Keeping the Fleet on the Street

Every company is looking for ways to reduce costs and in-crease productivity. What many companies don't know is that the largest single cost component of a company's bottom line is a motor vehicle crash. The total cost of all motor vehicle crashes in Vermont is about a quarter billion dollars a year.

At the Farrell Distributing Corp. in South Burlington, traffic crashes and Workers' Compensation claims are down 20 percent compared to 3¹/₂ years ago. The reason: an increased focus on traffic safety.

Operations manager Todd Boston cites a financial savings "in the six-figure range." Farrell is a wholesaler of beverages. Company officials decided in 1998 to turn a part-time safety officer's position into full time. The safety officer contacted the Network of Employers for Traffic Safety (NETS) to help in driving home safety messages. NETS is the only national organization dedicated exclusively to traffic safety in the workplace.

Mindful that traffic crashes are the leading cause of death and injury in the workplace, the Vermont NETS program is designed to reach all employees and their families, not just fleet drivers.

Farrell promoted traffic safety with mailings, posters, articles and other materials. "The position pays for itself," Bouton said. "It's something we couldn't do without right now"

Before the emphasis on safety, Farrell had more traffic crashes than any other business in the beverage industry, Bouton said. Now those crashes are down 20 percent, and the Workers' Compensation rating has declined from 1.38 to 0.83.

Farrell has 230 employees and a fleet of 160 vehicles.

Mark Audette, a fleet manager at Priority Express in South Burlington, has saved several thousand dollars through the company's safety program. Priority Express provides same-day delivery in Vermont, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire and New York. "Last March, we started having quite a few collisions," Audette said. "I took on the challenge of trying to reduce our accidents. ... I knew I couldn't solve the problem, but at least I could help."

A self-appointed safety director, Audette has tapped into a number of resources to improve safety among his fleet of 60 vehicles. Audette enlisted the help of NETS and his insurance company, which provided two-hour driver-safety classes.

Audette said he inserted the NETS distracted drivers' survey into paychecks to gauge the seriousness of distractions in his fleet. "I learned we have a lot of distracted drivers," he said. "I posted the results. Hopefully, it was an eye-opener for them."

Mike Alderman, a safety coordinator for Waitsfield & Champlain Valley Telecom, said his business provides a state police-sponsored, six-hour, driver-safety training workshop. The Waitsfield business also contracted with Smith Driving Systems of Arlington, Texas, and One Beacon Insurance of Portland, Maine, to provide additional training. He has used the NETS program to keep his fleet of 47 vehicles and the company's 108 employees safe. Telecom provides local and long-distance telephone service, Internet access and cable television service in Vermont.

Alderman said the attention to safety positively affects Telecom's bottom line, but he would not detail the savings.

"We have a motto that starts at the top of the company," Alderman said. "No job will be done unless it is done safely." _·

Norman James coordinates Vermont NETS, a program of the Vermont Chamber of Commerce.