Eligibility

PHASE 1 – Entry Application Submission

• Will be open from October 3, 2023 – November 10, 2023

PHASE 2 – Verification and Auditing

• Conducted between November 13, 2023 – December 15, 2023

PHASE 3 – Grand Prize Entry

• Will be open from December 18,2023 – January 12, 2024

Purpose of Contest

The 2023 Fleet Safety Awards honor the safest truckload fleets in North America.

Eligibility

To participate in the Truckload Carriers Association’s 2023 Fleet Safety Awards, you must comply with the following:

1. Your company must be a TCA member in good standing at the time of entry form submission and maintain its membership through the time of the awards presentation on March 26, 2024, during TCA’s Annual Convention at the Gaylord Opryland Resort and Convention Center in Nashville, TN. Conglomerate members may submit either a single-entry reflecting aggregate mileage or separate entries for each subsidiary/affiliate company. All subsidiaries/affiliate companies submitted must be TCA members in good standing and maintain their memberships through the aforementioned awards presentation.
2. Your trucking company must operate in the truckload industry and have operating authority in the United States, Canada, or Mexico.
3. You must agree to have pertinent records audited by an independent, qualified, objective auditor of TCA’s choosing (see details under Phase 2 – Verification and Auditing).
4. You must agree to the following obligations:
   1. The Grand Prize winners must have a company representative available for two appearances at TCA events during the year. The events are:
      1. The 2024 Annual Convention, March 23-26 at the Gaylord Opryland Resort and Convention Center, at which time the company representative (chief executive officer preferred) will be presented the Grand Prize award.
      2. The 2024 Safety & Security Division Meeting, June 2-5 in Indianapolis, IN, at which time the safety representative will be honored.
   2. Grand Prize winners may be asked to submit safety information for a flyer to be distributed at the aforementioned Safety & Security Division meeting. The submitted information should highlight the company’s safety program and function as a “visual acceptance speech.”
   3. Division award winners must also have a company representative available for the awards presentation at the aforementioned Annual Convention and Safety & Security Division meeting.

PHASE 1 – Entry Application Submission

Deadline: November 10, 2023

Phase 1 requires you to complete the 2023 Fleet Safety Awards application. The application must be completed online and must be submitted no later than 5:00 p.m. ET on Friday, November 10, 2023. The application must include all company and contact information, the accident and mileage information as defined on the application, and the 2023 Accident Frequency Ratio. The application must also include electronic acknowledgement that all information is correct to the best of the individual’s knowledge and agreement with all awards program obligations and rules.

A U.S. DOT Recordable Accident is defined as follows:

An “accident” required by DOT to be recorded is defined in Title 49, Code of Federal Regulations, Section 390.5 as: “An occurrence involving a commercial motor vehicle operating on a highway in interstate or intrastate commerce (as defined in 390.5) that results in:

1. A fatality;
2. Bodily injury to a person who, as a result of the injury, immediately receives medical treatment away from the scene of the accident; or
3. One or more motor vehicles incurring disabling damage as a result of the accident, requiring the motor vehicle(s) to be transported away from the scene by a tow truck or other motor vehicle.”

The term “accident,” as defined in Title 49, Code of Federal Regulations, Section 390.5, does not include:

1. “An occurrence involving only boarding and alighting from a stationary motor vehicle; or
2. An occurrence involving only the loading or unloading of cargo.”

* While TCA recognizes that FMCSA has established a Crash Preventability Determination Program, the data collected and published through the program cannot be submitted as a part of this competition at this time due to the fact that TCA is an international association and that Canada and Mexico have not yet established corresponding programs. TCA will review the inclusion of this data as the entire North American community moves forward with crash preventability programs.

Mileage is defined as follows:

Mileage is intra- and interstate as reported on the carrier’s International Fuel Tax Agreement (IFTA) quarterly forms for the months of October 1, 2022 through September 30, 2023. If you operate outside the United States, the miles run outside the U.S. must be included in the total mileage and all accidents, whether they occur within or without the U.S., that meet DOT recordable criteria must be included. Additionally, other documents may be required during the verification and auditing process if you operate outside of the U.S.

Based on each company’s entry, TCA will notify the three companies with the best 2023 Accident Frequency Ratios in each of the six divisions by November 13, 2023 (see the online application form for division sizes). Each of the eighteen companies will be invited to participate in Phase II – Verification and Auditing.

Please note: If your company’s U.S. DOT number or its equivalent, actual number of miles, or actual number of accidents differs from the submitted U.S. DOT number, number of miles, or number of accidents, resulting in a lack of verification, your company’s 2023 Fleet Safety Awards application may be disqualified, and your company and its subsidiaries may be ineligible to participate in next year’s Fleet Safety Awards. Any determination is at the sole discretion of TCA and final.

PHASE 2 – Verification and Auditing

Conducted between November 13, 2023 – December 15, 2023

An independent, qualified, objective auditor of TCA’s choosing will be notified of the top three companies in each division and will schedule an audit at each carrier that will take place no later than December 15, 2023. The auditor will verify and audit the following information:

1. Mileage for your entry will be verified against the quarterly International Fuel Tax Agreement (IFTA) mileage reports on file at your company. The visiting auditor will simply review the total mileage and verify that mileage against the total mileage on your entry form. The auditor may require other supporting documents, within reason, to verify annual mileage. If you operate outside the U.S., the miles run outside the U.S. also count and other documents may be required to complete the verification process.
2. The number of DOT recordable accidents will be verified by comparing a current copy of the carrier’s profile against the accident register/insurance loss run reports/actual accident reports as written in Section 390.15 (b). The auditor may require other supporting documents, within reason, to verify DOT recordable accidents. If you operate outside the U.S., accidents occurring outside the U.S. will also be counted using the same standard.

Should an auditor determine that an error was made in accurately completing the entry form, he/she will notify the appropriate representative of the Truckload Carriers Association. Should that entry be disqualified, the next best entry will be selected and placed in line for one of three prizes in the respective category. All decisions by TCA are final.

Based on successful completion of Phase 2, companies will be invited to participate in Phase 3 – Grand Prize Entry. However, if you are invited to participate in Phase 2, we highly recommend you start Phase 3 before invitations to participate are sent out to allow yourself plenty of time. The deadline for Phase 3 is January 12, 2024, but your company’s Phase 2 audit may take place as late as December 15, 2023.

A Word about Confidentiality

The auditor assigned to verify your entry will schedule the audit with the person submitting the entry. The auditor will not copy or distribute any information obtained during the auditing process. When verifying mileage and/or accident data, the auditor will be prohibited from photocopying or reproducing any information obtained and is only there to verify the data supplied on the entry form. In the unlikely event that a discrepancy requiring supporting documentation for verification occurs, it will be the decision of the carrier to provide to TCA the required documentation or to withdraw.

PHASE 3 – Grand Prize Entry

Deadline: January 19, 2024

The Grand Prize is the highest safety honor presented to a member of the Truckload Carriers Association. Each year, TCA recognizes two carriers judged to have the most outstanding safety record and safety program. Carriers with annual mileage of 25 million or fewer miles will compete for one Grand Prize award, while carriers with annual mileage of more than 25 million miles will compete for a separate Grand Prize award.

How to Prepare Your Entry

Entries must be submitted electronically via an e-mail to Hailey Betham at TCA. No hard copies will be accepted. Please follow the guidelines below when preparing your entry. Note that page 1 will be the title page and pages 2-15 should describe the company’s overall safety program and policies as they relate to the areas listed below.

Entries are limited to 15 or fewer pages with no exceptions. Be sure to use at least a 12-point font. Descriptions of each area are limited to single-spaced, one-sided, 8-1/2″ x 11″ typed pages as described below. Unused space may not be used elsewhere in the entry. For example, if the description of your company’s training procedures only requires one-and-a-half pages, you may not use the extra half-page to make another area longer. By following the guidelines below, your entry will be a maximum of 15 pages in length, but may be shorter if necessary. No appendices, documents, or other supporting material will be considered.

Any entry not following these guidelines will be disqualified:

• Page 1: Title page with the following information:
  • Company name
  • Address
  • Telephone number
  • Fax number
  • Name, signature, and title of the person submitting the entry
  • The entry must also contain the name, signature, and title of a company executive, president, or owner with his or her verification that all information contained in the entry is true and correct to the best of his or her knowledge, information, and belief.
• Pages 2-4: Safety Program and Supervision (25 points)
  • This is the single most important section and should be used to describe your safety program and its successes. This is the only section allotted 3 pages.
  • Describe the general company structure supporting the importance of safety and how people interact within that structure.
  • What programs has your company implemented to improve safety and how have you quantified the success of those programs?
  • Describe the lines of communications from driver to CEO.
  • What tools and processes are used to supervise and help drivers/independent contractors on the road?
  • Any systems for conflict resolution?
• Pages 5-6: Employee Driver/Independent Contractor Selection Procedure (15 points)
  • What procedures are in place for driver/independent contractor selection?
  • What is the criterion for acceptance?
  • Interview techniques/procedures
  • Orientation programs
• Pages 7-8: Training (20 points)
  • Programs to identify drivers/employees that need training
  • Any training programs for new drivers/employees?
  • Any training programs for existing drivers/employees?
• Pages 9-10: Accident Investigation and Prevention (15 points)
  • Determination of accidents and corrective actions
  • Evaluation of improvements
  • Procedures for conducting accident investigations
  • Timelines
  • Expert sources
  • Accident review committees or internal reviews
  • Review of reporting agencies for accuracy of data
• Pages 11-12: Inspection and Maintenance of Equipment (15 points)
  • Programs that identify equipment due for preventive maintenance or inspection
  • Redundant checks for 100% compliance
  • How the safety department interacts with the maintenance department
• Pages 13-14: Outside Activities and General Highway Safety (5 points)
  • Company efforts to promote safety to its drivers
  • Company efforts to promote safety for the industry
• Page 15: What Makes Your Safety Program Shine Above the Rest (5 points)
  • This section is designed to express anything that does not naturally fit in any of the other sections.
  • Describe something unique to your company that makes a difference in attitude, morale, or behavior modification.
  • Show tangible evidence that safety is a company priority.

Judging will be based on the thoroughness of programs and policies. Especially important are company efforts to exceed minimum state and federal safety requirements. By reading an entry, a judge should be able to determine the content and effectiveness of a company’s overall safety program.

TCA uses the U.S. DOT’s definition of a “recordable accident” for the purposes of our Fleet Safety Awards.

A U.S. DOT Recordable Accident is defined as follows:

An “accident” required by DOT to be recorded is defined in Title 49, Code of Federal Regulations, Section 390.5 as: “An occurrence involving a commercial motor vehicle operating on a highway in interstate or intrastate commerce (as defined in 390.5) that results in:

1. A fatality;
2. Bodily injury to a person who, as a result of the injury, immediately receives medical treatment away from the scene of the accident; or
3. One or more motor vehicles incurring disabling damage as a result of the accident, requiring the motor vehicle(s) to be transported away from the scene by a tow truck or other motor vehicle.”

The term “accident,” as defined in Title 49, Code of Federal Regulations, Section 390.5, does not include:

1. “An occurrence involving only boarding and alighting from a stationary motor vehicle; or
2. An occurrence involving only the loading or unloading of cargo.”

* While TCA recognizes that FMCSA has established a Crash Preventability Determination Program, the data collected and published through the program cannot be submitted as a part of this competition at this time due to the fact that TCA is an international association and that Canada and Mexico have not yet established corresponding programs. TCA will review the inclusion of this data as the entire North American community moves forward with crash preventability programs.