Walmart continues its winning streak in the National Truck Safety Contest.
The drivers of Walmart’s private fleet are known for their professionalism and focus on safety. That commitment was recognized on a national stage last week at the American Trucking Associations (ATA), where Walmart won first place in two categories for its 2020 performance!
Double Wins
- No. 1 in National Truck Safety: The first win is in the ATA’s General Commodities Truckload/Line-haul Division. It’s for companies with drivers who cover more than 250 million miles, and it’s given based on the low number of accidents for the number of miles driven.
- No. 1 in National Industrial Safety: The second award is in the General Commodities Truckload Division. It's for companies with more than 1,000 employees and is given for the low number of OSHA-classified driver injuries.
Grady Hunt, a senior manager for Environmental, Health and Safety based in Youngsville, Louisiana, says the teamwork at Walmart—with operations, the safety team and drivers all working together—makes recognition like this possible.
“It starts with onboarding, where we bring in new drivers, with the training that we give them. It continues with the safety culture in the fleet and in each office,” Grady says. “It's just a day-to-day operational push to be the safest fleet.”
The real stars, Grady says, are the drivers.
“We support them and train them, but ultimately, they're behind the wheel doing a great job every day,” he says. “They have an outstanding record when it comes to on-road operation.”
Karri Jameson, senior director for Supply Chain/Transportation Environmental Health & Safety, and Rocky Griffith, general transportation manager of the St. James, Missouri, Transportation Office, were in Orlando, Florida, for the 2022 Safety, Security & Human Resources National Conference & Exhibition in late April to receive the awards.
“These awards are the hard work and dedication of our drivers embracing safety culture,” explains Karri. “It's a privilege and an honor to step on the stage for the drivers and accept this award on behalf of them, as they are truly the ones who have earned this award.”
A Foundation for Safety
Walmart has actually won the National Truck Safety Contest award 15 times in the past 20 years.
“It just shows the passion for our drivers to keep not only themselves safe, but the general public safe on the road,” Karri says. “That Walmart has been able to maintain the safest private fleet on a national standard is just phenomenal.”
Even with so many awards under its belt, Walmart has not become complacent about safety. There’s always more work to do.
“It’s just phenomenal where the program is at and where it's going. Safety is 24/7, 365,” says Karri. “Our goal is to strive for zero—zero injuries and zero preventable collisions.”
