Triple Eight Transport: Focus on the Good Things for Safety

October 7, 2024

Attaining the Health and Safety Certificate of Recognition (COR) isn’t about the trophy. It’s about positive thinking and working to keep everyone safe.

Triple Eight Transport earned its COR certification in November 2023 with a score of 98% on their audit, which involved 58 interviews and site observations. .

The company began as many transport companies do, with one man, a truck and trailer, and big plans. Pardeep Arora established Triple Eight Transport in 2006, with the help of his wife, Deepati. Today, Triple Eight Transport is an asset-based carrier with more than 400 trucks, 1000 trailers (reefer, heat, and dry vans), its own maintenance facility, and more than 500 employees. Triple Eight Transport is headquartered in Abbotsford, BC, and operates mainly in western North America.

The name Triple Eight Transport comes from the intersection of 8s in the lives of Mr. and Mrs. Arora. They met on November 8, married on December 8, and their first child was born in the eighth month. It’s an appealing history that has shaped the company’s team spirit and the family values imbued in the company culture.

Triple Eight Transport’s core values include “fostering a positive work environment” and striving for “the highest ethical standards, values, safety, honesty and mutual trust” in a company that invests in its staff, “supporting their growth and continued development.” Those values extend into the company’s safety and compliance programs, which the company notes are “designed, implemented, and reinforced to ensure that our Triple Eight team, customers and customers’ assets are safe.”

Preparing for a COR Audit

As Triple Eight Transport prepared for its COR audit, SafetyDriven provided guidance that helped enhance, apply, and expand the company’s established safety culture. The safety team notes that SafetyDriven was very supportive, responsive to questions, and helped streamline onboarding new members. They ensured the preparedness of Triple Eight Transport drivers on Vancouver Island; they don’t work on the mainland and it would be easy to miss something like an email blast. Auditor John Dunn, who lives on the Island, met the drivers and found their knowledge and safety values excellent. It was clear SafetyDriven was there to help the company succeed.

A Positive Safety Culture

It’s natural to emphasize what goes wrong in our days, rather than recognizing and prioritizing what goes right. While we need to be aware that hazards exist, things can go sideways, and there will be bad days, focusing on good days and what goes well yields more successes. Triple Eight Transport’s safety practices include prioritizing conversations about what went well that week, while also discussing and finding solutions to address any failures. This approach helps to maintain a positive work environment and foster a culture of continuous improvement.

Maintaining a positive attitude has reinforced the company’s health and safety practices; Triple Eight Transport was always a safe place to work, but people became more interested and invigorated by changes they saw as they prepared for the COR audit. Customer Service created flash cards, quizzing each other daily. Accounting had regular safety quizzes. Operations looked for missing training and ensured drivers were up-to-date. In the maintenance shop, they painted lines for walk-ways and made time for staff to clean up at the end of each shift, getting the shop ready for the next shift. The drivers—80% of the company’s workforce—were all on board as they prepared for the audit. In fact, COR would not have been attainable without their support and dedication to safety. They are literally the driving force of Triple Eight Transport.

In the Safety and Compliance Office, the focus is on coaching and mentoring. But you can’t reach people if they don’t stop to listen, so they made the office a more inviting space. Drivers began to stop to say hello rather than dropping off paperwork and leaving quickly. Morning meetings became more than learning opportunities, with contests and thought prompts providing creative ways to keep everyone thinking about teamwork, efficiency, personal safety, and looking out for the other guy. They talk about highlights of the week and celebrate each other’s successes. Safety meetings are campaigns to promote specific aspects of health and safety, such as staying healthy on the road. There is a visible sense of pride among staff.

The Next Audit

Working together to embrace a positive safety culture will help Triple Eight Transport as it expands. Another audit will inevitably come up. And Triple Eight Transport will definitely be ready.

Safety is a Team Effort at JSOK Trucking

August 27, 2024

Drivers are the face of JSOK Trucking. It takes a team to keep them safe on the road.

JSOK Trucking not only earned its Certificate of Recognition (COR) Achievement of Excellence Award (small employer) in 2023—they scored 100% on their COR certification audit. It was their first audit.

An Interesting History

JSOK’s unusual name stands for Jaeger, Smith, Okanagan, reflecting the names of the co-founders, Karl Jaeger and Ken Smith, and the company’s North Okanagan home base in Armstrong. JSOK specializes in one commodity—malt barley—and primarily services its sister company, Gambrinus Malting, under parent company Rahr Malting (Rahr BSG as of February 2024). JSOK Trucking hauls malt across western North America and back-hauls clay from California to BC. It operates with five trucks (pneumatic and Super B), five trailers, and four full-time drivers with part-time drivers brought in as needed. The company is expanding, with the recent purchase of a new Super B and plans for more.

Ken Smith was an IT consultant before joining Gambrinus Malting in 2013, the only industrial malting house in BC. His experience includes finance, governance, strategic planning, and educational development. He spent most of his career updating operations and helping management adapt to a rapidly changing workforce. When Gambrinus’ carrier discontinued its service in 2015, Mr. Smith and Mr. Jaeger started a trucking company to serve Gambrinus’ needs. In 2016, Rahr bought JSOK, with Mr. Smith becoming Director of Operations.

A Robust Safety Culture

As a new company, JSOK Trucking inherited a strong focus on safety from Gambrinus and Rahr. When Leanne Gustavson, a truck driver with 20 years experience, came on board as the Operations Manager in 2022, she saw that JSOK Trucking should formalize its own safety program independent of the other companies. She contacted Gambrinus’ safety manager, who suggested she contact SafetyDriven for the support she would need to develop a robust new safety culture. In 2023, JSOK Trucking partnered with SafetyDriven’s Safety Advisory Services to enhance their existing safety protocols and develop and implement a comprehensive safety program.

Ms. Gustavson credits SafetyDriven with supporting JSOK Trucking at every turn as they developed their new program. The SafetyDriven team was “amazing to work with,” she says, providing resources and advice, always available to answer questions, even outside their regular meetings. She knew it would be lots of work and was unsure what to expect at first, but she knew, however they got through all the modules, she wanted input from the drivers and everyone else.

Determining what their safety culture should look like was a team effort. Ms. Gustavson found that gathering input from everyone, ensuring all were being heard, and asking pertinent questions helped to create better ways to do things. As she notes, “you can’t overlook company culture.” A safety program works best when it reflects everyone’s interests. The safety program did not establish big changes, but it did provide one direction for all. There was no push-back; everyone realized the benefits.

The safety program helps keep everyone connected. Safety meetings are held at least monthly and give everyone the opportunity to express concerns. Operations staff are in touch with drivers every day, making sure they’re okay and trouble-shooting as required. Management ensures drivers have everything they need to operate safely, such as fall restraint harnesses, high vis vests, and work gloves that fit. They also offer financial assistance for the purchase of personal safety equipment.

Online training helps keep drivers up-to-date while they are on the road. Drivers who achieve safety excellence, such as no complaints or incidents, receive an annual bonus. Drivers are encouraged to stay healthy on the road by packing their own nutritious food, installing microwaves in their trucks, stopping to get out of their trucks to take a break or a walk, and to get adequate rest.

Mental health awareness is an integral part of the JSOK Trucking health and safety practice. They provide courses to manage stress and fatigue and how to have better quality food and sleep. Staff can access several services, including counselling, massage, chiropractic treatment, and physiotherapy, anonymously through the employees’ assistance program.

To applaud good performance and in a nod to their primary client, JSOK Trucking uses RahrBSG’s “Cheers to You” program. It comprises cards to complete to acknowledge colleagues’ outstanding performance, with the cards posted in a public area.

A Perfect Audit

Ms. Gustavson led the JSOK Trucking team through their COR certification audit with hard work, transport experience, commitment, and personal strength. During the audit period, she was diagnosed with breast cancer. The team rallied around her, offering lots of support, as she refused time off and forged ahead. It speaks not only to her commitment but to the camaraderie and mutual respect of the team as they worked together to attain a perfect score.

Feature Company: GFL Environmental Inc

August 2, 2024

GFL = Green for Life. It also means communicating safety consciousness.

Those big green garbage trucks you see in British Columbia municipalities are the customer-facing element of a successful and safety-conscious company providing an essential service.

GFL Environmental BC attained its Certificate of Recognition (COR) Achievement of Excellence Award (large employer) for 2023 on June 20, 2024. Getting the award is no small feat; it takes a lot of dedication and hard work to be recognized by SafetyDriven on behalf of WorkSafeBC for the commitment to exceeding basic regulatory safety requirements. GFL’s audit covered 17 of their 48 BC facilities, with interviews of nearly 10% of their 1500 employees.

GFL Environmental is seemingly ubiquitous; you see the green trucks everywhere. The company’s waste hauling trucks include roll-off, front-loads, manual side-loads, and the big trucks with compaction blades we see in our neighbourhoods every week. They also use heavy equipment and tank trucks.

GFL in British Columbia provides several types of service, including hauling residential and commercial solid waste; operating landfills, transfer stations, and recycling facilities; handling liquid waste; and soil remediation. Clearly, safety awareness must cover a wide range of operations.

Safety is all About Communication

Shauna-Rae Swanson, Regional EHS Manager, BC, is passionate about GFL’s work to maintain its safety culture. She is also on the Board of Directors of the Waste Management Association of BC; she is serious about the work of the waste management sector and committed to keeping its workers safe.

GFL in BC is large and growing; it went from 300 to 1500 people across the province in just two years. Expansion has come through acquisition. Each location is like a separate business, raising the bar on the challenges of creating a unified safety culture under the GFL banner; they call the program Safe for Life. How do you bring your safety attitude to so many people working at different jobs in more than 40 sites across the province?

The answer, according to Ms. Swanson, sounds relatively easy; communication. But she notes that communication is more than a simple conversation. It takes relationship-building to open dialogue and create a safe working environment. It requires buy-in and action at all levels. With minimal safety facilitators on the ground, each supervisor and manager is expected to oversee safety.

GFL’s Safe for Life program applies a safety framework that includes: proactive risk assessment; providing necessary resources; coaching and training; using technology; and assessing performance to enable constant improvement.

The company is invested in behaviour-based safety. Everyone is conscious of the need for safe workspaces—spaces that include truck cabs, offices, and conveyor belts at GFL’s recycling facilities. Safety education includes best practices for preventing trips, falls, and musculoskeletal injuries; using safety procedures like 3-point mounting/dismounting, equipment inspections, and safety talks; and protocols for handling hazardous waste. It also includes specific awareness, such as staying alert and avoiding distraction at a moving conveyor belt.

It’s natural for people to be resistant to change. But as Ms. Swanson says, “Change is the catalyst of growth.” Open two-way communication as the company has grown allows trust—and subsequently a solid safety culture—to grow. It is nurtured by a company-wide open-door policy—anyone can raise a safety concern, knowing their feedback will be heard and considered with an open mind.

Making it Work

Communication alone doesn’t create commitment to safety excellence. People need encouragement, coaching, and even a little fun.

GFL BC’s Employee Recognition program offers employees the chance to get their name on the “Stanley Cup,” aka a safety champion award. Recipients must have completed safety training, had no at-fault incidents, encouraged colleagues, and reported hazards. It comes with perks like premier parking. Response has been high, with people asking how to be recognized.

The PAUSE (Pause, Analyze, Understand, Secure, Execute) program provides an opportunity to conduct a last-minute hazard assessment, to stop and think about whether you’re about to do something safely. It suspends the train of thought for a moment.

Adopting technology in vehicles supports risk management and coaching opportunities. GFL has invested in on-board camera systems with enhanced driver alerts. Event recorders and telematics provide positive coaching moments and often protect drivers with recordings of vehicle accidents.

GFL added Life-Saving Rules in 2024, a simple but effective way to avoid complacency. It’s a list of 10 rules that remind people to work safely and includes the types of things you wouldn’t think require reminders—things you might do without thinking, like walking across the yard without looking for moving vehicles.

Team-building is important to a safety culture, because it levels the playing field. GFL activities like quarterly employee appreciation days and social events with the executive group reinforce the camaraderie that helps people look out for others.

At GFL Environmental, being Safe for Life reflects the company’s ongoing pledge to the health and safety of everyone involved in their service. That’s something to talk about.

SafetyDriven Announces 2023 Industry Award Winners

June 25, 2024

SafetyDriven – Trucking Safety Council of BC (TSCBC) proudly held its Annual General Meeting (AGM) in Langley on June 20. The event celebrated the outstanding health and safety achievements of top-performing employers in the trucking, moving, and storage industries. Awards were presented to companies with exceptional performance in their first Certificate of Recognition (COR) audit, as well as to those demonstrating exemplary safety leadership.

The Certificate of Recognition (COR) Program acknowledges and rewards employers who establish and maintain an occupational health and safety management system that meets or surpasses COR certification standards. By adhering to best practices for efficient and safe operations, COR helps companies reduce risks to their employees, operations, and financial stability.

Achieving COR signifies that companies have passed a rigorous management system audit, which includes reviewing documentation and records, employee training and communication, and internal review processes. These companies are also eligible for a 10% rebate on their previous year’s WorkSafeBC premiums.

As a certifying partner for the transportation, warehousing, and related sectors on behalf of WorkSafeBC, SafetyDriven plays a crucial role in the certification process. The COR program is voluntary and available to all employers in BC through their respective certifying partners. Employers interested in the COR program are encouraged to contact WorkSafeBC or SafetyDriven to determine eligibility.

In addition to the COR awards, SafetyDriven presented the Safety Leadership Award to companies and individuals who exhibited exceptional dedication to improving safety standards. These awards honour those who have gone above and beyond to foster a culture of safety within their organizations and contribute to broader industry-wide health and safety improvements. Recipients demonstrated outstanding leadership by implementing innovative safety practices, promoting continuous safety education, and actively engaging their teams in safety initiatives. The individual safety leadership award specifically recognizes those who have significantly contributed to their company’s health and safety programs through unwavering commitment and perseverance, setting a high standard for others to follow.

Darshan Gill, Safety Advisory Services Manager at SafetyDriven, expressed his deep appreciation for the opportunity to work with these exemplary employers and to present them with these prestigious recognitions. “Our 2024 industry award winners have not only raised the bar for excellence in safety but have also shown remarkable dedication and commitment. Their pursuit of continuous improvement is truly inspiring, highlighting their focus on the well-being of their workers,” said Gill. “Their exceptional commitment underscores the critical importance of occupational health and safety, illustrating how it not only saves lives but also fosters a culture of excellence. Kudos to all the winners for their outstanding achievements and for leading the charge toward a safer future in the trucking, moving, and storage industries.”

SafetyDriven is proud to announce the following recipients for the awards below.

2023 COR Achievement of Excellence Award (Small Employer):

Action Environmental Services
JSOK Trucking Ltd.
PL Coast to Coast Trucking

2023 COR Achievement of Excellence Award (Large Employer):

GFL Environmental Inc.
Johnston Equipment – Also the recipient of the Best Overall Large Employer COR Award
Triple Eight Transport Inc.

Safety Leadership Award:

Growers Supply Co Ltd.
Parkland Corporation
Triple Eight Transport Inc.

Individual Safety Leadership Award:

Beant Brar from AKK Cargo & Earthmoving Ltd.
Grant Penn from Growers Supply Co Ltd.
Leanne Gustavson from JSOK Trucking Ltd.
Robert Dike from Triple Eight Transport Inc.

Congratulations to all the winners! Learn more about SafetyDriven’s COR Program here.

For more information on each of the winners, continue reading below.

Action Environmental Services

Action Environmental Services, based in Langley, BC, operates six trucks dedicated to roll on/roll off bin hauling throughout the province. By working closely with SafetyDriven’s Safety Advisory Services, they significantly improved their health and safety program, achieving a flawless score of 100% in their COR certification audit.

AKK Cargo and Earthmoving Ltd., based in Abbotsford, BC, are proudly COR certified. In a company with just two employees, they take great pride in providing On-Time, Dependable, and Secure transportation services. AKK Cargo and Earthmoving Limited specializes in expedited LTL and FTL service for shipments within British Columbia and provinces like Alberta, Manitoba, and Saskatchewan.

GFL Environmental stands as North America’s only major diversified environmental services company, offering a comprehensive range of services in solid waste management, liquid waste management, and soil remediation. Demonstrating their unwavering commitment to safety, GFL underwent a rigorous audit covering 17 of their 48 facilities in BC, which included interviews with nearly 10% of their 1200+ employees. Central to GFL’s operations is their ‘Safe For Life’ culture, underscoring their dedication to the health and safety of every individual. With an impressive audit score of 95%, GFL has exemplified their commitment to maintaining high standards of health and safety.

Growers Supply Co Ltd.

Growers Supply Co. Ltd., supplying agricultural necessities in the Okanagan area for over 83 years, found a natural alignment with SafetyDriven, despite not traditionally being involved in trucking or moving services. Determined to be the first within their parent company’s portfolio to achieve COR certification, they worked closely with SafetyDriven to develop their program and prepare for the audit.

Johnston Equipment, the largest integrated material handling solutions provider in Canada, is deeply involved in any warehouse operation. Their BC location offers a wide range of services, including racking design, sales and service, warehouse automation, mobile equipment sales and service, rentals, parts, and financing. If it looks like a forklift and sounds like a forklift, Johnston Equipment is likely involved. Following 28 interviews and a comprehensive site tour of their BC location, they achieved an impressive score of 98.5%.

JSOK Trucking, headquartered in Armstrong, BC, specializes in providing essential trucking services for malting companies. Additionally, they efficiently manage back-hauling operations, transporting clay from California to BC. In 2023, JSOK Trucking partnered with SafetyDriven’s Safety Advisory Services to enhance their safety protocols. Through this collaboration, they developed and implemented a comprehensive safety program, culminating in the successful completion of their COR certification audit with an impeccable score of 100%.

Parkland Corporation, renowned as a prominent fuel distributor, marketer, and retailer across North America, is widely recognized for Chevron Commercial Cardlocks. Their local team deserves commendation for their proactive support of safety initiatives within the trucking industry and their invaluable assistance to SafetyDriven. In 2023, SafetyDriven engaged with over 2000 workers throughout BC and organized 49 Pop-up Safety Shops at various scales and card-locks. Parkland’s team played a pivotal role by hosting SafetyDriven’s inaugural public event near 200th and 96th, significantly enhancing SafetyDriven’s outreach efforts. Their support has firmly established SafetyDriven as a trusted partner at Parkland Corporation’s locations.

PL Coast to Coast Trucking, a family-run company based in Langley, BC, operates with three dedicated employees and two owner-operators. Despite the challenges of managing a small business, including time constraints and a trip out of town, they began developing their safety program in late 2022. Their perseverance paid off when they submitted their COR audit in early 2023 and achieved a perfect score of 100%.

Triple Eight Transport, based in Abbotsford, BC, specializes in transporting temperature-sensitive products across Western Canada and the Western United States. They ensure the safe hauling of general freight, fresh produce, and refrigerated food. With a workforce of over 400 employees, Triple Eight Transport underwent a rigorous audit involving 58 interviews and site observations. Their exceptional performance earned them an impressive score of 98.1% on their initial certification audit, leading auditors to recommend them for an award.