How TST-CF Express uses automated coaching and daily accountability to improve safety and cut idling

When I started in safety and compliance, the job was almost entirely reactive. You found out about a problem after the accident happened or when a ticket landed on your desk, and by then the most you could do was try to keep it from happening again. Today, we can see risk as it develops and act on it much sooner. That's the biggest change I've seen in more than 20 years in this field, and it has reshaped how I think about the job.

Technology made that shift possible, but it didn't happen on its own. I've introduced new fleet technology at multiple companies over my career, and the adoption always follows the same arc. At first, drivers want nothing to do with it. Over time, they get used to it and start to see the benefits. Technology on its own doesn't change behaviour. People need time to see its value for themselves, and a big part of my job is giving them the support to get there.

For the last eight years, I've done that work at TST-CF Express, a division of TFI International. We run over 350 vehicles from Quebec to British Columbia, along with the forklifts, pump trucks, and dollies that keep our terminals moving. Our safety team has four managers and three support staff covering the whole country. A team that size can't be everywhere, so we've built our program around a simple principle: spend our time where the real risk is, and let the system carry out the routine work.

Here are a few lessons I’ve learned along the way.

1. Choose a few behaviours and manage them consistently

When you first have telematics data across a whole fleet, it's tempting to track everything. In my experience, that's the fastest way to spread a small team too thin. We've narrowed our attention to three leading indicators: rolling stops, severe speeding (anything more than 12 km/h over the limit), and following too close. These are the habits that, left alone, can eventually turn into collisions.

That doesn't mean other events are unimportant. We just don't build our automated coaching around harsh braking and harsh turns, because on their own, they don't always show what actually happened. A driver might brake hard after hitting a pothole so the trailer's back wheels don't hit it as hard and the freight doesn't shift. Or another vehicle might pull out of a parking lot or merge without leaving enough room. You can spend a lot of time sorting through those events without learning much.

Following too close is different. If a driver is following too close, chances are a harsh brake is coming. So that's where we put our attention.

2. Make coaching part of the daily routine

With every vehicle connected, we're notified about events across the whole fleet, and I'd never want to switch that off. The one time you aren't notified is the time you'll miss something. But across hundreds of vehicles, the notifications can add up quickly. Our terminal managers are also running busy terminals. Asking them to follow up on every event on top of that isn't realistic.

So we let automated coaching handle the routine work. Speeding, rolling stops, and following-too-close events go directly to drivers, and reviewing them is the first thing they do when they sign in each morning. They look at what happened, acknowledge it, and get on with their day. Our safety scores have gone up since we started. Just as importantly, our team's time is now focused where it's needed most: following up on accidents, and coaching or retraining when an incident calls for it.

The timing matters as much as the tool. We're a unionized company, and getting a driver and a manager in the same room at the right time isn't always easy. Even when you can, a difficult conversation first thing in the morning isn't something you want a driver carrying onto the road. We already had sign-in workflows in place, so adding the review was a natural fit.

3. Use real-time video and communication to protect drivers and respond faster

Earlier in my career, piecing together what happened after an accident was slow and often incomplete. 

Today, we have the footage right away, and it helps in two ways. First, it protects our drivers. Recently, another vehicle cut in front of one of our trucks and braked. We sent the video to the police immediately, and it showed that the person claiming to be the other driver wasn't actually the one behind the wheel. Second, it gives everyone an objective starting point. Memory under stress isn't always reliable. A driver may honestly believe they were going 5 km/h when the speed data shows 35, and that difference matters a great deal when someone is hurt. The video takes the guesswork out of those conversations.

Every accident now goes to our weekly review committee along with its video, and the committee decides whether we were at fault. Having the facts in front of us makes those decisions fairer and more consistent, and our on-road accidents have come down.

Real-time information matters on the road as well. In time-sensitive freight, plans change by the hour. A pickup gets cancelled, or a customer isn't ready, and for some drivers, dispatch may need to reach them up to six times a day. Text messages work, but drivers can't safely read them until they stop. The “Call Driver” function with the Samsara dash cam lets dispatch speak with drivers hands-free, so updates reach them right away and they can keep their focus on the road. It saves us time and, often, money.

4. Keep idling in front of leadership every day

When we started our idling program, our rate was 27%, which was far too high. I asked our president a straightforward question: if we cut idling in half, how much money would that save? Leadership bought in right away.

The real key has been consistency. Idling is a topic on our daily operations call, where terminal managers across the country connect with our President or Vice President. Keeping it in that conversation every day makes it a shared priority, from leadership to the terminals. In the first year, idling dropped from 27% to 18%.

The benefits go beyond fuel. Fewer idling hours mean less time on the engine, which stretches the interval between oil changes and reduces wear on other engine components. Accountability also has to be fair. Drivers are permitted to idle below 5°C or above 27°C, so those thresholds are built into the platform. Conditions in Calgary aren't the same as in Vancouver or Quebec, so we look at results over a month rather than a day.

5. Share the wins, not just the corrections

If drivers only hear from you when something goes wrong, the program starts to feel like a scorecard. In my experience, it helps to share the broader picture too: what lower idling does for equipment wear and tear, and how video has backed up our drivers when an accident wasn't their fault. Sharing that kind of information builds far more buy-in than a list of events ever will.

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