When writing a RFP, many questions come up about safety and training. As an owner of a TSS system, you have the ability to set yourself apart from the operators in your geographical area. Having used the TSS in conjunction with RFP’s, here are some of the ways It has been explained in the past:
Can you describe your Safety Program?
At our company, we adhere to the FMCSA Safety Management Cycle. With the implementation of a Transportation Safety Systems Safety Management System, our Safety Management Cycle is clearly defined beginning at the top of our organization which creates a Safety Culture from the top down to the foundation of our transportation business model.
How do you train your drivers?
At our company, we utilize a Transportation Safety Systems Safety Management System that incorporates pre-hire assessment tools, FMCSA and DOT compliant training curriculum, and allows advanced training programs to be incorporated into our training program. As we model our training on the FAA theory of recurrent training, each of our drivers is required to continuously exhibit skills and are monitored at multiple levels to ensure compliance and accuracy. Monthly refresher training based on a network of industry trend related training topics allows our drivers to receive the most current and relevant training.
How do you ensure compliance in hiring?
By adhering to Transportations Safety Systems proven process, each driver must be reviewed on multiple fronts. Each DOT driver has an extensive Criminal Background Report run, and then the FMCSA Pre-employment Screening Process (PSP) is performed to determine how the potential employee has performed in the past related to Commercial Motor Vehicle laws. As is required, a DOT FMCSA Drug screen is run before the applicant is allowed to drive, and results are checked to ensure compliance and accuracy of testing.
Can you describe you new hire training process?
New hires are all provided the same consistent training program and then the results are analyzed to determine which areas a particular applicant may need additional instruction in. The base course curriculum requires 30 hours of educational training before the applicant is allowed to perform revenue service runs. Additionally, with the use of the Smith System Defensive Driving course and Drive Mentor Trainers, each new driver has the technical and hands on skills needed to be considered a premium coach operator.
What is your emergency contingency communications plan?
With the Transportation Safety Systems communications tools, all drivers and managers are in the system and can have email messages sent out to notify employees of issues or emergencies. Additionally, with the blog tools, issues are documents and posted with email notifications and links for future reference. As a training Portal, all employees have a known resource for reference at any time of day or night. When combined with our additional resources such as GPS tracking and Hours of Service Logging equipment, each vehicle and driver is in constant contact with multiple vectors of information resources.
How do you ensure your drivers remain compliant with licensing requirements?
With the built in resources of our Transportation Safety System we have the ability to check information internally, not relying on a service provider to perform the function for our company. With real time access to information and monthly audits, Our Company is reviewing each driver file more frequently for compliance and accuracy than other companies can.
What is your drug and alcohol testing policy?
At our company, we adhere to the FMCSA requirement prescribed. In addition to these requirements, we adhere to the pre-2016 test levels of 50% of our driver population to ensure we exceed the minimum requirements. The FMCSA reduced the threshold to 25% of the driver pool in 2016, with 10% Alcohol testing requirements remaining in effect.
How do you adhere to the hours of service requirements?
With the extensive training resources we offer our employees combined with GPS tracking and Electronic logging tools, our visibility on hours of service compliance is increased and reviewed more frequently according to the most recent regulations. Proper training and knowledge allows drivers to be more aware of thresholds, and with the added communications tools, we have the ability to make replacements more effectively when situations arise.