In 4 Aspects To Assess During On-Site Evaluations, features were covered that revealed what to look for when conducting personal visits to your carriers. These visits enable evaluation for risky behaviours that have the potential to affect your company.
To continue with identifying supplier risk, Ben Goldwasser, a Business Development Professional, came up with four other items to examine during pickups and deliveries. Here’s a checklist to go through to ensure that you don’t put your business at risk when your carrier picks up or delivers your cargo:
Equipment
The first thing to look into during pickups and deliveries is the equipment used to transport your freight. You need to identify the exact truck and trailer being used and look for possible damage from previous trips before any cargo is loaded. Make certain that the deck of the trailer is intact and that the rest of the trailer is rust free. Don’t neglect inspecting the tires for adequate tread and proper inflation. The same way you attempt to minimize potential damages by vetting your carriers before shipping is the same way you must make certain that your carriers’ equipment is in good condition.
Driver State
Secondly, always assess the physical and mental state of the driver as they will be the ones responsible for transporting your cargo. Drivers will spend a lot of time with your freight and so it’s in the shipper’s best interests to ensure their driver will be safe. Consistently check that your driver is not under the influence of alcohol and drugs, and ensure that they are not groggy or tired too. Additionally, does your carrier help ensure driver compliance by maintaining organized and up to date logbooks? Do they have a detailed understanding of their drivers’ hours of service, and work to avoid violations? If not, your carrier and their drivers could be putting your entire business at risk. Speak up if you suspect the driver is not in the right frame of mind and is not prepared. Doing all this is a crucial way of protecting your business from supplier risk.
Personal Protective Equipment
When your carriers’ employees do pickups and deliveries, make certain that they are using the proper personal protective equipment for the task at hand. The Occupational Safety and Health Act requires that “protective equipment to be provided, used, and maintained in a sanitary and reliable condition wherever it is necessary.” This covers gloves, hard hats, hearing protection, safety glasses, steel-toed boots, work shirts and respirators. Workplace accidents unfortunately, are a reality and cannot always be prevented, but having proper equipment usage in place helps minimize these accidents and protects workers. A tale tell sign that you’re working with a reliable and safe carrier is having one that provides personal protective equipment. If you repeatedly encounter carriers engaging in risky behaviours during pickup and deliveries by not making use of proper safety equipment, you might have to look into getting a new carrier to handle your transportation needs.
Securement
Lastly, securing your cargo properly is one of the most important steps if you want to minimize damage. That means making sure that your carriers’ securement equipment and practices will not put your freight at risk. What to do first is to check all securement equipment for damage and the effect of aging. In other words, inspect the chains for rust, tarps for holes and straps for tears. Secondly, check that your carriers are using proper equipment for the type of trailer. Flat decks need corner protectors, and blocking and bracing should be used if loading a van. Finally, your carrier ought to tighten down on all cargo before the truck moves anywhere. Doing this and making sure that freight is secured during pickups and deliveries prevents any chances of accidents. Checking your carriers’ securement practices assists in spotting risky behaviours.
Source: User Reload