David A Kolman
David Kolman has shaped the trucking industry through his extensive hands-on experience as a truck owner and operator and communications professional throughout the past 25 years. His...more
I was visiting with some colleagues the other day and one of them asked: “Read any good books lately?”
“As a matter of fact,” I piped up, “I just finished a very interesting book, and I highly recommend reading it.”
The book is What a Job is Worth, How To Come Out on Top, written by Sylvester Stevenson. It is most enlightening and educational, providing some keen insight into surviving and thriving in the corporate world.
Stevenson is a veteran sales and marketing executive with more than 30 years of experience in the world of business. In his book, he shares the lessons he has learned to help others put the business world into perspective, set realistic expectations and understand the evolution of a career.
He offers some fundamental rules business people ought to follow in order to be successful, and talks about what their role should be in achieving objectives.
Early on in the book, Stevenson observes: “In the corporate world, it’s not enough to just do the right things. You must do them in the right way, as the methods in accomplishing the task at hand is as important as the work itself.”
Of particular interest to me were the mind “exercises” Stevenson provided as a way to get co-workers to act and think differently, or where the business person himself must act and think differently to prevail. One of my favorites was the “Zombies” game.
A key message that I took away from Stevenson’s What a Job is Worth, How To Come Out on Top is that life in the corporate world is not all about getting to the top, but more about enjoying the ride.
I would call this short, easily read and understood book a survival guide to bring reason into the workplace. It’s well worth a read.
If you’re not a big reader, not to worry, the book is also available as an audio book.
What a Job is Worth, How To Come Out on Top can be found in many bookstores through Tate Publishing or Amazon.
I welcome your thoughts and comments.
To leave yours, click on the “No Comments” link below.
Remember that British television show from years ago, “The Prisoner?”
Actor Patrick McGoohan played a British secret agent who resigns his job and then finds himself captive in a mysterious seaside village under the rule of Number One.
There, McGoohan is under constant surveillance. He comes to know this, and that influences his behavior.
When we know we’re being watched, we’re more likely to do things the proper way. Conversely, when we don’t think we’re being observed, there’s the tendency to find shortcuts and take risks.
That’s just human nature.
That principle is being applied to warehouses and forklift operators to improve safety.
Even trained, experienced operators have an inclination to cut corners when in a hurry, or when management isn’t around. And that’s not a good thing, as accident-inducing behavior creates dangerous situations.
I was surprised to learn that one person is killed every 3½ days by forklifts, and some 20,000 workers seriously injured each year. Those stats come from the Bureau of Labor Statistics.
Forklift-monitoring technology is being developed to allow managers to know what’s happening in the warehouse and on the docks when they aren’t watching.
These technologies help promote operator accountability for reducing accidents and damage, and they’re proving effective.
Consider a study done by ShockWatch, a company that specializes in damage prevention, with a major warehouser.
At first, forklift operators performed their daily tasks but didn’t know they were being observed.
Then, operators were verbally reminded to stay safe, and told that an alarm system would sound in the event of an impact exceeding a pre-determined threshold.
The final phase of the study involved accountability. Operators were assigned keys that allowed them operate their forklifts. The warehouse managers also were issued keys.
When the impact threshold was exceeded, the forklift slowed to a creep, the lift was interrupted, and an alarm sounded continuously until a manager came to the forklift, turned off the alarm and returned the forklift to operational status.
The threat of having to face responsibility for improper driving was dramatic. Daily threshold-exceeded impacts dropped by about 94%.
Maybe there is something to be said for this big-brother-is-watching thing after all.
I welcome your thoughts and comments.
To leave yours, click on the “No Comments” link below.
In my previous blog, I shared some thoughts and observations about the increase in data breaches, and how some companies aren’t doing enough to protect themselves.
I referenced a study on corporate data breaches by Verizon Business that, in addition to discussing the increasing problem, concluded that simple actions, when done diligently and continually, can help businesses protect themselves.
Among the recommendations to help prevent unauthorized individuals from breaking into restricted computer systems and compromising sensitive information stored within them:
- Align process with policy. In 59% of data breaches, the organization had security policies and procedures established for the system, but these measures were never implemented.
- Create a data retention plan. Some 66% of all breaches involved data that a company didn’t even know was on their system. It’s critical that an organization knows were data flows and where it resides. Identify data and prioritize its risk to the organization.
- Control data with transaction zones. Investigators concluded that network segmentation can help prevent, or at least partially mitigate, an attack. In other words, wall off data when and where appropriate.
- Monitor event logs. Evidence of events leading up to 82% of data breaches was available to the organization prior to the actual compromise. Data logs should be continually and systemically monitored and responded to when events are discovered.
- Create an incident response plan. If and when a breach is suspected, an organization must be ready to respond, not only to stop the data compromise, but to collect evidence that enables the business to pursue prosecution when necessary.
- Increase awareness. Only 14% of data breaches were discovered by employees of the victimized organization, even though employees are the first line of defense in safeguarding data. Educate them to be aware.
- Engage in mock-incident testing: Making sure employees are well-trained to respond to a breach. Run drills and test people’s abilities, judgments, and actions during a mock crisis.
When it comes to data security, keep in mind the words of Daryl White, a former chief information officer for the US Department of the Interior: “You can’t hold firewalls and intrusion detection systems accountable. You can only hold people accountable.”
I welcome your thoughts and comments.
To leave yours, click on the “No Comments” link below.
My other brother Lloyd is a computer whiz. His depth and breadth of computer and information technology is impressive, and he never ceases to amaze me with what he can do.
Something he told me the other day left me dumbfounded. He said that with budgets under extreme pressure these days, companies are cutting back on information security, yet, data breaches have been increasing significantly.
That makes me wonder what the management of those companies is thinking.
Cybercrime typically goes up during economic hard times, as does the risk organizations face from employees who are laid off, fear being laid off, or face personal financial trouble.
What’s more troubling, my brother noted, is that despite advances in technology, data thieves are as clever - and busy - as ever.
The Identity Theft Resource Center (ITRC) reports that data breaches jumped by nearly 50% last year compared with 2007.
According to ITRC, breaches are committed by both outsiders and insiders, and they share one common trait: they’re easy to pull off.
That suggests that many companies can appreciably boost security and reduce their exposure by following basic and inexpensive data security measures.
An investigation into data breaches by Verizon Business Security Solutions found that nearly nine in 10 corporate data breaches, the majority of which are caused by external sources, could have been prevented had reasonable security measures been in place.
Consider the words of former White House cybersecurity advisor Richard Clarke: “If you spend more on coffee than on IT security, you will be hacked. What’s more, you deserve to be hacked.”
The Verizon study concluded that simple actions, when done diligently and continually, can reap big benefits.
I’ll share those key recommendations with you in my next blog.
A couple of blogs ago I talked about how fleets are using visuals to drive home safety messages.
That prompted a truck driver to contact me and let me know about something his fleet tried for the first time. During a January safety meeting, it discussed the accidents the fleet incurred last year, including one fatality.
Photos of each wreck were shown and the reasons for each accident talked about. Then came a discussion of measures that could have been taken to prevent the accidents.
“But what was really interesting,” the trucker told me, “was that the company shared the costs of each accident. “Even the ones that didn’t look that bad were more costly then we (other drivers at the meeting) imagined.”
The fleet went a step further. It translated those costs into the number of loads that would have to be delivered for free in order to make up just for those costs.
“That really put safety into perspective,” the trucker said.
Clearly, the world of trucking is going through some very difficult times, and there’s much to contend with as we all go through this rough ride.
Compounding our worries, we’re confronted with doom and gloom business news reports and forecasts every time we open a newspaper or turn on the radio or television - and this doesn’t help matters. It causes damage.
If you believe something to be true, or expect something to happen, whether correct or not, the tendency is to adjust one’s behavior to match so that the original expectation becomes true.
I know of companies in the temperature-controlled trucking segment that were doing okay business-wise but pulled back because they figured from all that they’ve been reading and hearing that it would be just a matter of time before their business would drop off.
Seems like more and more managers are limiting their field of vision and running around espousing Chicken Little’s theory: “The sky is falling.”
These doomsayers have the wrong perspective and attitude. To them I say: Take another look at the sky. It’s not falling. It’s expanding.
Granted this is a painful period for most businesses, with difficult decisions having to be made, but there is way too much panic and stupidity.
This prevailing economic storm too shall pass. We’ve all been through bad times before.
Change is unavoidable, but it brings with it opportunities - although they’re harder to spot.
Trucking is the essential driving force that moves the economy forward, and this won’t change.
Two other things haven’t changed: the value of the customer, and providing solutions to their problems.
Critical to this is building and maintaining relationships. The better you know and understand customers’ businesses and goals - as well as their changing needs, the more effectively you will be able to make changes to serve them better.
My suggestion: Work to cultivate relationships that are so strong your customers feel they can’t go to the competition because doing so would be like “dumping” on a trusted friend.
It started out innocently enough. An over-tired long-haul trucker got into a squabble over some change at a maintenance shop.
But things soon went horribly bad. The quarrel escalated into a fight that ended in the trucker’s death.
The trucker, who has yet to be identified pending notification of next of kin, died at the scene due to a fractured skull, multiple broken bones, and extensive blood loss.
“The fight went on for a good while, a witness said of the altercation. “It was horrible to watch.”
Surprisingly, the other combatant has not been charged.
“The incident apparently began when an automatic retailer (vending machine) allegedly confiscated the trucker’s money after said trucker inserted the correct amount of change into the suspect with the intent of getting - and we find this difficult to believe - a healthy snack,” said New Jersey Detective David Farbish.
“Witnesses told us that when the machine didn’t dispense the snack, the trucker reached his hand up the machine’s orifice to try and grab it, but was unable to. Said trucker then punched this machine in its robotic belly. This was followed by several more solid blows, none of which had any effect, as the snack remained in its place.”
The trucker then began kicking the vending machine, witnesses told police. When this brought no results, he began rocking the machine back and forth, harder and harder, until it fell on him.
“At first, we thought we had a notorious killer on our hands,” Detective Farbish said. “We know of at least 44 documented cases in which people trying to get a drink or snack out of an automatic retailer were crushed to death. Some 114 people have been injured.”
“But upon further investigation, we discovered that this particular automatic retailer was not the wanted killer,” added Detective U L Ulman. “We determined it was merely trying to defend itself from the trucker’s attacks.
“Like all automatic retailers, this one is also very transparent,” he continued. “It even cautioned the trucker about fighting with it. In plain view is a ‘Warning: Tipping may cause injury or death’ sticker.”
The first vending machines were introduced to the US in 1888. They were installed on the elevated subway platforms in New York City and sold Tutti-Fruiti gum.
Instances of vending machines attacking people did not start being reported in the late 1970s.
Until the notorious automatic retailer killer is captured, Detective Ulman advised people not to fight or wrestle with vending machines.
“They’re big, have bulky frames, and have substantial weight,” he said. “They can take a lot of punishment, but can also dish out a lot of pain, retribution, and even death when they’ve had enough of someone messing with them.”
Comments, observations and thoughts on the world of trucking from editor-in-chief David A. Kolman. These entries are based upon his diverse experience in many facets of transportation, including truck driving; truck owning and operating; fleet and driver management; safety; warehousing; commercial truck sales; industry trade associations; and trucking radio and TV.
