MacKinnon Transport of Guelph, Ontario (Canada), and Marten Transport of Mondovi, Wis., took home the Grand Prizes in the 2001 Truckload Carriers Assn. National Fleet Safety Awards.

The awards were presented at the March 5 Annual Banquet & Awards Dinner in Las Vegas to Ray Haight, president and chief operating officer of MacKinnon Transport, and to Robert Smith, COO of Marten Transport.
MacKinnon Transport won the award for truckload companies operating under 25 million miles annually, while Marten Transport won for the category of over 25 million miles annually.
This is the second time that MacKinnon Transport has received the Grand Prize award for its exceptional safety program (it had previously won for the year 1999), due in part to its corporate philosophy that safety is a tangible product that attracts many companies to utilizing its services.
One tenant of MacKinnon's safety program requires all driving personnel to attend a minimum of two regularly-scheduled, monthly safety compliance meetings per calendar year. These meetings encompass a three-hour training session with a general safety talk element. A variety of training aids are used to deliver the training, from videos to handouts to lesson plans to guest lecturers. Participants are updated about changes to rules and regulations and are educated in specialized subjects like first aid, fire fighting training, seasonal driving, etc. New drivers and those identified as needing additional skill upgrading are required to attend a defensive driving course that includes interactive, computer-based training.
The company employs five full-time employees to staff its Safety Department. The department makes sure that tractors undergo five inspection levels plus an annual safety inspection, while trailers undergo three inspection levels plus an annual safety inspection.
During the first quarter of 2002, it unveiled its MacKinnon Transport Road Master Driver Program, a program developed to recognize drivers and owner-operators who are amongst the very best in the industry as evidenced by their experience, education and demonstrated abilities, attitude, and commitment.
Marten Transport is a company that believes that safety begins with training. Its well-staffed training department can produce in-house training films, host video-conferences with drivers located at various terminals, and develop written or slide show material for any training topic that a supervisor requests. The department has developed a training manual specific to particular job descriptions within most departments of the company. It provides quarterly safety training videos that drivers must watch and a written test that drivers must take to verify what they have learned. The department also conducts weekly video teleconferences with drivers at each of the terminals, which provide a unique opportunity for training in a discussion format, allowing individuals to learn from the aggregate experience of the group.
One of the strongest elements of Marten's safety program is a focus on eliminating distraction. "Arguably, driver distraction is the root cause of most accidents today," the company writes in its Grand Prize application. "We believe distraction occurs when drivers are preoccupied with anything other than the task at hand, which is driving. Whether a driver is worried about getting home on time, receiving this week's earnings, or problems at home, he or she is not focused on the task at hand. Our Fleet Managers work very hard to eliminate distraction by honoring our commitments to get drivers home when they need it, by overseeing how many miles the driver runs monthly (which affects his pay), and by offering a free hotline drivers and/or their family members can call for help on legal, financial, marital, or emotional difficulties."