How Hermes Builds a Culture of Road Safety

How Does Hermes Promote Road Safety to Truckers?

What comes to mind when you think about truck driving?

What about reliability? The trucker is a prompt deliverer, who works hard to get us what we need ahead of schedule.

There’s also bravery. Truckers drive into unfamiliar territory and through varying weather conditions, all in a day’s (or a night’s) work.

But for anyone who has ever worked in the industry, one word should rise above all others – safety.

Safe driving habits are important no matter what you’re driving. But when it’s a 30- or 40-ton truck, road safety takes on a whole new meaning.

It’s why Hermes demands, empowers, and rewards safety every time one of our drivers is on the road.

Technology: Empowering Safe and Smart Driving

While the customer is always right, it’s the employees who come first. It’s proven that taking care of your team helps them take care of everyone else.

This is why we equip our drivers with high-quality equipment, designed to help make every trip as safe and comfortable as possible. Meet the Volvo VNL 760. It’s more than just livable – it’s built for road safety.

Volvo VNL 760 Safety Specs and Features

For almost a decade, Volvo has been a trailblazer in truck driving safety. That’s why we chose the Volvo VNL 760 to lead our fleet.

In order for our drivers to feel confident they are operating the safest possible vehicle, we’ve outfitted each truck we own with every safety feature available. Each vehicle comes equipped with LED lighting for better visibility, side-impact airbags for rollover protection, and collision detection with audio and visual warnings.

Volvo Enhanced Stability Technology (VEST) is a system that can detect when a truck is at risk of jackknifing or rolling over. The system can reduce engine torque and even apply brakes to help the trucker remain in control.

Adaptive loading is also included to stabilize the loading and unloading processes, as well as help the driver in hazardous conditions or on steep elevation.

The True Role of Safe Driving Technology

When we ask ourselves, “how safe are truck drivers?” it depends on which driver we’re talking about.

Every driver is different, and even the safest ones can have a lapse of focus. That’s why safety is an ongoing commitment and an active process.

The role of technology is to assist the driver, effectively closing the safety gap, whatever it may be, based on the driver, the road conditions, and other factors of the moment.

Is truck driving a dangerous job? It can be. But a focused driver with the right safety technology riding shotgun can enjoy a much safer trip every time.

Incentives: Created to Incentivize Safety

Life is about incentives. Stimuli, both good and bad, drive us to make decisions. For truckers driving down the road under the Hermes banner, their actions reflect more than just one person.

To continue building up a culture of safe truck driving, Hermes made it clear to drivers that safety violations would cost them, as they could cost anyone on the road much more.

A violation against the company’s account will cost the driver two cents per mile in pay. However, we know that negative incentives aren’t enough.

Bonus Options Reward Safe Driving

At Hermes, we value our drivers. We mentioned road safety is an active and involved process and we believe in rewarding drivers for that extra effort.

Safe truck driving can help you earn an additional cent per mile. The idea is to get drivers in a good routine of safe driving habits, so they integrate those habits on every journey they make.

Small efforts at safety add up, just like the miles and the money they come with.

What Habits Will Keep You (and Others) Safe?

Even in a large truck with literally tons of freight in tow, safe driving is simply about smart habits. All it takes is adherence to some core safety guidelines.

The road safety basics of signaling before changing lanes and distance between vehicles still remain. But there are a few other aspects of safe driving that are unique to trucking. They include:

• Avoid Harsh Braking: It’s one thing to slam on the brakes in a passenger car. However, doing so in a truck can send your trailer into the next lane – all the better reasons to maintain a safe speed and keep your eyes on the road.
• Prevent Rollbacks: Even if you put plenty of distance between your truck and the cars in front of it, you can’t make the ones behind you do the same. This means you need to know how to pull away from a stop without rolling back into a careless tailgater.
• Stay Vigilant ALWAYS: It’s easy to be distracted by our scenery, our actions, or even our thoughts. But the best way to stay safe on the roads isn’t to constantly run through a long list of dos and don’ts. It’s being trained and staying vigilant at all times.

With these tips, you can protect yourself and others – all while making extra money for your efforts.

Feedback: What Do Our Drivers Say About Safety?

Nearly every workplace boasts some level of safety compliance and some collection of guidelines. However, do their results reflect it?

The true measure of a company’s commitment to safety can be understood by talking to its employees. What do ours say?

Here’s Ramoundas Bertrand’s take on the value of the rest:

“I get plenty of rest. Sometimes I really thought 10 hours of rest would be too much, but sometimes it’s not enough and I’ll take 11 or 12 hours, but it’s not a problem because I still get to my destination on time.”

Then there’s Jessica McCorkle, who spoke favorably of the support system Hermes offers:

“But Hermes is really, really, really good about keeping their trucks up to driving conditions, like they really make sure that the tires are good. There’s a guy, if your truck is ever on the yard, they know where their trucks are at all times, they come out there first thing, check all your tires, the trailer tires, and then if you have a problem, they fix it before you leave back out.”

These are just a couple of the ways we empower our team for safety – because that’s what we are, a team. We’re all in this together, so it’s the company’s job to equip and reward the workers for doing what’s needed.

The Goal of Building Safer Roads for All

Even if drivers don’t know one another, they share the roads in massive machines moving many miles per hour. It’s a group effort to keep the roads safe.

At Hermes, we know that every action taken by a manager, driver, or any other staff member reflects on our company as a whole. It’s why we encourage safety as a team in an effort to create safer roads and bring to mind an image of safety when anyone says their name, Hermes.

Ready to help us maintain our goal of being known as the carrier that puts road safety first? We reward any trucker who puts forth effort and commits to safe driving habits. If you’re interested in getting on the road with us, click here.