Roehl Transport of Marshfield, Wis., turned in one of the nation’s top safety records among large (over 100 million miles per year) truckload carriers last year, despite the fact that nearly 50 percent of its drivers are new
to trucking.
Roehl was the leading “for hire” carrier in the American Trucking Associations’ (ATA) 2005 Truck Safety Awards, large general commodities truckload carrier category, based on measurable performance such as the ratio of DOT reportable accidents per mile driven.
The award is considered the industry’s premier honor for fleet safety, yet almost half of Roehl’s rapidly expanding fleet of drivers is new to the industry with less than a year of professional over-the-road experience.
John Spiros, Roehl's vice president of safety, said, “Our cornerstone value is safety. It is the primary consideration of every action and decision made in the company at all levels, all the time. There’s never a question. We never, ever compromise safety or take on increased risk to achieve some other goal.”
That commitment has led the company to develop an industry-leading safe driving program. Unlike the standard “defensive” driving programs commonly used for fleet training, Roehl’s proprietary program elevates the driver’s role to “protective” driving.
“It’s not enough just to avoid getting caught up in an accident, our drivers are taught to drive in a way that protects others from getting hurt as well, even when a potentially dangerous situation doesn’t pose a great risk to us directly,” Spiros explained. “We’re not just steering clear of potential accidents; we drive in a way that helps defuse the hazard.”
Roehl is one of the 100 largest trucking companies in the U.S.
For more information about Roehl, call (800) GO-ROEHL. or visit www.GoRoehl.com.