MERCER SAFETY SCORES

I’m going to try to get Jason off the hook regarding the driver safety scores. His comment section had a bunch of good questions. I was impressed with Big Ron’s score….WOW! Here’s how it works:

Every carrier uses their own scoring system. At Mercer, a driver’s score is based upon DOT inspections (CSA points), moving violation convictions, preventable accidents, cargo claims and bad road surveys. Each of these have point values. A driver is allowed up to 200 points in any current three year period. Reaching the 200 point threshold qualifies a driver for the Mercer Alumni Society. I am the membership chairman of that group.

On our system, it is possible to get credit points to reduce a driver’s score. Credit points are given for clean DOT inspections, good road surveys, Alabama coil certificate/New York coil endorsement, attendence at safety seminars, other additional training and safety briefings given by me around the country when I do LKY inspections in the field. For that reason, not only is it possible to get a zero score, it is possible to get a negative (credit) score. I let drivers bank points. We have folks that have -40 scores, which is really fantastic. Then there is Big Ron. Whatever.

Scoring is done by both me and Michelle Scott, my Administrative Assistant. Scoring is triggered by a number of items: A DOT inspection, a moving violation conviction, a preventable accident, a road survey or a cargo claim will put a driver in the scoring stack. We get a daily electronic feed of DOT inspections, so many times that scoring is done before we ever receive a driver’s DOT inspection sheet. To date, more than 1,200 drivers have been scored. Quite a few have been scored several times as they get more DOT inspections. There are at least 300 drivers here who have none of the above, nada, zip, goose egg, thus a zero score. There is no team score, each driver is looked at individually. We do have a number of teams where one drive has a score and the other does not (yet).

Either Michelle or I will be happy to answer questions about a driver’s score. The best way to improve a score at Mercer is to get clean DOT inspections. The quickest way to get a bad score is to have a preventable accident, get caught speeding or have a log violation. Our system is designed to be especially harsh on those three specific areas. Defective brakes, tires and cargo securement violations are close behind. At least half of Mercer drivers have figured this out and are running low scores (49 or less), zero scores or credit (negative) scores. The other half need to do it better. It can be done.

Remember, under CSA, carriers are given thresholds that they must stay below in seven categories. These are based upon DOT inspections and are updated monthly. If a carrier gets over a threshold, it gets more inspections the next month. More red Prepass lights. On our system, more inspections are great for the folks who know how to get clean ones and, frankly, they weed out those that don’t.

As I’ve said many times, CSA is not rocket science. Don’t go over a posted speed limit, keep the log book absolutely legal and current, secure cargo properly and keep brakes/tires within requirements. Always wear your seatbelt properly. Drivers that do these things don’t have problems. Drivers that don’t, or won’t, do these things have problems. When drivers don’t have problems, carriers don’t have problems. Everyone is happy and the world is a better place. Be safe.