Mr. Keylon,
As an employee of Vitran I would like to share my thoughts on what will help improve the company. I hope you find time to read, and perhaps reply to my open letter to you. I know many of us on this forum hope you read some of the posts here.
Safety. Our TSA Score is terrible. During my time at Vitran I have been amazed at the lack of attention to safety. This continues today. While safety is ultimately the responsibility of the driver they have to have support from supervisors, managers, mechanics and those who load the trailers.
The culture is not changing with new management. The Old Vitran Way is infecting new management. I have personally seen new-hire Fed Ex management pressure drivers to run overweight and out of service. This is partially how load average, cut times, and delivery times have improved. From my experience about 65% of Vitran drivers have no interest in safety. For some drivers it is because of pay. Some drivers are just lazy and need to be fired.
Management and supervisors needs to take safety serious. Recently I saw a group of drivers take a "Haz Mat Test". The answer key was provided by management (who left the room) so everyone should have made a 100%. Most drivers spent 5 minutes copying the answer key and 40 minutes talking. They all got paid for 45 minutes. There was no training. I recently saw a dock manager secure 18,000 pounds of flammable liquid in barrels with two pieces of nylon rope tied to the swing door hinges. When the driver said something the manager laughed about it.
OS&D. We all see on a daily basis the amount of damage done to our customers' product. It is a shame. Dock workers need to be taken serious as a vital part of the team. They need load bars, straps, decking and training in loading procedures in general and Haz Mat loading in particular.
Pressuring for load average is great, but when it causes damages or overweight tickets it is counter productive.
Service. Our deliveries cannot be made when a Line-Haul driver is broken down on the road, put out of service, or waiting for another driver to come and unload part of an overweight trailer. This goes back to safety as well. While safety is great for safety's sake it also keeps trucks moving and things on time. Many of our trucks and trailers are old, but a thorough daily pre and post trip by every driver in the system would have the fleet up to par in a short time.
P and D drivers need their trailers loaded in some sort of order that makes sense to the way it will be unloaded. The load order will speed up deliveries and reduce injuries.
P and D drivers are the representatives of Vitran. They have more face time with customers than anyone. While efficiency is needed for profit, these drivers need to have a good attitude about their job, and some of that has to start with them feeling as though management is there to support them in their duties.
Investment. Vitran has invested money in many things. Vitran has invested in trucking companies. Money has been invested in executives, management and supervisors from other companies. Much needed equipment and technology have been bought. All of those investments have help set us on a path to success.
There are a lot of employees who either need intense retraining or to be fired. The rules cannot be enforced, and the bad apples weeded out when there is no one more qualified to replace them.
Now is the time to invest in the workers. How much? That is up to you and the board. Do you want the same quality of service as Old Dominion? If so, the pay and benefits need to equal it (this includes health insurance and retirement plans). Would you tell the employees at Vitran we want to provided a service superior to Old Dominion? If so, the pay and benefits need to exceed those at Old Dominion.
All investments so far will be for not if the investments are not seen through to the heart, hands, and feet of the company.
The last investment I would like to see made is one of a type of education. I believe every employee needs a basic understanding of how their job performance effects the job of others. I see the LTL business as a link of thousands of simple tasks that have to be done with great detail at the same time everyday to keep the chain together. When one person misses a task it sends a ripple through the whole chain that can extend for several states and days until that mistake is absorbed. We all need to know that we are not just here to do "our job" but to help make the job of the next person go smoothly.
While I see many opportunities for improvement, and some that are needed to survive, I can say I have seen a lot of improvements so far. I have enough seniority at Vitran that it means something, and I want to stay at Vitran. However, I have to be practical, and perhaps step out of my comfort zone to start over somewhere else. Regardless of whether or not I stay I believe the resolution of the above issues are central to the success of Vitran.
Thank you for your time, LUCI
