In 2004, Dupre Transport was recognized as the safest transportation and logistics company in Louisiana. From left: Brian Friesing, director of operations, site logistics; Reggie Dupre, CEO; Bruce Bartals, general manager, asset-based logistics; Doug Place, CFO; Al LaCombe, director of safety; Tom Voelkel, COO; and Jim Butler, director of operations, tank division.

In early 2000, Lafayette, La.-based Dupre` Transport reached a painful climax to what had already been a bad time for the company. In 61 days, Dupre` Transport had three severe accidents, leading to a moment of truth for Reggie Dupre`, chief executive officer, and other senior managers.

“We were hurting people, and one of our company values is that we treat our people like we want to be treated,” says Doug Place, chief financial officer of the 300-truck carrier. “We decided that we were either going to get safe or sell the business.”

Since that time, Dupre` Transport has reinvented itself from top to bottom with the goal of becoming the safest carrier in North America. In the past five years, management has implemented and continues to refine a number of new safety awareness, training and accountability programs and technology tools.

In early 2000, the company laid the bedrock of its safety turnaround by launching a behavior-based training and awareness program, “AIM for Safety.” The company uses this program to analyze and document each work step for safety hazards, from doing a pre-trip inspection to unloading a trailer. Each time management identifies a new task, it assigns a manager and a group of drivers to document the task using a job safety analysis (JSA). The JSA then is entered into a database and distributed for fleetwide training and awareness, says Al LaCombe, Dupre` Transport’s director of safety.

In fall 2000, management sought additional help from its insurance carrier, which referred the company to Circadian Technologies, a Lexington, Mass.-based fatigue management consulting firm. Circadian had several railroad clients, but Dupre` Transport was to become the first in the trucking industry, LaCombe says.

Circadian consultants began their work by gathering accident data and hours-of-service records from driver logs. They also conducted interviews with drivers and managers to evaluate work schedules, such as days off, length of shift and break times.