OTA Dispatch Issue 4 2019

36 Oregon Trucking Associations, Inc. Oregon Truck Dispatch Return on Investment By Adam Williamson, OTA’s Director of Training & Development SAFETY IS A MORAL and ethical responsibility for trucking companies. We have a duty to our employees (both driving and non-driving) as well as the general public to ensure that our operations are carried out as safely as possible. There is simply no room for cutting corners in this arena; safety must always be our first and greatest priority when decisions are made. For carriers, the question of how safety investments impact their bottom line is also a significant point of concern. Can safety really pay its own way or is it just something that is done because it is important in its own right? Carriers obviously want to be safe, but they would also like to make money in the process (otherwise they would not be in business very long!). Safety and profitability should not be mutually exclusive concepts. Some benefits, of course, are hard to measure or otherwise put a price tag on (saving a life, overall employee morale, etc.). However, other benefits are more tangible and can be tracked. Return on investment (ROI) is a performance measure used to evaluate the actual return benefit on an investment relative to the initial or ongoing investment cost. It is calculated by dividing the return of the investment by its cost. The resulting ratio helps companies determine if the amount of resources they are investing in a particular safety measure is impacting their bottom line in a positive way. Consider the investment of mounting cameras on your commercial motor vehicles. A standard entry-level grade dash cam can run from around $50 to $200. Installment expenses may push the overall cost per unit up. When this expense is multiplied over an entire fleet with dozens or hundreds of vehicles, the investment becomes substantial. Is it worth it? A single accident can cost a company literally millions or even tens of millions of dollars if it ends up in litigation. However, if the litigation cost of even one accident can be avoided by establishing proof of a false liability claim early in the process, then the cameras will have more than paid for themselves. Both carriers and insurance companies are finding that the increased use of cameras in risk management programs is impacting the bottom line. Consider the investment of safety training. Again, the key factor is accident avoidance. Some carriers try to get by with minimal safety training and usually end up paying for it later when their accident ratio becomes a problem. Smart carriers have figured out that they cannot afford to not invest heavily in both orientation and ongoing remedial training for their employees. The results frequently speak for themselves. Recognizing the importance of safety training in our industry, OTA has worked hard to expand its training offerings in a way that will bring increased value to our members. Bottom line: When done in a smart way, investing in safety does positively impact your bottom line. The driver that you put behind the wheel can either make your company a million dollars over the course of his career or he can cost the company a million dollars (or more) in a single accident. The safety investments that you make as a company (training, cameras, etc.) to keep your drivers operating in a safe and professional manner has a huge and often measurable impact on reducing accidents. This, in turn, reduces overall costs. Think smart, think safe, and there will be positive returns on your investments. If you would like to find out more about our various training opportunities, please visit OTA’s website (www. ortrucking.org/ ) or contact us to request a training catalog for 2020. SAFETY OTA Feature Training Programs in 2020 • NW Fleet Safety & Maintenance Certifications • Ongoing Carrier Education • Train the Trainer