Ladies and Gentlemen,
I am writing to you today to ask for your assistance in addressing a troubling trend that we are experiencing throughout our company over the last few months — Roadside Inspections. Over the course of the last 24 months, our professional drivers have been pulled over and inspected 1,120 times. Of those inspections, 642 were “zero violation” inspections. In other words, 57% of the inspections in the last two years were clean. For those of you inspected during this time period and had zero violations, I thank you for your attention to detail and thoroughness in ensuring that your equipment is in top shape.
What I want to focus on now is the other 43% that did have violations:
- The course and scope of a professional driver’s job is subject to roadside inspections on a daily basis.
- At the completion of each inspection, the inspection officer provides a written MCMIS report that documents the inspection in detail informing the driver and motor carrier of either a clean “zero violation” inspection or an inspection with violations discovered and documented on the report. A copy of the report is presented to the driver with instructions to present copy to driver’s direct supervisor.
- A “zero violation” report will result in the motor carrier keeping a copy of the report on file for a minimum of 24 months.
- A report with violations discovered and documented on the driver or any piece of equipment being operated must be turned in to the driver’s direct supervisor. This report must be reviewed and any violations must be corrected. Documentation of the repairs performed and the signed MCMIS report must be turned in to the Dupre’ Safety Department personnel at the Lafayette corporate office.
Violations are noted and held against Dupre’ as a company for a period of 24 months. We are evaluated by our CSA scores, of which maintenance is one of the criteria, by existing and prospective customers on a regular basis. As we have grown in many markets and have more and more trucks on the road, this presents increasing opportunity for us to be stopped and inspected. At the same time, many municipalities and organizations are training officers to inspect commercial vehicles as they see this as a way to increase revenue from violations.
We need to get better at ensuring that inspections will have zero deficiencies and need your help to get there. We have a history of success in coming together to address items that need our attention and change.
In an effort to bring awareness and celebrate our success, effective September 1, 2020, Dupre’ will award $25 Gift Cards for all clean “zero violation” inspections. This will be managed by the Safety Department and paid out monthly within 30 days of the completion of the prior month.
Thank You for all you do each and every day.
Doug Roberie
Vice President, Asset Logistics