How Carbon Express Did a 180 on Safety
Controller Sean McAllister and Director of Safety John Bowlby hold the National Tank Truck Council Outstanding Safety Performance Trophy at the entrance to Carbon Express headquarters.
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Controller Sean McAllister and Director of Safety John Bowlby hold the National Tank Truck Council Outstanding Safety Performance Trophy at the entrance to Carbon Express headquarters.
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When Steve Rush was an owner-operator, he would have laughed at the notion that one day he would be running a tanker fleet that would be recognized as the safest carrier by the National Tank Truck Council in the 15 million miles and under category. A fleet with a safety director who was recognized by both New Jersey and NTTC as safety director of the year. A company whose drivers had been honored three years running as state Truck Driver of the Year.
Rush, president of Wharton, N.J.-based Carbon Express, was a driver for the better part of 19 years. On one of his first jobs, he worked some 20 hours a day hauling U.S. mail, and “had more accidents than you could shake a stick at.” He still had his share of accidents as an owner-operator. And even when he started building his own fleet in 1983, he says, he didn’t really pay attention to hours of service.
Then about 10 years ago, his then-safety director turned down an invitation to be chairman of safety for NTTC — and turned it down because “it would be a lie,” Rush recalls. That was a wakeup call for Rush, and he and Sean McAllister, today the company controller, set out to build a safety culture that would be worthy of the declined honor.
It wasn’t easy. A company that previously had rubber-stamped driver logs now had to get drivers to adhere to hours of service and fill out logs accurately. Two years later, they transitioned to electronic logs.
One of the drivers chosen to be the first to use e-logs “was a great driver who really struggled,” Rush says. Rush …Read the rest of this story
