In Gear - Today's Trucking

Street Smarts
MANAGING PEOPLE, TECHNOLOGY, BUSINESS, AND SAFETY
Simulating Conversation
safety dept How to prep your drivers for emergencies before
they happen. By Duff McCutcheon
Ever have a steer-tire blow out? We
pray you never do. But if it happens,
here’s a suggestion: Don’t
hit the brakes. Instead, gently apply some
power, look for a safe place to get off the
road, then ease off, and bring the unit to
a stop.
That’s what the drivers at Winnipeg’s
Bison Transport are taught, and they put
this into practice from within the safe
confines of the company’s state-of-the-art
driver training simulator. It sure beats
learning on the road.
Bison’s three simulators play an integral
part in the company’s Tatonka training
program—an ongoing skills-development
program for drivers that focuses on
improving the level of operator safety and
INSIDE:
29 How to deliver bad news
35 When kin become crew
FREIGHT-FREE TRAINING: Simulators let
new drivers make big mistakes, safely.
reducing the risk of collision for all its
drivers, from rookie to veteran.
“It’s a refresher program that uses
advanced technologies such as simulators
and computer-based learning, as well as
classroom instruction, to update drivers’
skills,” says David Klassen, Bison’s manager
of driver development. “I compare our
program with the airline industry, where
they use simulation and advanced technology
to review emergency procedures
for their pilots.”
While Bison was the first Canadian
fleet to start implementing simulator
training, other fleets are catching on.
Cambridge, Ont.’s Challenger Motor
MARCH 2006 25