What is a Transport company’s compliance culture?

“The compliance culture of a Transport company is the product of individual and group values, attitudes, perceptions, competencies, and patterns of behaviour that determine the commitment to, and the style and proficiency of, a company’s compliance management. Companies with a positive compliance culture are characterised by communications founded on mutual trust, by shared perceptions of the importance of compliance and by confidence in the efficacy of preventive measures such as professional training.”

A Tachograph Compliance culture is an important topic, but time consuming to analyse and difficult to tackle. It is recommended that it is taken on to protect the good repute of a company or where there may be good reason to believe that there is a significant issue to address, such as a poor compliance recorded over a period of time, and where the company is likely to be receptive to advice.

A company’s culture can have as big an influence on compliance outcomes as the compliance audit system. ‘Tachograph Compliance culture’ is a subset of the overall company culture.

Many companies talk about a compliance culture’ when referring to the inclination of their drivers to comply with rules or act in a way that would create non-compliance. However, we find that the culture and style of management is even more significant, for example a natural, unconscious bias for productivity over compliance, or a tendency to focussing on the short-term and being highly reactive.

Symptoms of poor cultural factors can include:

• Widespread, routine procedural non-compliance.
• Failure to comply with the company’s own training on induction.
• Management decisions that appear consistently to put productivity or cost before compliance.
• On inspection, it is possible to gather evidence about a company’s culture, although this requires interviewing a suitably representative sample of drivers.

Key aspects of an effective culture:

Management commitment:

This commitment produces higher levels of motivation and concern for Tachograph Compliance throughout the company. It is indicated by the proportion of resources (time, money, people) and support allocated to Tachograph Management and by the status given to Tachograph Compliance versus productivity, and cost etc. The active involvement of senior management in the Tachograph Management system is very important.

Visible management:

Managers need to be seen to lead by example when it comes to compliance.

Good managers appear regularly on the ‘shop floor’, talk about compliance and visibly demonstrate their commitment by their actions – such as carrying out gate checks to ensure driver compliance or ensuring that they themselves comply with regulations if they were to at any stage have to drive vehicles with VU’s fitted.

It is important that management is perceived as sincerely committed to compliance. If not, drivers will generally assume that they are expected to put commercial interests first, and compliance initiatives or programs will be undermined by cynicism.

Good communications between management and drivers in a positive culture is important. Issues about Tachograph Compliance should be part of everyday work conversations. Management should listen actively to what they are being told by drivers and take what they say seriously.

Active driver participation in compliance is important, to build ownership of it at all levels and exploit the unique knowledge that drivers have of their own commitment to it. This can include active involvement in toolbox talks, workshops, training and discussions around vehicle design etc. In companies with a good culture, you will find the story from drivers and management being consistent, and compliance is seen as a joint exercise.

We at FTA Ireland provide assistance in the area of Tachograph Management and Compliance. We provide training for managers, drivers, route planners, administrators for all sectors of our industry. All companies involved in Transport both Haulage and Passenger, have a legal obligation to train their staff. All companies must manage their tachograph systems to ensure compliance with legislation. You must have a system in place to monitor driver and vehicle operations.

FTA Ireland can provide the system. Remember it only takes one driver to show non-compliance in their operation of a vehicle to damage your good repute which in turn could affect your application to renew your transport license.

Call or email the FTA Ireland for further information on Company Tachograph Compliance Systems.