• Policies (the “what”) and procedures (the “why” and “how”) go together by setting guidelines for employees to follow and naming methods for achieving them.

Effective safety management begins with policies and procedures. Policies provide a simple explanation of what a motor carrier will and will not allow. Having policies that clearly state what is expected allows everyone, including supervisory and management personnel, to see the company’s safety and compliance vision and goals. The policies should be simple, straightforward, and measurable, with no room for interpretation. Policies also need to cover the consequences of failure to follow the policies.

If policies are the “what” and “why,” procedures are the “how to.” They explain how to accomplish policies and establish a means to verify that employees and management are complying with the policies.

For example, an hours-of-service policy might require all commercial drivers (and dispatchers and supervisors) to comply with federal hours-of-service rules and explain the consequences of failing to do so. Corresponding procedures may explain which log form to use, how and when to submit logs, whether to use the 60- or 70-hour limit, how logs are to be audited, etc.

Some carriers choose not to have procedures but instead use their policies to dictate everything, and that is acceptable. For any policy to be truly effective, it must be distributed and understood by everyone in the company (see training and communication below), and it must not conflict with any other policies that are in place. As an example of conflicting policies, an hours-of-service policy may require strict adherence to the rules while another policy may require drivers to always deliver on time, no matter what. This would make it impossible for a driver to comply with both policies at the same time.

Policies and procedures do not need to match the regulations; in fact, they can exceed them. Doing so may be advantageous, but companies should make sure that a more stringent policy does not conflict with another area of regulation or law. For example, a hiring policy that exceeds minimum Department of Transportation requirements may violate fair hiring practices under employment laws.