Security & The Driver
Trucking Prepares For Possible Terrorist Acts.
By John Bendel
Technology Editor
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Oliver B Patton
Washington Editor
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Patrica Smith
Senior Editor
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"The terrorists will hit us again. But next time they're not coming by airplane; they've already done that. Next time they're coming by truck."
That's what retired Army Colonel Ken Allard, now an NBC News commentator, told the Truck Renting and Leasing Assn.'s 25th annual conference in 2003.
"An 18-wheeler," he continued, "can carry a lot more high explosives than a B-52."
We've already seen it. Terrorists in Africa, Iraq, Israel, Tunisia - and Oklahoma City - have already used trucks as bombs to terrible effect.
That puts the security problem facing the trucking industry in stark terms. It also explains why government has been scrambling since 9-11 to develop rules and procedures to prevent the use of trucks as weapons.
Of course, those efforts overlap regulatory initiatives to reform hours of service rules, prevent bad drivers from working behind the wheel and to improve trucking safety in general. This is all happening in the context of an economic recovery making heavy demands on Americas' transportation resources.
Once again, as in the late 1990s, fleets are faced with a serious driver recruitment challenge. But now we're dealing with vastly greater regulatory concerns. Now there are more guidelines to follow, rules to be obeyed and penalties to be avoided.
Still, heavy demand for transportation brings profit and opportunity, the best possible incentives to deal wisely and efficiently with the new realities of this vast American trucking enterprise.
In this supplement, we will examine those realities as they involve trucking's inescapable, endlessly challenging human element - drivers.
New Rules For Perilous Times
In response to 9-11, Congress passed and President Bush signed the Patriot Act and established a new cabinet-level Department of Homeland Security. The new department - added to established agencies - constitutes a massive new bureaucracy concerned with trucking security and safety. The mission is essential, but as we well know bureaucratic tentacles will spread in many directions and create new problems and management challenges.
Perhaps the best place to begin is with the most dangerous cargoes and that section of The Patriot Act entitled, "Limitation on Issuance of Hazmat Licenses." It won't affect every fleet, but it will have an enormous impact on those that handle the most dangerous cargoes.
The job of meeting that mandate has fallen to the Transportation Security Administration, or TSA, an agency within the new Department of Homeland Security.
TSA And Hazmat
The TSA has issued a rule requiring background checks and fingerprints for hazardous materials drivers. The rule goes into effect on Jan. 31, 2005, and could cause problems for hazmat haulers whose current drivers are disqualified. Hazardous items include gasoline, explosives, radioactive and infectious substances, propane, chlorine, acids, ammonia and other poisonous gases.
Under the rule, any driver who has a hazmat endorsement on his or her Commercial Driver's License will have to clear a background check by the FBI and other law enforcement agencies, as well as the Immigration and Naturalization Service.
A current endorsement can be rescinded or a pending endorsement denied if the background check turns up mental incompetence or serious crime. Crimes can include treason, robbery, rape, bribery or the unlawful possession of firearms or controlled substances within the past seven years. Endorsements will also be denied drivers who are not U.S. citizens or legal residents.
The initial phase involves a check of records by name, likely to create trouble for any hazmat driver with the same name as a felon, for example. And it is the individual driver's responsibility to appeal a mistaken finding.
On the effective date, state licensing agencies must begin fingerprinting hazmat drivers. The TSA is responsible for collecting and transmitting fingerprints and other information from applicants to the FBI and will notify the states of background checks results. The states will then issue or deny hazmat endorsements.
The TSA says that drivers who surrender an endorsement will not be subject to the background check. Drivers must renew a hazmat endorsement every five years, although a state may require more frequent renewals. Drivers themselves are responsible for reporting disqualifying events.
Currently, TSA is checking the names of some 3.5 million drivers with hazmat endorsements against the FBI and Immigration and Naturalization Service data bases, a process expected to be completed by the start of 2005.
The entire rule and more information can be found at www.tsa.gov. Then search "hazmat."
FMCSA Hazmat Requirements
A new rule from the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration amends FMCSA regulations to reflect the requirements of the TSA hazmat endorsement rules. Meanwhile, another FMCSA rule will require carriers of the most hazardous materials to have a special permit. The agency said the permits are for both safety and security purposes.
That rule takes effect Jan. 1, 2005 and will cover carriers hauling certain kinds of radioactive materials, explosives, materials that are toxic by inhalation, and compressed or refrigerated liquid methane or natural gas.
Carriers must have a satisfactory safety rating, though carriers with no safety rating can get a 180-day permit after a compliance review. Until a compliance review, the agency will not issue a permit to any carrier whose crash rate or out-of-service rate is in the top 30% of the national average.
The carrier must have a security program that includes a way for the driver to contact the company - by phone or radio, or through an electronic tracking system - and a plan for regular communication.
Carriers of radioactive and explosive materials will have to file written route plans. Carriers of certain radioactive materials will have to clear a pre-trip inspection by an official inspector - federal, state or local, or a certified third-party inspector.
All subject carriers must be registered with the Research and Special Programs Administration, another agency in the U.S. Department of Transportation, which oversees all hazmat transportation including pipeline, rail and barge as well as truck.
The entire rule and more information can be found at www.fmcsa.dot.gov. Click on "rules & regulations."
New Background Check Rules
The FMCSA now requires all fleets to obtain information about the prior safety performance of a driver who is applying for a job. The rule has been in effect since April, but is worth note in this context.
In the past, employers were often reluctant to supply such information for fear that they will be sued. Presumably, that is no longer the case. The new FMCSA rule limits the liability of former employers, spells out the specific information that must be exchanged and sets a timetable for the process.
The core requirements of this information exchange are already spelled out in law. For example, prospective employers must ask state agencies for an applicant's driving record, and must obtain the driver's employment history from former employers over the past three years. Now, however, the rule book is more explicit about the details.
The process begins with the job application. A driver must supply the names and addresses of his employers for the previous three years, the dates of employment and the reasons for leaving, among other information. The prospective employer must notify the driver in writing of his right to review, correct or rebut any information obtained from former employers.
Former employers must confirm employment and pass on information about accidents and alcohol and drug test results, or refusals to be tested. The former employer also must report if the driver did not complete a rehabilitation program prescribed by a substance abuse professional, or if the driver used alcohol or controlled substances after completing a rehabilitation program. If the driver's record is clean, the former employer must say so. The former employer must keep a copy of this exchange for one year.
Former employers have 30 days to respond to these requests, or prove they have made a good faith effort to respond. The driver has a right to see the information obtained from his former employer - the new employer has five days to show the driver the records, once the driver files a written request.
Companies that do not keep driver information will face fines: $550 a day, up to a limit of $5,500. If a company does not provide the information when asked, it can be fined as much as $11,000. The company may charge a fee for providing the information, but it may not withhold the information until it gets the fee.
A former employer who does not provide information can be held liable if the prospective employer hires an unsafe driver who gets into an accident. If a driver proves that a former employer provided false information, the liability limitation does not apply, exposing the former employer to a court-ordered penalty.
The new rule increased the time companies must retain accident information from one year to three years. The accident register, as it is called, must contain a list of accidents, including dates, locations, the number of injuries or fatalities, whether hazardous materials were involved and copies of official reports.
The entire rule and more information can be found at www.fmcsa.dot.gov. Click on "rules & regulations."
Driver Credentials
The Department of Transportation's Inspector General has called on the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration to require stronger proof of citizenship for all drivers, not just those involved with hazmats. In fact, the TSA is currently developing something called the Transportation Worker Identification Credential, or TWIC.
The TWIC would give workers unescorted access to secure areas at transportation facilities. It is intended to tighten security and make worker identification more efficient, presumably by reducing the number of credentials a worker needs and by speeding up the ID process.
TSA is now in the third phase of the design process, testing administrative processes using an integrated chip circuit card with a biometric identifier such as a fingerprint. Review and rulemaking must follow the current test so TWIC remains some months off, but fleets should be aware that it is in the works.
More information can be found at www.tsa.gov. Then enter "TWIC" in the search window.
Hiring: Key To Secure, Safe Operation
Long, difficult experience with driver turnover, or churn, has taught those companies willing to learn, just how important drivers really are. Savvy carriers understand that drivers are the face of the company to the public and to customers. They have seen that every effort of a carrier, every ounce of sales enthusiasm, every megabyte of operations sophistication, every hope for success ultimately depends on the minute-to-minute decisions, the abilities and the integrity of individual drivers. These are the companies that take the most care, that put the greatest effort into hiring and training the right people.
If you're not doing that now, start. It you're doing it in a slap-dash manner, here are some ways to do better.
What Makes A Good Driver?
You're considering an applicant with a clean driving record. His background information checks out. He passed his drug test and did OK in the driving evaluation. Those are major considerations, but not the only ones. Will this driver fit into your organization and operation? If not, hiring him will just be another instance of frustration - for you and for the driver.
Old hands at interviewing - especially those who have been with the same company a long time - say they can make that kind of decision with a few well-practiced questions and a little skill at interpreting body language. Unfortunately, most people charged with the task of driver screening don't have the experience or training to make more than a guess.
If that's the case in your company, you might consider a screening tool generally referred to as behavioral assessment, a process that helps provide a more objective analysis of a person's behavior patterns and preferences so you can see how well they match up with a job. Matching behavior patterns to the job requirements usually means higher productivity, lower turnover and fewer accidents.
Behavioral assessment is widely used in the field of education to help deal with student problems and has found its way into the business mainstream, including trucking. Advocates say a good analysis system can be more accurate in assessing driver candidates than skilled interviewers because the questions are more consistent - something that can be helpful if someone charges discrimination.
Behavioral analysis shouldn't be confused with honesty testing, which is banned or restricted in most states. Marketers of packages systems also insist this isn't psychological testing since it isn't designed to measure a person's mental or emotional stability. Even the word "test" raises objections since there are no right or wrong answers, or pass/fail scores.
A good behavioral assessment is a method of evaluating key personality characteristics such as aggressiveness, sociability, patience and conformity. An accurate gauge of those traits can then help predict performance factors such as safety, productivity, customer service and longevity.
Behavioral analysis tools don't make gray areas black and white. They can never tell, for example, if a particular driver will have an accident. But the knowledge that certain personality types have more accidents than others makes screening for those types worthwhile.
Behavior analysis may uncover interesting quirks in traditional hiring assumptions. For instance, most truck drivers say they like the job because of the independence, which might indicate a take-charge sort of person who could score high in the areas of aggressiveness and dominance. But that does not square with reality, at least most of the time.
Truck drivers may be independent in the sense that they're not working in a factory with supervisors looking over their shoulders, but dispatchers tell them what loads to take and where, shippers tell them where to unload, they're told where to park at truckstops, and they must be very patient and compliant in an inspection or law enforcement situation. Typically, dominant/aggressive types work poorly in those circumstances.
On the other hand, some dominant/aggressive personality types make excellent drivers. Their competitiveness makes them strive for recognition on the job. But that benefit must be balanced against possible friction with dispatchers and even customers.
Perhaps the most important aspect of any behavioral analysis tool is the model or standards used to determine what characteristics best fit the job. Commercial programs can provide predetermined models, but those models are based on the experience of customers whose fleet operations and personnel needs may differ from yours. To use behavioral assessment effectively you establish your own model by evaluating the most successful drivers in your fleet.
You start by deciding how to measure a driver's success: miles run, loads delivered, lowest cargo claims, least late deliveries, lowest accident rate, highest fuel economy, for instance. Most fleet management software programs make it relatively easy to monitor driver performance.
Even those new to behavioral assessment may see immediate results since even a generic model will likely screen candidates who are unsafe or who aren't going to be satisfied with any truck driving job. But by consistently refining the model, they get better and better at choosing drivers who will compliment the company's culture, customers and business goals.
Most behavioral assessment tools can help create job-success models for other positions in the company. They can be a particular help when promoting drivers into dispatch, operations and safety positions, since those jobs may require different sets of personality traits than the ones that help a drivers succeed in a company.
Commercial Packages
Commercial behavioral assessment systems can help jump start your driver screening program, but they must be chosen and applied intelligently.
Vendors of such systems should be able to produce validation studies and other assurances that the tests or evaluations don't violate state or federal employment, privacy and discrimination laws. For example, measured characteristics must relate to job performance and cannot result in the exclusion of any race, sex, nationality or religion - even unintentionally.
Tests that ask questions about personal issues, such as family relationships and the applicant's sex life, face legal challenges as a violation of privacy rights. Evaluations that try to determine if someone has a disabling psychological condition may be seen as a violation of the Americans With Disabilities Act.
Companies that market behavioral assessment tools should also be able to produce field trials or other studies to indicate accuracy and reliability. If the same person is re-evaluated six months from now, will the results be basically the same? What are the chances that the test might mistakenly identify a good driver as high risk, or a high-risk driver as good?
The tests or evaluations should be easy to administer and non-threatening to applicants. Many systems now feature testing via the Internet but it should still be done with some supervision to make sure that the applicant, not a stand-in, actually takes the test. It should be relatively fast, simple, and easy to comprehend by people with low-level reading skills.
Before signing up for any program, ask about the credentials and experience of the people who developed the system. What methods were used? Do they have qualified employees to handle training and support?
The price depends on the type of system and volume, ranging from $10 to $60 per driver. Because of the cost, plus some legal issues, behavioral evaluations are usually done toward the end of the screening process - after the mandatory background checks and MVR, but before you've invested a lot of money on drug tests or more extensive investigations.
Mandated Fairness
Federal and state laws generally require an applicant's written authorization before you can obtain consumer credit reports or do criminal background checks. The laws also restrict access to information and prescribe steps that must be taken if you take any adverse action, such as denying employment, on the basis of a report.
Federal law prohibits discrimination on the basis of race, color, national origin, disability, religion, gender or age (over 40). Many states include marital and parental status on the list. Some states and cities have made it illegal to discriminate against workers on the basis of sexual preference.
Fleets should apply screening procedures and hiring standards uniformly. For instance, road tests must be the same for all drivers, not one test for men and another for women.
Federal regulations allow you to deny employment to drivers who have tested positive for alcohol or drugs, as long as you follow mandated back-to-work procedures. Most attorneys agree that you're safe to deny employment on the basis of a failed drug or alcohol test, but some caution that you can't refuse to hire an admitted alcoholic - for example, someone who admits to a drinking predilection but who is "on the wagon."
DOT testing covers certain illegal drugs but federal regulations also say a driver may not be qualified to operate a commercial vehicle if he or she is using amphetamines or many other controlled substances - unless the drug is prescribed by a doctor and the doctor says it's OK to drive.
If at all possible, you should draft screening policies and procedures with the help of an attorney who knows trucking and employment law. Then you must make certain that those policies and procedures are followed.
Privacy is an important factor in the hiring process and also in ongoing employment practices. New FMCSA rules should protect fleets from lawsuits where required information is provided, but you must still be concerned with the employee information routinely referred to.
A cautionary example would be the 2002 Minnesota Court of Appeals ruling that a carrier violated the privacy rights of more than 200 drivers by faxing their names and Social Security numbers to its 16 terminals. The company's safety director had faxed the list to the terminals for review and revisions. Unfortunately, the memo didn't say that the information was confidential.
One of the listed drivers objected, expressing concern regarding identity theft. Terminal managers were subsequently instructed to destroy the lists, but the employees still filed and won a class action lawsuit.
Retention: Key To Safety & Profitability
The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration recently released a study on job-hopping among drivers in the truckload sector. The findings released as a tech brief entitled "Commercial Motor Vehicle Driver Retention and Safety" were sobering.
The study found a relationship between a driver's annual job change rate, monitored over a period of at least two years, and his level of crash experience. It was found that a driver with two or more different jobs was more accident-prone than a driver with less than two different jobs or a more stable employment history.
"This increased risk is gradual at first," the study noted, "then accelerates as the job change rate increases. For example, if a driver has averaged three or more jobs with different carriers each year, during an employment history that is two years or longer, the calculated odds of being crash-involved reached a level that is more than twice as high as they are for drivers with lower job-change rates."
That's a risk that could figure in your willingness to hire a driver with a history of frequent job changes.
The study went on to look at the broader issues of driver retention. Its relevant findings are summarized here.
Selection,Hiring, Training
This part of the study involved analysis of existing literature, which according to the study's authors, suggest that "drivers attain satisfaction from a sense of achievement and recognition, and that key factors influencing how long a driver remains with an employer are steadiness of work, level of pay and benefits, company support while on the road, genuine respect from management, and amount of home time."
The study found that driver training is evolving in some companies and becoming more far-reaching. Progressive training programs offer drivers the potential for advancement in the company, the study said. If drivers receive training that allows them to advance in a company, they are less likely to change jobs, the study concluded. Driving may remain a driver's primary task, but other jobs such as training or crash investigation could be a part of a career path.
The study recommends training not limited to technical and safety requirements. Training should also address lifestyle issues and the personal challenges truckers face in their profession. Such training, the study says, "conveys a message that the company cares about them and wants them to succeed. The payoff carriers can anticipate from providing this level of training not only includes gains in safety and productivity, but also results in drivers who feel more committed to the company."
Dispatchers
The study said what is well known, that driver dissatisfaction frequently reflects a poor relationship with dispatchers. The study noted that there is also high turnover among dispatchers. As a result, many dispatchers do not know their drivers personally.
The study found that those dispatchers with low turnover among their drivers often share a common trait: They respond to driver requests and concerns. They do not delay action on behalf of a driver. The study does not say that dispatcher action is ultimately more important than the outcome of any particular request or complaint, at least not in so many words. But that is strongly implied. In short: Drivers like responsive dispatchers.
The study recommends that carriers reconsider the number of drivers that can effectively be managed by a single dispatcher and that dispatcher training should cover human relations as they relate to drivers' concerns and their job demands.
(See Dispatchers: Key to Driver Retention below)
Long-Haul Working Conditions
The study says that poor working conditions contribute to driver turnover and that changes are urgently needed. One area of particular concern is better rest areas and greater capacity for parking tractor-trailers.
Of course, individual fleets can't do much about that. Among steps that fleets can take, the study recommends "larger and more comfortable sleeper berths" and "company-provided conveniences such as electronic toll passes."
Rewards And Incentives
The study endorses programs that reward drivers for safety. Patches, pins and plaques encourage pride among drivers, but cash incentives offer a particular benefit where retention is concerned. The study noted that incentive programs with awards that increase for longer accident-free periods discourage drivers from moving to new jobs where they would have to begin accumulating safety credits all over again.
The Insurers Point Of View
The FMCSA study quoted an earlier survey by the ATA Foundation on the relationship between driver satisfaction, driver retention and safety. That project involved surveys of particular groups involved in trucking, among them insurance people - all of whom agreed that the most financially stable trucking companies are also the safest, and that employment screening and internal safety auditing should be based on all crashes, not just DOT-reportable incidents.
Most insurers believe that driver retention and safety are linked and that the most important element in safe fleet operations is a top-level commitment to safety. Safety programs should be monitored directly by a company president or vice president, and driver training should extend beyond the basics to provide drivers with "the intellectual tools needed to react to unexpected and uncontrollable occurrences."
Insurers believe that safe operations begin with intensive screening and high standards for hiring, Once hired, drivers should be considered valuable company assets and treated accordingly.
The entire FMCSA Tech and Analysis Briefs can be found at www.fmcsa.dot.gov.
Dispatchers: Key To Driver Retention
Dispatchers have a huge impact on driver turnover and, not surprisingly, finding and keeping good dispatchers is as important - and almost as tough - as finding and keeping good drivers.
Pick The Right Person
In some fleets, dispatchers, fleet managers or driver managers are responsible for everything from customer service to driver morale. Other fleets split duties: Dispatchers move freight while driver managers deal with personnel issues.
However you separate responsibility, drivers need a central point of contact - someone who can answer questions, go to bat for them when needed, get to know their weaknesses and skills. At the same time, that person should have the authority to make decisions affecting drivers and to discipline them when necessary.
Driving experience is the most universal qualification for being a good dispatcher or driver manager. But ex-drivers often fail as dispatchers because they lack other qualifications and training for the job.
Behavioral assessments show that personality traits of many successful dispatchers or fleet managers differ from those of successful drivers. There are obvious exceptions, of course, but studies show that people who do well as truck drivers are generally patient and easy going. They tend to take things one step at a time. They want to know what's expected of them, what the rules are, and that those rules are enforced. Good drivers are comfortable on their own and don't want to supervise others.
Good dispatchers, on the other hand, typically show traits of dominance and extraversion, but can lack patience and willingness to conform when necessary. They tend to be self-confident and make decision quickly. They're less detail-oriented than action-oriented.
Along with the right personality or temperament, dispatchers should also have some basic knowledge and abilities. Good dispatchers need to be good communicators and logical thinkers. In most cases, they should also understand business fundamentals as they apply to trucking.
Dispatchers should be comfortable with computers. In large operations, computer skills are indispensable for accessing vehicle tracking and driver communications. Software can help match loads with trucks and drivers, reduce paper shuffling and make dispatch decisions easier. Meanwhile, technologies are falling in price and becoming increasingly practical for smaller companies. Even in small companies - especially if they are growing - dispatchers should have the basic computer skills to use them - or at least be able to master them in a reasonable amount of time.
Training Counts
Training is critical to developing good dispatchers, particularly if you promote drivers to the job. Dispatchers need knowledge far beyond understanding drivers' problems and potentials. They need to understand company policies that did not affect them on the road. They need to understand their place in the operations department and how that relates to other company functions. They need to know the company's customers, of course, and they should also have some understanding of human relations in a workplace context.
Most companies use what one consultant called the "sit with Joe" method of training. New dispatchers pull up a chair next to a veteran dispatcher and watch for a week or so before being turned loose on their own.
The method costs no more than a week of the new guy's salary and in at least one important area, it works. In fact, it's all but indispensable for imparting operational knowledge unique to every company. But there are drawbacks, some of them not at all obvious.
The quality of the training provided depends entirely on who is showing the ropes to the new guy. Some people are good at imparting knowledge and understanding. Others are not.
Simply sitting a new person next to a top-drawer dispatcher doesn't necessarily mean a top-drawer orientation. Some dispatchers are good at what they do because of personal methods, secret tricks as it were, that they're not about to share with anyone, especially not with some new guy.
Depending on the fleet, the dispatch office can be a hectic place in which driver managers have all they can do to keep up with the work, never mind explain it as they go along. In cases like that, the new guy spends the week with eyes glazed over, totally bewildered and wondering if he has just made a terrible mistake. He might as well be watching a juggler. The real learning begins only when he begins juggling - or dispatching - by himself.
If you're going to use the "sit with Joe" method of training, be sure that "Joe" is up to this very important job. He or she may not be your very best dispatcher, but he should be someone who communicates well, with the self confidence to willingly share techniques he has developed on the job. He will probably be a dispatcher that drivers tend to like, another indication of good communications skills.
Outside Training
On-the-job training is essential, of course, but there are courses available to help develop communications, problem-solving and relationship skills.
One such course is offered by the Texas Motor Transportation Assn. The association describes the leadership course as a broad-based program with leadership principles applied to a variety of operations and management situations - even dealing with the media.
The course was originally developed for next-generation trucking people in line to take over family trucking businesses. It now attracts a diverse group from all levels of carrier operations and administration.
For more information, contact the Texas Motor Transportation Assn. at 800-727-7135 or visit www.tmta.com.
There are also packaged and online courses for driver managers. A few of examples are:
Truckload Carrier Assn.
703-838-1950
www.truckload.org
• The Daily Dispatch Challenge is a multimedia, interactive training CD that simulates a fleet manager's day. It presents multiple job-related issues and problems the user must resolve, and offers feedback and guidance. The Challenge can be used to train new dispatchers or to refresh their skills of veterans.
J.J. Keller & Associates
800-327-6868
www.jjkeller.com
• The Essential Dispatcher Skills Training Kit is comprised of a video and workbook on building better relationships with drivers while making practical, profitable decisions.
Training Alternatives Inc.
416-598-1795
www.trainingalternatives.com
• Dispatcher-Interpersonal Skills, developed by the Canadian Trucking Human Resources Council, is an online program on planning and equipment utilization, load assignment, dispatching and laws affecting dispatch. Parts of the course involve Canadian laws, other modules are relevant on either side of the border.
Non-Mobile Communications
Trucking is people-intensive and thus more communications-intensive than many industries. Communications inside a company are as important as those with customers — something frequently overlooked in fleets. When critical information is not shared within a carrier organization, unexpected negative affects can result. Too often, those impacts reach dispatchers and drivers.
For example, dispatchers often play no part in decisions that affect drivers. In some companies, safety departments can fire a driver without consulting or even alerting the driver manager. Payroll may make changes in the way settlements are handled without briefing dispatchers. When a dispatcher learns of such changes from drivers, his authority is diminished - not to mention his ego. Drivers in those circumstances come to feel they are dealing with a multi-headed monster whose goals and motivations differ from head to head. How can such an entity be reasoned with?
Poor communications within a company need not involve drivers directly to have an impact on them. For example, a sales department rushes to secure an account without consulting operations; or a high-level operations executive, in his haste to help sales, fails to check things out with driver managers on the front line. The result can be company commitments that are all but impossible to meet. Dispatchers are the first to feel the pressure; drivers must deal with unreal expectations on the road.
Workers who know what is happening, who understand why they've been asked to attain a goal, generally do a better job. A dispatcher who is familiar with a customer, its needs and quirks, can convey that information to drivers who can then make the quick decisions drivers often must make in their very real, minute-to-minute world. Workers who are told nothing feel untrusted and undervalued. Eventually they become resentful -- as an entire culture of jokes and cartoons makes very clear.
One obvious way to improve communications is regular meetings within and among departments. Of course, meetings are a problem in themselves, taking valuable time from tasks and critical people - dispatchers for example - away from immediate line duties. However, some software packages can help by quickly and thoroughly disseminating information throughout a company. It remains for responsible managers to make that information available. This is an area in which a good management consultant familiar with trucking organizations can be very helpful.
Some companies use training to improve communications. Training involving corporate policy or general personal development (leadership, for example) can be shared, with dispatchers alongside people from billing, maintenance, pricing and marketing.
That's a good way to get people in a large company familiar with each other. It doesn't deal with the more immediate kinds of information that should be shared, but it can generate understanding between functions.
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