With the recent announcement that the US House and Senate have come to agreement on a long-term highway funding bill comes provisions which are intended to advance trucking safety and efficiency. Here is a closer look at the FAST Act and three tips for growing your business by promoting your good trucking safety record.
Transportation and Trucking Safety: What’s In the FAST Act?
FAST stands for Fixing America’s Surface Transportation. The final version of this long-term highway funding bill was produced earlier this week by a joint congressional committee made up of 12 US Senators and 28 members of the US House of Representatives.
One of the key provisions of the bill , and one sought by the trucking industry, includes the removal of the DOT’s carrier scoring and ranking program from the public view until the FMCSA ensures that the program provides “the most reliable” analysis possible. Here are some of the FAST Act bill’s highlights*:
- Temporary removal of carrier scoring and safety rankings from public view, pending program review and reforms
- Overhauls the rulemaking process to improve transparency
- Enforcement and inspection data reported by states and enforcement agencies remains publicly available
- Authorizes hair testing in lieu of urine tests for employment screening after the US Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS) establishes federal standards for testing
- Requires the FMCSA (Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration) administrator to study the safety effects of truck drivers that commute longer than 150 minutes
- Requires a study on commercial impacts and safety benefits that might occur if the minimum insurance requirement (currently $750,000) for freight haulers were to be increased
- Requires a study on how driver detention at shoppers and receivers impacts drivers, schedules, pay and impedance of the flow of freight in the US
- Provisions that make it easier for servicemen and women to transition into truck driving careers and a pilot program studying feasibility, benefits and safety impacts of allowing drivers 18-21 years of age to work in interstate commerce
- Calls on the FMCSA to develop a plan to reward trucking companies that invest in additional safety technologies and programs beyond regulatory requirements
- Guarantees the solvency of the Highway Trust Fund through fiscal 2020
- Re-authorizes the Export-Import Bank, whose charter expired in June of this year
*Sources: Overdrive and Transport Topics
Transportation Marketing Ideas: 3 Ways to Grow by Selling a Good Trucking Safety Record
Customers want to know that you can get the job done and may look closely at not only your rates but your on-time delivery record. While these might be the numbers that give your trucking business an opportunity to bid on a one-time shipping job or long-term customer account, your trucking company’s safety record could be the deciding factor.
Here are three ways to ensure the good trucking safety record your business has earned is influential with prospective customers.
1. Use Statistics
Charts with statistics such as industry averages or competitive data can help customers understand that your trucking company has a good safety record as well as competitive rates and a track record for getting freight delivered on time.
2. Interpret the Data
Prospects know that safety is a good thing, but they might not know how it impacts the bottom line, and they might not understand that if the shipper they choose has a problem, it could even reflect poorly on them. Make sure customers understand why it’s important to choose a trucking company with a good safety record. Explain how it impacts efficiency and decreases costs. Provide information about the hidden or unforeseen costs, such as bad press, that a customer might incur if the trucking company they choose has a safety incident.
3. Inject the Information
Prospects may not come out and ask about your trucking company’s safety record, so it’s up to you to inject it into the conversation so that it becomes one of the criteria they use to select a freight hauler. When you make it a standard part of your proposal, customers might then ask competitors to provide the same information. All else being roughly equal, your safety record could be the deciding factor in helping you win business and grow more quickly.
***
Request a quote for freight factoring using the form below. You could go from approval to your first funding in a matter of hours!
Request a Free Freight Factoring Quote
