RECOGNIZING THE STARS OF SAFETY

Gary Petty, President and CEO
National Private Truck Council

      From its inception in 1939, the National Private Truck Council has made safety its highest priority and, accordingly, has designed programs for company and driver recognition. These programs honor the best practitioners of safety from the private fleet community. This emphasis on safety is reflected in statistics collected and reported by the companies themselves.
      In a self-selected sampling of 63 NPTC private fleets earlier this year, the combined data collected revealed a 13.7% reduction in accident frequency in 2004 compared to 2003 (the first year under the new hours of service regulations). These same companies also reported a rate of .424 recordable accidents per million vehicles miles for 2004 and 2003. This compares - dramatically so - to the .763 average recordable accidents per million miles for large trucks industry-wide as reported to the FMCSA in 2001, the latest year such data is available.
      The difference in accident rates amounts to a 45% better safety record among this random group of private fleets, which volunteered their data, as compared with the average accident-per-million-miles experience for the rest of the trucking industry. This significantly better accident experience of private fleets directly correlates to institutionalized best safety practices.
      Private fleets work hard to continuously improve upon their high safety performance records. A key component of this improvement is hiring and keeping outstanding drivers. Private fleet driver service with the same company averages from 20 to 30 years. Recent research by NPTC shows that private fleets, on average, have an annual driver turnover rate of 11% to 16% as contrasted with 125% to 135% average driver turnover in the trucking industry overall. Driver longevity, continuous improvement through in-service training, and high expectations for driver performance - all have an exceptional safety "pay off" in the long run.
      To honor the best companies and drivers for their safety performance records, NPTC and Bridgestone/Firestone sponsor the Driver Hall of Fame and Fleet Safety Awards program. The Driver Hall of Fame program was established in l987. Up to four drivers are inducted each year into this elite group during the NPTC 's Annual Education/Management Conference.
      Bridgestone/Firestone sponsors the drivers, their spouses and all related program activities.
      The minimum qualifications for Hall of Fame honors are 2 million miles or 20 years or 50,000 hours with no preventable accidents.
      Virtually all finalists in recent years have far exceeded these minimums. In 2002, the four inductees drove a combined 13 million miles and 143 years without a preventable accident. In 2003, the finalists had a combined 15.1 million miles and 145 years; in 2004, 11.7 million miles and 135 years; and this year, 13.5 million miles and 158 years.
      With some 3.5 million commercial drivers on the roads and highways each day, the safe driving records of these Hall of Fame honorees place them in a small fraction of 1% of "best of the best" drivers in America. In 18 years, only 76 drivers have received this prestigious distinction.
      NPTC/Bridgestone/Firestone Fleet Safety Awards also honor companies for outstanding and/or improved safety records based on their crash rates. These awards are Gold Seal Awards (Certificate of Achievement) for private fleets operating without experiencing a single accident during the past year.
      The Silver Seal Awards (Certificate of Merit) are given to private fleets that reduced their accident frequency rates by 40% or more, compared to its records of the previous year.
      And the Bronze Seal Awards (Certificate of Progress) are for private fleets that reduced their accident frequency rates by 20% to 39% compared with its records of the previous year. Thirty-one NPTC-Member companies received these awards in 2005.
      We at NPTC, and sponsors Bridgestone/Firestone, congratulate the top drivers and companies who uphold the highest standards of commercial truck safety in the industry.

NPTC Special continued...