By Denny Hook

From 1988 to 1992, I was a Safety Director with Old Reliable Transportation. They were located in Albert Lea, MN, but have since gone out of business. They had 35 trucks and had 48 state authority pulling refers. I drove for them before they put me in that position. I had my own office with a name plate that said “Safety Director”. I was more of a monitor/record keeper, and a director in name only. I can’t tell you how many safety meetings I’ve attended during my 50 year driving career. Most of them consisted of a Safety Director reciting a list of do’s and don’ts. If you practiced them you might get an award and an “atta boy” pat on the back. Ignore them and the Safety Director would be breathing down your neck. I’m not saying those methods were wrong and didn’t have positive results, because it established the criteria to measure what a safe driver’s performance looks like. However, knowing the rules doesn’t make you a safe driver unless you consistently apply them. I disagree with the statement: “Safety is an Attitude”. That’s fine as long as you have a good attitude and it never changes. We all can attest to starting the day with a good attitude, and by the end of the day it’s completely “gone south”. Often we let our circumstances control our attitudes. If your attitude is subject to change so quickly, then it is safe to say that your job performance in all areas is affected, unless checked.

I’ve also heard the phrase “Make safety a priority”. However, your priorities can change just as quickly as your attitude. Priorities can be listed from most important to least important. We give special attention to higher priorities, and are willing to sacrifice things with a lower priority. I can start my day with a list of prioritized things to do either on paper or in my mind. It’s almost certain that during the course of the day something will happen that will alter my list. Suddenly, the priority at the top is replaced with a newer and higher priority. Now your focus shifts to the new priority and those below are subject to compromise.

Each one of us has a value system of things we deem important, and that value system determines who you are and what you believe. Values such as: integrity, respect, honesty, giving your best, faith, family, freedom, and so on. These are things we do not compromise! Even on your worst day when your attitude stinks, your values more than likely will remain unchanged. I believe that safety should be a part of every driver’s value system. If it was, our safety mindedness would become a way of life that isn’t “off duty” at the end of the day. Many of us “old timers” long for the “good ol’ days” of trucking. Yes, there have been great improvements in the trucking industry over the years, which I wouldn’t want to give up. However, there was a whole different atmosphere on the highway back then that is so lacking today. Why? I firmly believe it’s a result of a shift in values of our society. Attitudes and priorities are so messed up. We’ve become an “It’s all about me” culture and that negative value is manifested in the way people drive. Look it up, (Matthew 7:20) Jesus said, “You will know people by their actions and the fruit they produce”.

The question then, remains to be answered. Is your safety performance Attitude Oriented or Value Driven? Our attitudes are a frame of mind reflecting our emotions, but values come from your heart. Maybe if we all did a thorough pre-trip inspection of our heart values, we could be better and safer drivers.

Just saying,