National Refrigerated Trucking

Posts Tagged ‘National refrigerated trucking’

2 Tips to Eliminate CSA Inspections and Traffic Tickets

By David Lemke

Control your speed. The #1 reason for getting stopped and inspected is speeding. (Not surprisingly the #1 cause of accidents is also speeding- thus the focus.) Lane violations, tailgating, and other aggressive behaviors are also guaranteed to get the attention of law enforcement. CMV enforcement personnel don’t need a reason (probable cause) to stop and inspect a truck, but you don’t need to give them one. Simply put, drive safely and professionally and you’ll virtually eliminate your odds of being targeted for inspection. [By the way, there is no law requiring law enforcement to “give 10 MPH” or even 1 MPH over a posted speed limit. Even driving the speed limit when road, weather, or traffic conditions dictate a slower speed is a violation (speed too fast for conditions) in many jurisdictions.
Inspect and maintain your equipment. A light out, tire with cord/belt exposed, or other easily-spotted equipment defect will get you pulled over (or pulled behind a scale) every time. Do your pre-trip inspection. Report defects and get them repaired before hitting the road. A truck with a headlight out pulling into a scale is almost certain to get a red light. Don’t make yourself an easy target.

Look us up at www.navajo.com

1-800-525-1969

Stop by and see us at

1400 W. 64th Ave.

Denver, CO 80221

Recognition For a Job Well Done

By Whit Welch

One of our customers took the time this week to comment on working with Navajo. As a member of the Sales Team, I get comments from our customers on a regular basis. Sometimes it’s a formal report; sometimes it’s an e-mail or a phone call. Generally these comments have to do with an issue. We deliver loads safely and on time 98% of the time. Unfortunately, it’s the other 2% that everyone wants to talk about. That is the nature of our business. However, this week one of our customers recognized a member of the Navajo Service Team for her outstanding work.

Marsha Browning has been recognized by Mattel for her ability to service this account. Mattel cited Marsha for her attitude, communication skills, and her ability to solve problems. Our growth with Mattel is a direct result of the service Marsha provides. Marsha was nominated by Gayle Martin at Mattel. Out of all of the carriers that Gayle deals with, she chose Marsh at Navajo for this award. I would like to thank Marsha for her exceptional work and congratulate her for providing such service to our customer. Good service is what defines successful trucking companies. Marsha is a great example of the type of company Navajo is.

Are You Ready If You Have Any Accident

By Ron Wristen

Macro 10:

We all know an accident can happen at any time. That is why they are called “Accidents”. Make sure you are prepared for an accident. If you are involved in an accident, be sure to get as much information as possible from the other driver and put your comments in the section in Macro 10.

Does your truck have an accident kit? If you don’t then you need to stop by Safety to get one!

Accident Kit consist of:

Vehicle Accident Policy Procedures

Exoneration Card/Witness Card

“If you have an accident” Envelope

Driver Statement

Chain of Custody & U/A Cup

Disposable Camera

Fedex Envelope & Shipping Label.

Make sure you are prepared in the event of an accident.

DOT Bars Commercial Drivers from Texting

By David Lemke

WASHINGTON – The Transportation Department is prohibiting truck drivers from sending text messages while operating commercial vehicles.

The prohibition, which applies to drivers of interstate trucks over 10,000 pounds. Truck drivers who text while driving commercial vehicles may be subject to civil or criminal penalties of up to $2,750, the department said. Research by the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration shows that drivers who send and receive text messages take their eyes off the road for an average of 4.6 seconds out of every 6 seconds while texting, the department said. At 55 miles per hour, this means that the driver is traveling the length of a football field, including the end zones, without looking at the road, the department said.

Look us up at www.navajo.com

1-800-525-1969

Stop by and see us at

1400 W. 64th Ave.

Denver, CO 80221

Trucking And Your Back – Avoiding Injuries

By David Lemke

Back injuries happen in the trucking industry. Back injuries account for over 37% of all musculoskeletal injuries in truck drivers.

Tips to prevent them!

GOOD POSTURE – We all heard this growing up: “Sit up straight. Don’t slouch.” As it turns out, this is good advice. Slouching is very stressful on your back. It weakens your back muscles and causes a slow degeneration of the discs between your vertebrae, which can cause herniated or slipped disks. Poor posture can also impinge nerves and cause pain in other places such as the legs. To improve posture, move your hips all the way to the back of the seat. Lean slightly back to a comfortable position. If the back of the chair is rounded, place a small cushion in the space created between your lower back and the chair. This will cause a healthy sitting position and prevent you from curving your back to the shape of the chair.

GET OUT AND STRETCH – Muscles need to be stretched before use. Simple stretches can prevent injury. For example, place one foot on the step of the truck while stretching the back leg in a lunge position. Bend the front knee and push the hip forward, hold for 20 seconds, and repeat with the opposite leg. Touching your toes or bending backwards with your hands on your hips will also help to stretch tight back muscles. Gently rotating the head from side to side and front to back a few times can relieve tension that builds up in neck muscles.

Look us up at www.navajo.com

1-800-525-1969

Stop by and see us at

1400 W. 64th Ave.

Denver, CO 80221

Reefer and O,S,& D Refresher

By Tina Madrid

Due to the warmer temperatures at this time of the year we need to be extra careful when hauling refrigerated loads. When you are dispatched on one of these loads make sure your reefer unit is working correctly. Check the unit for any codes it may be displaying and check all fluid levels. This is required during your DOT pre trip inspection. Check the bill of lading for the required temperature and make sure the reefer unit is set correctly and the temperature is in Fahrenheit.

If there is a temperature requirement shown in our dispatch and it is different from the bill of lading, GO BY THE BILL OF LADING. If you are having issues with the reefer unit put in a breakdown macro immediately as well as a Macro 5. If you have any doubt what so ever please contact the Navajo OS&D department by sending in a macro 5 or give us a call. If we all work together as a team we will be successful.

OS&D Contacts: Tina @ Ext. 0770 Kelly @ Ext. 0701

NAVAJO EXPRESS DRIVER APPRECIATION 2012

By Marlene Settlemire

Navajo will be celebrating Driver Appreciation the week of August 17^th-21^st. All terminals will participate in the event.

Food will be served.

Activities such as truck rodeo, tug of war, fishing tournament and dunk tank.

Truck rodeo competition will be held at selected terminals before the week of driver appreciation and the finals will be held at the Denver terminal during the week of driver appreciation.

Drivers that would like to submit a design and logo for this year’s shirt need to send their entry to maw@navajo.com

Driver send in the names of the office employees in the Denver terminal that you would like to see in the dunk tank!

More detail to come as the date get closer!

Service Is Our Businesss, And Business Is GOOD

By Jim Schram

Navajo Express, Inc had another great service month for Hershey’s! In the Month of May

Navajo had 60 loads out of theOgden,UT facility to the McLane distribution facilities with only 2 loads that had on-time issues. This left us with a 97% on-time rating for the month of May.

I would like to thank all of the Navajo team for your hard work and dedication toward keeping our customers satisfied and continued success stories like these!

Jim Schram

VP of Sales and Marketing

Look us up at www.navajo.com

1-800-525-1969

Stop by and see us at

1400 W. 64th Ave.

Denver, CO 80221

NHTSA Proposes Mandatory Stability Control

By David Lemke

Ordering your Class 7 or 8 truck tractor without stability control may not be an option a few years from now. Although electronic stability control systems (ESCs) are currently available as an option, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration wants to make them mandatory. The agency is issuing a proposed rulemaking on ESCs this month, estimating that a standard requiring them on large trucks and buses would prevent up to 2,329 crashes, eliminate an estimated 649 to 858 injuries, and prevent between49 and 60 fatalities a year.

The draft of the rulemaking estimates that the cost-per-vehicle will be $1,160. It’s not clear from a first reading of the proposal whether that is the additional cost to the person buying the vehicle or the cost to the manufacturer. But this proposal will certainly increase the price tag on future power units

ATA Pushes for CSA Changes

By David Lemke

Navajo Safety

Trucking industry leaders called on the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration Tuesday to make changes to its safety monitoring system, which they said assigns scores that have little correlation to carriers’ crash risks. American Trucking Associations said the Compliance, Safety, Accountability program has a number of flaws, and asked that the agency improve issues related to crash accountability, research showing links between safety and CSA’s violation categories and the publication of scores in those categories. “From the outset, ATA has supported FMCSA’s efforts to improve its enforcement capabilities through CSA,” ATA President Bill Graves said in a statement. “However, recently our members have become concerned that the agency has become increasingly unresponsive, even in the face of data and logic.” In March, FMCSA said it would delay implementing a system that would assign violation points to carriers through CSA that reflected whether a carrier was responsible for a crash.

Look us up at www.navajo.com

1-800-525-1969

Stop by and see us at

1400 W. 64th Ave.

Denver, CO 80221