On the road, things can happen in an instant.
With 3,000 drivers in 15 states continuously stocking beverages in thousands of locations, the safety team at Coca-Cola Consolidated, Inc. in Charlotte, North Carolina are keenly aware of this.
“Due to the nature of our business, our drivers are constantly in and out of their trucks,” said Greg Dodson, Coca-Cola Consolidated’s Director of Operational Risk and Compliance. “They may make a delivery in one location and drive a quarter of a mile down the road to make another delivery.”
With so many short trips, it can be tempting to forego wearing a seat belt. After all, what can happen in a mile or two?
A lot, as you can see in the clip below that was shared with the team.
Two Coca-Cola Consolidated team members found out that it only takes a fraction of a second for something to go wrong. In the video, their vehicle is struck from behind, causing the Coca-Cola tractor to roll over. The vehicle that hit them, an F-250 passenger truck, had tried to pass, but instead spun out of control on the wet road, and collided with the Coca-Cola Consolidated tractor.
“They could have been severely injured, but fortunately, both were wearing their seat belts,” Dodson said. “When we saw these videos come through, we wanted to get the message out to the team and recognize these drivers for doing the right thing.”
Dodson’s crew produced the video showing the event clips, along with a simple message: “Thank you, Delivery Team, for wearing your seatbelt every day.”
“When we have drivers do the right thing, it fires us up and inspires us,” Dodson explained.
Dodson’s efforts, combining positive recognition with reminders, has helped Coca-Cola Consolidated drive a 38 percent improvement in seat belt use in the past six months.
“For us, this is extremely important,” he said. “Because things like this can happen at a moment’s notice.”
This is especially critical for distribution and field service drivers, whose jobs require them to get in and out of their vehicles multiple times a day in between relatively short trips on busy urban and suburban roadways.
Most if not all commercial fleets such as Coca-Cola Consolidated’s try to reinforce the message through regular communications with their drivers. Dodson’s team amplifies the message further by combining impactful video with a message of gratitude to really drive the point home.
For more information on the importance of seat belts, check out this article: What Driving Without a Seat Belt Says About Your Drivers.
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