Great West Casualty Company Blog

One of the most frustrating situations in life is not being heard by others. Conversely, when others feel they are not being heard by you, it can be equally frustrating for them. Poor listening skills affect communication, and this may lead to costly mistakes, including workplace injuries. One way to improve communication is to practice active listening, defined as the act of deliberately hearing and comprehending the meaning of words spoken by another person in a conversation or speech. It usually involves indications of attentiveness, such as giving feedback in the form of paraphrasing what has been said by the other party to confirm understanding. Read the information below and ask yourself how you can improve your active-listening skills.

No motor carrier ever wants to be involved in a vehicle-related incident or be pulled into a fraudulent claim. However, due to the high-risk nature of the transportation industry and our current litigious environment, both can happen. If you disagree, consider a recent study by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA). In 2020, vehicle miles traveled decreased about 13.2 percent, but the fatality rate per million miles increased 23 percent compared to 2019. The NHTSA study also found the following: Occupant ejections were up 20 percent; Crashes on urban interstates were up 15 percent; Speeding-related crashes were up 11 percent; Rollover crashes were up 9 percent; and Police-reported alcohol involvement crashes were up 9 percent.

Skip-level meetings are an excellent leadership tool for a manager’s manager to get in touch with rank-and-file employees. In essence, a skip-level meeting can be a one-on-one with an employee or a one-to-many with a number of employees, depending on the size of the organization. The purpose is to give employees a chance to meet with their boss’s boss—without the manager in attendance—and have an unfiltered conversation about what is really happening in their departments and the company as a whole. Skip-level meetings provide an opportunity to discuss employee concerns, share ideas for improvement, discuss upward mobility options, and provide insights employees may not be aware of into how the organization operates.

Human error is a common cause of preventable work-related injuries and vehicle crashes. When an employer, who recognizes that employees are ultimately responsible for their behavior on the job, finds that the root cause of an incident involves an employee’s poor decision-making, the employer may be frustrated and feel powerless. Yet, despite these head-scratching incidents, employers must persevere and continue to manage this risk. One way to reduce the risk of human errors is by focusing on improving employee situational awareness.

When it comes to operating a trucking company, you often don’t know about gaps in your coverage until you file a claim that isn’t covered. Uncovered losses can cost you thousands or even tens of thousands of dollars and can often be avoided. The best way to understand where gaps in coverage exist is to make sure your agent fully understands your operation and has a complete picture of what services you provide.

Complying with the Hours-of-Service (HOS) regulations can be challenging for drivers and motor carriers. With the implementation of electronic logging devices and recent HOS changes, keeping drivers and operations staff up to date and in compliance is essential to avoiding preventable violations and potentially damaging the company’s public image in the Safety Measurement System (SMS). To help in this area, the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) released the Education Tool for Hours of Service (ETHOS).

Distractions are a high-risk exposure that motor carriers cannot overlook. Incidents like a distracted employee slipping in the shop or losing focus while driving and hitting another vehicle can have a lasting, negative impact on your company’s bottom line.

Training is essential to helping any organization meet its business objectives. In fact, the number one requirement of any training effort is that it must hold value for the company. Otherwise, training is a waste of time and resources. From onboarding new employees to conducting road tests with drivers, employee training serves an invaluable purpose and demands proper planning, execution, and follow-up. Unfortunately, this is where training usually fails, especially on the follow-up. Below is a brief list of reasons why training often fails in each of these areas and how you can have better chances of success.

Contributed by John Graci, Graci Leadership Solutions, LLC Being a leader means many things, but it does not mean that you must always be the smartest person in every room.

Motor carriers are not strangers to the challenges of leading a multi-generational workforce. Each group of workers have its own unique set of characteristics and values, which are reflected in the group’s likes, dislikes, and attitude towards work. Because of each group’s uniqueness, a one-size-fits-all leadership style may not produce the best results. Leaders must be dynamic in their approaches and apply the appropriate leadership style to the person in front of them. A key to success is engaging all employees and building individual relationships to better understand what motivates each employee to perform at his or her best. This approach will not only help improve communication and operational effectiveness but also help you grow as a leader. Below is some brief insight into each generation and some leadership tips to consider.