Pandemic is just one threat to safety

The past year saw a flurry of new worker safety standards adopted by players across the supply chain, as companies hustled to keep their employees healthy while maintaining operations during the pandemic.

Yet amid the chaos, carriers and other service providers also had to stay focused on safety practices that had nothing to do with pathogens, but rather on the core business of moving freight.

To demonstrate its commitment to safety, one of those players, the truckload carrier U.S. Xpress Enterprises Inc., has released a report highlighting some of its road safety practices, such as requiring hair testing for drugs, buying "robust" liability insurance, and installing event recorders, speed limiters, and disc brakes fleetwide.

For example, the Chattanooga, Tennessee-based company says it requires a negative hair-test result for all drivers upon hire, choosing that "gold standard" over less-reliable urine tests to detect prohibited substances that are metabolized in the body over a longer period of time.

The carrier also says that while many small carriers keep insurance to a bare minimum, it maintains insurance above the U.S. Department of Transportation-required minimum levels to assure that both its drivers and those sharing the road are protected.

"Shippers entrust us with a huge responsibility and want to work with safety-conscious carriers who view the relationship between the parties as a true partnership," Nathan Harwell, U.S. Xpress's chief legal officer, said in a release. "Our customers are increasingly sophisticated and want a similarly sophisticated carrier partner."