Managing Your Safety Scores: Introduction to CVOR & NSC

Managing Safety Scores: CVOR and National Safety Code Insights

In the inaugural episode of the CVOR and National Safety Code podcast, host Chris Harris introduces himself and shares his extensive background in the trucking industry. He explains the purpose of the podcast: to help Canadian trucking companies manage their safety scores through best practices. 

Chris provides an in-depth overview of the driver file checklist, emphasizing important documentation and procedures. Listeners are encouraged to text to 365 364 0714, and the message is DQ Checklist, to get your digital copy of the checklist. 

The episode covers various requirements for driver files, including application forms, references, driver abstracts, and training records.

00:00 Welcome to the Podcast

00:20 Meet Your Host: Chris Harris

00:52 Understanding CVOR and NSC

01:13 Best Practices in Trucking Safety

03:45 Driver File Checklist Overview

04:17 Essential Documents and Practices

08:44 Training and Compliance

09:47 Conclusion and Next Steps

Transcript

Chris Harris, Safety Dawg 1: 0:01

And welcome to a brand new podcast. CVOR and NSC or National Safety Code. This podcast, we're going to help you manage your safety scores. And guess what? My name is Chris Harris and I'm going to be your host. There we go. Who in the hell am I? My name is Chris Harris. I spent the last well, I've been self employed for 10 years now. But before that, I was working for a major trucking insurance company. And they insured fleets right across Canada. So, I got a lot of exposure here in Canada. So For trucking, and before that, of course, I was a recruiter and in the safety department for a, an 800 fleet. Trucking company. So that's who I am. That's my experience. This podcast is made for Canadians. A. I'm a Canadian. I'm based here in Ontario. So sometimes I will use the word CVOR and I really mean NSC. But I'm sure everybody else understands. Damn people from Ontario. We think we are the center of the universe. I know. All right. So, largely we are going to be talking on this podcast about best practices, because best practices is the best way I can describe it when a country has It's ten provinces and three territories, and it is the provinces and the territories that write the Highway Traffic Acts, and that's largely what we operate under in trucking. So it is Very similar in all the provinces and territories, but it's also different in the provinces and territories. So frequently I'm going to use the word Best Practice because that is what the insurance companies like and it kind of makes it equal right across the board. All right, so with that, what I want you to do Is text. I'm going to go through a sheet here. I'm going to go through this sheet and I'm going to take myself off. I want you to text that number and I'm going to send you my driver file checklist. Because this episode of the podcast, that's what we're going to be going through. And I'm going to try to keep these episodes short. So text. 365 364 0714. And what do I, what do I want you to say on that text? Well, I want you to ask for the DQ checklist. That's all. You understand you're actually texting to a bot. And my bot will answer you back with just two questions. So the two questions are going to be, what's your first name? And what's the best email address that I can send you the checklist to? All right, that's it. And the computer will automatically throw that into your inbox. And of course, if you don't get it in a couple of minutes, check your spam folder. That happens from time to time. So do If you want to follow along, I would encourage you to stop the video right now. Do the texting. So just real quick, go back and text 365 364 0714 and text the word DQ Checklist. And we will be good. You'll have that in your inbox. All right. So with that, let's quickly go through my driver file checklist. And by the way, I'm going to try my best to have a giveaway like this. For many of the podcasts, I wish I could say for every podcast, but I don't know that I could do that. But anyways, this is free. This is a Canadian version of the checklist. If you cross border, this is not the one you need. We'll handle that in a different video. Podcast. So for today, what do you need in a driver file? Well, you need an application form as a best practice and going back five years. And the reason I say five years, I remember when I was doing this checklist years ago, one of the provinces wants five years of history. Most of the provinces only want three. So that's why I write down five and it becomes a best practice as an example. All right, then three years of references check. All right, you need to get three years of the past history for that driver verified. Your insurance company really does want that. Your initial driver abstract or motor vehicle record, depending on your terminology, an MVR. You need that. And I want the initial one has to be within 30 days of the application is a best practice. And then I want you to keep that for as long as the driver works for you. And I'll explain that in a different episode. If your province has a commercial driver abstract, such as Alberta and Ontario, then get the El, the driver abstract, the commercial driver abstract for that driver. And again, mark it as the original. Start a list. of expiries. And here, the three year abstract. You need one every 12 months. And if you've got a commercial driver abstract, you need that at least every 12 months. It's a best practice to have it much more frequently. Again, we'll talk about that later. A copy of the driver's license is required. And if the, I would always tell you to do both sides. Here in Ontario, it is required both sides. I'm not familiar with the other provinces, what information may be on the back. I'll tell you, I can't read the back of my Ontario driver's license, but it is a requirement. So just do both sides of the driver's license. I really think that most companies, especially if you do cross border, you should be doing a criminal record search. Many companies, of course, I know if you're a Canadian only, you may not do it. It is a best practice. Written test is next. I really think that you need to have the drivers completing a written test. Do a test of road rules. You know, the hours of service rules. How often do you do a vehicle inspection? Load securement rules. All that kind of stuff. A road test is certainly a best practice and I think at least 40 kilometers and make sure you include things like railroad tracks and highways and city streets and backing. All those types of things. An annual review. Yes, yes. At least here in Ontario, it's at least mentioned in the book that the Ontario government has put out, the CVOR Safety Manual. They tell you right there, they want annual reviews. And as a best practice throughout Canada, annual reviews again. We'll go deeper in into some of this stuff in another podcast. Receipt of the company policy manual. Yes! Believe it or not, you do need a policy manual. And as silly as it sounds, that policy manual is going to tell your drivers to follow the, the law. I just about swore. To follow the law there. And that's really important. You do need a policy manual. Your insurance companies will like that. And a current copy of the dangerous goods training and certificate, if you do. TDG if you don't, of course you don't need it. A record of all the driver's convictions for the preceding four years. Convictions because it may make that driver uninsurable for you and your fleet. So, You need all convictions, those including personal vehicle. You need a list of all collisions. Sorry, of commercial vehicle collisions. But I would encourage you to have a list of all collisions. Not just the ones that you know about in the truck. I think the personal ones should be included. is a best practice as well. And record of any administrative penalties that have been imposed on the driver. A record of all training that the driver has had to complete. And certainly, you know that occupational health and safety have training. Obligations. The labor board has training obligations. You need to be training your employees. And you certainly need to be training your truck drivers. And I believe much more than once per year. The best practice is at least quarterly, if not monthly for training. And then of course, document that training. And A record of any training. Sorry. And lastly, if you are running owner operators, and if your owner operator is allowed to opt out of workers compensation, or WSIB here in Ontario send those letters in to the organization, get confirmation that, that does exist. driver has opted out. And then, of course, your insurance provider will want that owner operator enrolled in a third party type insurance. All right, so that's it. Please make sure that you text, If you want a copy of my checklist right here, make sure you text 365 364 0714. And again, what word do you want? You want to just text it to me and say, A DQ checklist. And that's what I will handle. All right, I'll send that out to you. Again, you are talking to a computer bot. When you do that, and it sends it out automatically. All right, so that's the first episode of CVOR and NSC, or National Safety Code, where we help manage your safety scores. All right, if you got value from this, please give it a like, give it a thumbs up, Leave me a comment. All those things help to raise the profile of the podcast and help me an awful lot. Alright, so thank you. And don't forget to like and subscribe. That's it. Chris Harris, Safety Dawg. I'm out. See you next week.