Like most organizations, motorcoach companies are personnel driven. It's very important that a plan be in place for any and all scenarios, which allows key people to perform their duties.

Like most organizations, motorcoach companies are personnel driven. It's very important that a plan be in place for any and all scenarios, which allows key people to perform their duties.

Every motorcoach company is vulnerable to a wide variety of exposures which could negatively impact its profitability, and in some cases, its very survival. Therefore, it's imperative that these risks be identified, analyzed and evaluated to understand the relative threats each represents. And, once they are understood, key decisions must be made to manage them.

All of the above is the foundation of a motorcoach company's risk management program. Because a true risk management program involves a thorough risk assessment, that process must determine, among other things the motorcoach company assets that need to be protected; the threats to and vulnerabilities of those assets; the implications if those assets are destroyed or damaged; the value of those assets to the motorcoach company; and, most importantly, the actions that need to be taken to minimize loss or damage to those assets.

Because the concept of risk avoidance, wherein the company abandons the risk-producing activity, is impractical to a passenger transportation company, the tenets of loss prevention must be applied. A solid loss prevention program will either reduce the likelihood of a motorcoach accident or reduce the frequency of such events. Motorcoach accidents and resultant injuries are not bad luck; they have causes which can be identified and remedied. Similarly, the risk management concept of loss reduction can ­reduce the severity and consequential impact of an accident while acknowledging that accidents are an unfortunate part of motorcoach operations. It must be noted, however, that there are two distinct categories of loss: severe accidents and frequent accidents. The two are quite different in a risk management context. Frequent accidents can be acted upon through loss prevention and safety programs; severe accidents are largely random and unpredictable.

Not unlike most organizations, motorcoach companies are personnel driven, and it's very important that a plan be in place for any and all scenarios, which allows key people to perform their duties. Part of that plan calls for having trained replacement personnel available for immediate deployment in a crisis situation. Along those same lines, motorcoach company management must avoid "putting all eggs in one basket" by physically separating company resources so a single disaster or crisis at "headquarters" will not disable the whole company. It might be helpful to maintain multiple copies or "spares" of critical components of the operation in separate locations. Similarly, consideration should be given to transferring legal, financial and operational responsibility for key activities to another organization or vendor.

Unique risks
In short, management needs to identify its risks and do something about them. For motorcoach companies, the categories of risk can be broken down into the time-tested reporter's credo of five Ws and an H:

  • Where you go - Destination.
  • What you drive - Type of ­vehicle.
  • Who you drive - Know your ­passengers.
  • Who the driver is - Does the driver match the trip, vehicle, passengers?
  • When you go - Time of day/night.
  • How often you go - Experience with the roads, destination, parking, drop off, pick up and knowledge from other drivers.

Thus, the key to successful risk management for a motorcoach operation is to develop a trip Risk Analysis Rating System, involving reservations, operations, dispatch, maintenance, safety and management staff.  Before a reservation is accepted, there should be a sense of the type of risk this trip presents. A familiar trip done at a different time of day by a newly hired driver may require added time, attention and communication to manage the risk.

It's imperative to identify who controls assignments, routes, vehicle assignment and driver support. Serious consideration should also be given to identifying trip specific risk factors and implement focused driver training to address those unique issues. For example, a summer trip to Washington, D.C., presents an increased presence of tourist pedestrian traffic. What's more, these pedestrians might not be attentive to traffic hazards. The proper risk tactic to employ might be additional driver training on pedestrian conflicts. For example, routes can be changed or moved to less heavily trafficked times of day to reduce the risk exposure.

A good starting point for a thorough Risk Analysis is reviewing your accident or claims register. The first and somewhat surprising discovery will be that the most common type of motorcoach accident is the rear-ender. Rear-end accidents tend to be more costly. Perhaps even more surprising is the fact that the vast majority of the time it's the motorcoach being driven by a commercial driver licensed operator that's hitting a private passenger vehicle in the rear.

So, too, the striking of parked or non-moving vehicles and intersection accidents, other high frequency claim types, are more often than not caused by the motorcoach's action of the professional driver.
To better control and manage these types of "at fault" claims, management must conduct a complete risk analysis, including monthly reviews of drivers with multiple claims or incidents and research to determine why some drivers have markedly more "minor" claims or incidents than their peers.

[PAGEBREAK]Role of management
Management must consider its role in abetting these disturbing trends and objectively assess its selection and hiring process; scheduling and assignment criteria; trip booking practices; driver training programs; fleet safety programs; and last, but certainly not least, its driver fatigue management program. If it's concluded that it's all about the driver, a re-examination of the motorcoach company's selection, hiring, training, retraining, driver's age and skill levels is definitely in order.

If management is truly objective, it must also consider that some drivers could have difficulty with certain types of geographic destinations, discomfort with driving certain types/models of equipment, an inability to absorb training and supervision, or trouble with different weather conditions. Additionally, sometimes employer/employee relations result in poor or no communication.

Another key component to a successful risk management program for any organization, including motorcoach companies, is loss prevention, or in the motorcoach company context, accident avoidance. It starts with driver training and retraining and is strongly bolstered by better trip booking and scheduling procedures ,better advance trip/route planning, accident/claims reviews with involved drivers, a proactive driver incentive program and comprehensive maintenance procedures.

Focusing on just one component of the analysis, such as who controls the driver and assignments, illustrates just how detailed the analysis should be. For example, are routes and assignments completely controlled by the dispatcher? Does the dispatcher consult with anyone else before making decisions? Does the customer have input? Do drivers have input? Does management encourage input?

A short list of issues that should be considered before booking a trip could include time of day, road conditions, length of trip and number of stops, number and age of passengers, time allotted to trip completion, weather conditions and driver experience. Other considerations could be driver familiarity with vehicle type, night driving requirements, presence of unusual backing or turning challenges, pressure from passengers for multiple or additional stops, pressure from the tour guide or group leader to change the itinerary, and driver downtime issues.

Follow the policy
A solid motorcoach company risk management program must consider these and other factors specific to its operation and develop and implement its own trip risk rating system. Most importantly, the system needs to be supported by company management and implemented in a consistent manner.

Direct action is absolutely essential once a risk management program is developed and implemented for a motorcoach company. Simply put, if a company has a policy and doesn't follow its own guidelines, its exposure in claims situations grows exponentially. Similarly, if management is supposed to know something and doesn't, or does know and doesn't remedy the problem, its liability increases yet again. Ultimately, it's management's responsibility to foster a true risk management culture and take the necessary steps to ensure that loss reducing culture is embraced by all employees.

[PAGEBREAK]

Identifying and Controlling Risk

Identifying and controlling the risks associated with your motorcoach operation is very important. Equally as important is the ability to manage a serious loss or crisis.
 
1. The first step is to write, review and distribute a Crisis Management Plan; this exercise is an excellent risk management tool and is the basis of controlling any serious event.
 
2. The second step is to conduct a simulated crisis event that will test your staff, operation and company in a controlled and planned manner. Practicing how to manage a crisis is the very best way to identify your strengths and weaknesses as well as how to manage day-to-day operations during a real crisis event. 
Lancer's "The First 24 Hours; How To Develop, Implement and Test A Serious Incident Response Plan" DVD/workbook package  is a resource available to our policyholders that provides both a DVD about crisis management as well as printed material that will assist our policyholders as they create their Crisis Plan. 
Lancer Insurance Group's Safety and Claims staff have conducted 20 crisis simulation exercises over the last year.  Each one has provided our policyholder company with valuable experience and knowledge about how to manage a crisis in their operation. Several of our policyholders have subsequently had to use their plan and simulation experience in a real accident situation and have found themselves much better prepared to manage their vehicles, customers, employees, the media and the event itself.  

3. If you are not convinced your company needs a Crisis Management Plan, ask yourself these questions:

  • What do you consider to be a serious crash or incident?
  • Has your company experienced a serious event?
  • Has the media covered any of these serious events?
  • Has someone from your company been asked to comment on an event that might have occurred at a significant geographical distance from your company's headquarters?
  • Have you ever had to respond to a serious event during nights or weekends?
  • Has your company ever experienced a serious event when you were completely unavailable?
  • Would you know what to do?
  • Do you have a plan in place and have you ever tested that plan?


4. Now that you're convinced that a plan is necessary to write, implement and periodically test, it helps to break the project down into four parts:

  • The Incident - What has taken place?
  • The Response - Your company's immediate actions to put your plan in motion.
  • Controlling the Situation - Knowing what your response team members are doing, establishing representation at the incident scene, making sure the passengers are cared for, and properly dealing with misinformation and the media.
  • The Wrap-Up and Evaluation - Dealing with family members, injuries or worse, alternate transportation, and summarizing and evaluating the process.

Because loss prevention is a major component of any effective risk management program, it's prudent to take the time now to prepare for the event you hope will never happen.

 

 

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