Some lessons in trucking come from textbooks. The ones that actually stick come from experience, and sometimes from incidents that should never have happened in the first place.
Alan Welsh, the founder and creator of Changing Lanes Academy, has over 10 years of experience as a safety manager across multiple trucking companies. During that time, he took one carrier from the lowest safety ranking in their industry all the way to number one.
He's seen firsthand what happens when safety training is inconsistent, ignored, or missing entirely.
Below are three real incidents from his career, and what each one taught him about why proper safety training and documentation aren't just best practices.
Lesson One: A Policy Without Accountability Is Just a
Piece of Paper
A driver left a large pipe wrench sitting on the fender of his truck. The driver was traveling at 60 mph when the pipe wrench fell off, bounced off the highway, and went through the windshield of the car traveling behind him, which ended up striking the passenger in the head and causing severe injuries.
Alan’s company had a policy requiring drivers to complete a full 360-degree walkaround before leaving a work site. The problem wasn't the policy. It was that nobody was enforcing it.
After the incident, Alan began auditing random dashcam footage to hold drivers accountable. The results went beyond safety; they also recovered lost tools and equipment, and prevented multiple near misses. But more importantly, the safety program was updated to explain the why behind every policy. Drivers who understand why a rule exists are far more likely to follow it than those who see it as paperwork.
The lesson: Training needs to explain the rationale, not just the rule. And accountability needs to be built into the system, but just not assumed.
Lesson Two: Drivers Who Skip Training Are Your Biggest
Risk
A driver hauling a tanker full of oil reached across the seat to grab a bag of chips, drifted too close to the road's edge, went down a steep embankment, and rolled. The cab separated from the chassis and the tanker leaked oil.
Alan had already tried to provide distracted driving training for his drivers, which most didn’t show up because they didn’t like that this training applied to them.
Shortly after, a second driver was in a rollover while texting. Alan’s company ended up losing a major customer over safety concerns, was short on equipment and drivers (well, because one was injured and one was suspended due to texting and driving), and was buried in OSHA reports and workers' comp bills.
Alan later created and implemented safety training for his team that was mandatory and could be completed anywhere at any time.
The lesson: Training that drivers won't complete is no training at all. Format and accessibility matter.
Lesson Three: Compliance Isn't Optional, Even When the Accident Isn't Your Fault
A drunk driver crossed the center line and struck a truck that was traveling correctly in its own lane. Alan and his company expected a straightforward outcome.
Instead, the defense attorney argued that the truck shouldn't have been on the road at all because the driver had a logbook violation. Alan’s company was found at fault. A drunk driver crossed the center line, hit a truck doing nothing wrong, and the carrier lost because their driver's hours-of-service documentation didn't hold up.
Turns out, Alan’s company had never provided proper ELD and logbook training. That gap turned a clear-cut situation into a costly one.
The lesson: Compliance training isn't just about passing audits. It's about making sure that when something outside your control goes wrong, your operation can't be blamed for it.
The Common Thread
Three different incidents. Three different causes. One common factor: gaps in safety training and documentation that turned bad situations into catastrophic ones.
The carriers who avoid these outcomes aren't lucky. They're prepared.
See how Changing Lanes Academy helps carriers close these gaps before they become incidents. Demo our first two courses for free.
If you are an Aladdin Safety customer, please contact the Aladdin Safety team to receive your login credentials.
Login or sign up to start learningLogin to start learning
