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EVERYONE hates paperwork. And yet, our lives are cluttered with it. You can’t even move a truck without having enough paperwork to fill it completely. The last thing that anyone wants, especially drivers, is more paperwork.

Let’s face it- the primary occupation of transportation companies is to keep a vehicle moving, and making money. And most of the time, paperwork just gets in the way of that objective.

Except.
Sometimes paperwork can be a real lifesaver.
Read that again.

Sometimes paperwork can be a real lifesaver.

There’s an old legal precedent that says that ignorance of the law is not a defense for violating the law. This precedent is especially true in the transportation industry, where 49 CFR 300-399 (the governing regulations for the FMCSA) is over 600 pages long. It would be very difficult for a driver, or even a company, to know every single regulation on file.

So, how can you ensure that your drivers—and company—are compliant with regulations that apply directly to your company?

The answer is simple: institute a company safety policy.

“What’s a safety policy?” you might ask.
It is a collection of rules and procedures that are kept in written record, distributed to all employees (those in safety-sensitive roles, of course). This policy is then to be read and signed by drivers and kept on file with the company.

FMCSR U.S. DOT

HOWEVER, merely having a safety policy in hand isn’t enough. The key is that an effective safety policy must provide for the enforcement of the policy, and then, must actually BE ENFORCED. An effective policy will outline, in detail, the regulations and guidelines that employees must follow, as well as the specific steps in the remediation process. The demonstration of remediation is particularly helpful in situations where the FMCSA may conduct an audit or compliance review, since the enforced (and documented) policy indicates to the FMCSA the desire for compliance on the part of a company.


But, who has time to research various regulations, and then craft a policy?

It’s an arduous task and time spent crafting such a policy takes time that can be dedicated to other aspects of the business.


Thankfully, Federal Applications Processor Hoffenmer has taken the challenge out of this process. If you visit our website at https://www.hoffenmer.com/employee_policy.html or call one of our skilled agents at (240) 544-0930, you can have a personalized safety policy delivered to your company for implementation. We look forward to working with you to create a safe, compliant, profitable business that spends it time making money, not generating more paperwork.