WVFA Fall 2018

W V L O G G E R S C O U N C I L N E W S 22 West Virginia Forestry Association Mountain State Forestry  | Fall 2018 www.wvfa.org TEAM Safe Trucking from the Forest Resources Association DEAR APPALACHIAN REGION LOGGER TRAINING & EDUCATION COORDINATORS: Most of you are probably aware of the “TEAM Safe Trucking” initiative (see www. teamsafetrucking.com ) and its efforts to develop log trucking safety education modules. TEAM Safe Trucking (TST) is a consortium of industry insurance companies, loggers and truckers, forest products companies, and industry associations. TST’s mission is “to reduce accidents through enhanced driver training and effective fleet management and to recruit new, safety-focused drivers to deliver a sustainable and profitable supply chain.” TEAM Safe Trucking’s driver continuing education Module 1 (accessible at the “online training” link on the TST homepage) provides basic information on the FMCSA rules and regulations that apply to log truck drivers (and managers). Module 2 will address many in-woods and on-the-road driving safety best practices and will be available soon. Individuals may create an account and complete the modules online; those wishing to facilitate a group training effort should contact TEAM Safe Trucking’s new Special Project Coordinator, Miranda Gowell, at miranda.gowell@teamsafetrucking. com. Miranda can provide you with additional details for an off-line group session including sign-in sheets, quizzes, quiz answer sheets, and an evaluation form. In addition to the interactive module that is available online, TEAM Safe Trucking has now produced a video version of Module 1, which does not require internet access. You can complete Module 1 yourself (I recommend the “Owner Module 1” option) in 45 to 60 minutes and decide for yourself if you like it. I have completed the online access module myself and find that it is an excellent continuing education piece for any loggers that have trucking operations and certainly for all trucking managers, truck owners, and drivers. Additionally, a few large wood supplier organizations, loggers, and mills have already hosted a Module 1 session for drivers doing business with their company and have reported that the program has been very well received. FRA believes that Module 1, and the modules that will eventually follow, would make excellent continuing education classes for your state’s logger training and education program curricula. If you do in fact add this as one of your offerings for your continuing education courses, please let TEAM Safe Trucking’s Miranda Gowell and me know, and we would appreciate any feedback you have once the program has been conducted. I hope you will also encourage your logger participants to bring as many truck drivers and managers with them as possible, so that they can also go through this program. (The truck drivers and owners are the most important target audience.) Participation in the TEAM Safe Trucking education modules will not guarantee that truck insurance rates will go down or that drivers will become more insurable, but safety awareness improvement is one area where we have more direct control over than some of the other “reforms” needed (such as tort reform, regulatory impacts, etc.). Thanks for considering this request to add the driver safety module to your state LT&E program. (Feel free to bring this request to your state’s SFI Implementation Committee and other state association as appropriate.)  Sincerely, Rick Meyer Appalachian & Southwide Regions Manager Forest Resources Association