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How to Run a Top-Notch Safety Program and Earn Drivers' Respect [Video]

Meet Sarah Cates, recipient of the 2023 HDT Safety & Compliance Award, in this HDT Talks Trucking interview. Cates has been the director of safety at Keller Trucking for only three years, but her focus on drivers has transformed the company’s safety culture.

Jim Park
Jim ParkFormer HDT Equipment Editor
Read Jim's Posts
November 17, 2023


Meet Sarah Cates. She's the rock-star safety director at Thomas E. Keller Trucking of Defiance, Ohio. Her bosses love her. Her drivers love her. And she's the recipient of HDT's 2023 Safety & Compliance award, sponsored by J.J. Keller & Associates. Cates has been the director of safety for only three years, but her success in totally transforming the company’s safety culture prompted not one, but two, of her colleagues to nominate her for the award.


This episode of HDT Talks Trucking is sponsored by:

CAT Scale — Learn more about its WeighMyTruck app.

[|CREDIT|]

And by Scraper Systems snow removal

[|CREDIT|]


Cates transformed the safety culture at the company, implemented driver-facing, AI-based camera safety systems without losing any drivers, and slashed its crash indicator score — all that and more during a period when the company grew from 100 to 300 trucks.


Watch this Episode of HDT Talks Trucking to Learn:

  • What makes Sarah Cates tick

  • How she transitioned from Logistics to Safety

  • The key to earning drivers' respect

  • The right way to introduce controversial technologies

  • How to develop a camera privacy policy

  • How she manages a multi-generational workforce

More About Sarah Cates and Keller Trucking


🎧 Prefer to listen? Check out the HDT Talks Trucking podcast!