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My name is Dave Raynsford, I’m the director of safety and compliance at Quik X Transportation Incorporated.
I oversee the safety and compliance operation here with Quik X.
That would be training, driver evaluation, driver qualification, company safety, on premises and on road,
as well as the compliance component of that for all phases of the operation.
First thing in the morning, we review any events that may have occurred during the evening, compliance issues or non-issues,
things that are new to our part of the operation and where we have to go through qualification process with the vehicle operator who comes on board,
information that we’ve received overnight that we need to address in the following day.
We make sure there are qualified vehicle operators and that we’re in compliance,
a safe operation and all other aspects as well.
Today I have to go to various parts of the company and do some inspections and follow-up work.
The first thing I’ll be doing is going on to the dock.
I want to take a look at some hazardous material shipments, and ensure that they’re in compliance, properly labelled,
no leakage, properly packaged—that kind of thing.
What motivated me to start in the safety/compliance end of things was having been a vehicle operator on the highway, understanding that perspective.
I wanted to share that with others—to pursue that—
and wanted to ensure that I could at least pass on something that would be beneficial to future vehicle operators coming into the business.
There are varying degrees of education and training required.
In my case, I graduated from the ranks and took formal post-secondary training at various colleges within the industry to bring myself up to the position I’m in…
for example, accident investigation, dangerous goods or hazardous materials, hours of service…
They are core requirements for a position such as this.
This is a dangerous goods or hazardous materials spill kit.
We would look at this in terms of dealing with any minor spills that we would have around the trucks or on the dock,
and it’s just to ensure safety for the employees as well as immediate alleviation of any problems.
The rate of pay for a position in this industry relative to safety and compliance will vary anywhere from forty-five, fifty thousand dollars,
up as high as probably 120 thousand dollars depending upon the scope of the position, the magnitude and the size of the company.
The downside of this business is collision investigation, because that means that someone’s been hurt, there’s a claim involved.
I don’t want to see anyone that’s exposed to that, and there’s a high risk of exposure in this business, but that’s the downside.
It’d be very hard to pinpoint what I enjoy most about this work.
I really do love my work. I love the whole of it. Dealing with people is what I love the most, and this business is very conducive to that.
To move toward a position like this, I think you need interpersonal skills and common sense, a passion for the industry and what goes on…
and you have to want to work with people and want to help them.
After I’m finished on the loading dock, I’m going to go to the maintenance shop. I want to take a look at a couple of units that we have in for inspection.
Our company policy is to inspect independent operator units before we contract with them, as well as twice yearly,
so I want to just catch up on that and make sure that everything’s in position, so that we can accept these independent operators into our company.
People think it’s easy. It isn’t. There’s an awful lot of detail work that goes into this, and it’s basically twenty-four hours a day, seven days a week.
Safety and compliance in this industry itself come from within,
if you want to be working in this industry from that particular position, you have to realize that safety is not just something you aspire to,
it’s something that comes from within.