I don’t need to tell you what a red flag is, right? You already know. Somebody mentions “that’s a real red flag right there” and what do you picture? I’ll bet it is a vivid image of something: a terrible decision, someone getting yelled at or fired, or – worst case – property destroyed and people losing their lives.
Well, the FMCSA has red flags, too. More specifically – the FMCSA has a specific list of twelve Red Flag Violations. Walk with me down the hall of these worst of the worst violations so that you’ll understand what they are, what you need to know about them, and how Vigillo can help. Read more
“To survive CSA, remember these four things…”
How are carriers feeling about the new CSA changes? Len Dunman of Mercer Transportation, a Vigillo customer, posted a great overview of how the new CSA changes are affecting his company and his drivers at the Mercertown Blog. I particularly like the end of Len’s post:
“…I know that a number of our drivers are feeling totally overwhelmed by the whole process. Basically, to survive in Mercer’s fleet remember four things: 1) Tire and brake condition must be legal, including adjustment, at all times; 2) Log legal, no excuses; Read more