Safe Travels

The new Delivery & Fleet Safety video developed by the National Lumber and Building Material Dealers Association (NLBMDA) and the Lumber and Building Materials Institute begins with unsettling news and footage of an actual traffic accident involving a truck delivering lumber. The accident occurred as a truck was entering an overpass on a busy stretch of highway in the Washington suburbs. The materials it was transporting shifted off the vehicle and tumbled over the rail, striking an automobile below and killing its driver.

Shawn Conradis This tragedy draws attention to the many difficulties LBM truck drivers face daily in loading, securing, and transporting building materials safely from the yard to the jobsite. It was with safety in mind that the Delivery & Fleet Safety program was created. NLBMDA’s Risk Management Committee collected information over the past several years from dealers regarding areas that needed attention. One of the most-cited needs involved truck deliveries. The committee then isolated the subject areas to be covered in the program, including a driver workbook and trainer’s manual, introductions to regulations pertinent to LBM drivers building a load, branding, strapping, pre-driving check, driver distractions, surveying the delivery site for problem areas, unloading, reducing material damage, and returning to the yard safely.

The video provides information on acquiring a CDL license and maintaining rules governed by the Department of Transportation’s Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) and OSHA–two agencies that have a very good working relationship with NLBMDA.

In 2006, the FMCSA reported more than 180,000 accidents involving large trucks. Of those, 5,500 were lumber industry-related. The FMCSA evaluated these accidents and attributed direct cost associated with each report, material damage, vehicle damage, injuries, medical cost, loss of revenue, court costs, and increased insurance cost.

In the LBM industry, transporting material is a daily, ongoing necessity. Each day we are given reminders of vehicles rolling over from loads improperly secured, products hanging 10 or more feet off the back, trucks and materials ruined by poor delivery, jobsites damaged, and lives severely impacted by decisions made and actions not taken before a truck leaves the yard.

It is every driver’s responsibility to be sure his or her truck load is inspected and no hazards are present before the truck leaves the lumberyard. It is every owner’s responsibility to provide the training that drivers require to guarantee their driving success.

The new Delivery & Fleet Safety program is an invaluable tool that will help your company train safe, efficient, and professional motor vehicle operators. For more information on the new Delivery & Fleet Safety program, go to www.dealer.org or call 800.634.8645.

–Shawn Conradis president of NLBMDA. 800.634.8645E-mail: shawn@dealer.org