IDLE TALK
Driven by the Best
2530 Mitchell Street
Knoxville, TN 37917
(865) 524-5592
www.pembertontrucklines.com
Pemberton Truck Lines, Inc.
Driven to be the Best
National Fleet Safety Award Winner
" Chance takers are
accident makers."
-Unknown
The Truckload Carriers Association has
announced it's division winners for the
2014 National Fleet Safety Awards.
This award is based on achieving the lowest ratio
of accidents to total fleet mileage per year.
Division II (5-15 Million Miles) 1st Place:
Pemberton Truck Lines, Inc.
Thank You to all Drivers and Employees for your
part in winning this prestigious award!
Thank you to everyone for your commitment to excellence!
January 2015
Think Safety
IDLE TALK
Protect Your Rotator Cuff
Rotator Cuff injuries are on the rise in the trucking industry. Drivers need to be aware of how this
can affect them and how injury can be prevented.
The rotator cuff is made up of a group of tendons that surround the top, rear and front of the
shoulder. The tendons are all separately connected to short muscles that stem from the shoulder
blades. The tendons and muscles help move and stabilize the shoulder joints. When the shoulder
muscles contract, they pull on the rotator cuff tendon, causing the shoulder to rotate inward,
downward and upward. Damage to these muscles and tendons usually occurs from overexertion
and overuse of these muscles. Damage can be from gradual degeneration of the muscles and
tendons that occurs with aging.
What does this mean to you?
Repetitive motion activities such as climbing, pulling the 5th wheel release handle, pulling the trailer
tandem release handle, etc. are strenuous activities that can lead to rotator cuff injury.
What can you do to prevent injury?
1) Use extreme caution during the activities mentioned above.
2) Before these activities, warm up your shoulders – side arm raises, external rotation, and “pretend
to hug a tree" stretches.
3) Relax and rest your shoulders before performing these activities
4) Avoid jerking and overexertion
5) Do daily exercises to stretch and strengthen your shoulders. To strengthen your rotator cuff, it's
best to use lower resistance with more repetitions. Low resistance exercises gradually strengthen
these small muscles without the risk of injury. The rotator cuff muscles are relatively small, so keep
the movement slow and controlled.
A torn rotator cuff injury is costly. This includes surgery, physical therapy and up to 12 months of not
being able to work. But, you can protect yourself from Rotator Cuff Injury through resting, stretching,
and strengthening your shoulder and rotator cuff muscles.
Think Safety
IDLE TALK
December 2014 Safety Awards
The following drivers earned Safe Driving Awards:
8 Years
Christopher Moses
5 Years
Shannon Stinson
2 Years
Gordon Barron
Robert Johnson
1 Year
Danard Walker
Michael Whitman
Randall Henry
Thank You for your commitment to Safety!
CSA - Compliance Update
Unsafe Driving Basic decreased from 12.0% to 10.0%
No Violations in December!
Hours Of Service Basic increased from 54.0% to 59.0%
Violation:
Driving beyond 14 hour duty period - 27 Points (severity 7 + OOS 2 x weight 3)
Driving beyond 11 hour driving limit - 27 Points (severity 7 + OOS 2 x weight 3)
rrent
We are within 6 Points of Alert Status in Hours of Service Basic. Keep your record of duty status cu
and obey all FMCSA rules and regulations. Contact Debbie with any questions.
ers
Company policy states records of duty status are to be submitted to the company weekly. Several driv
are failing to follow this policy and risk disciplinary action.
DVIR
Effective 12/18/2014 FMCSA rescinded the requirement that commercial vehicle drivers operating in
interstate commerce submit and motor carriers retain, DVIR's when the driver has neither found nor eben
made aware of any vehicle defects or deficiencies.
Think Safety
IDLE TALK
December 2014 Safety Inspections
The following drivers received a $50 bonus for completing a DOT Inspection with no violations:
Tillmon Rushing
Chester Lawson
Dominic Clark
Tim Witt
Scott Hays
Good Job!
Earn More $ with Safety Training Programs
Don't Forget these great training opportunities:
Monthly Safety Training - Complete the Monthly Training Program and earn a $10 Pilot Gift Card!
Quarterly Safety Training - Complete our Quarterly Training Program (and meet all required criteria) and
earn a 1/2 cent per mile bonus for all miles driven each quarter!
Driver Legal Plan
Our company participates with Driver Legal Plan (DLP). DLP is the only law firm in the country entirely
dedicated to CDL defense. In the current CSA environment, a commercial driver MUST contest all
moving, non-moving, and DOT violations to avoid accruing points. You can enroll to protect your CDL
for $2.98 per week. Contact Debbie for details!
401(k) Savings Plan News
Pemberton Truck Lines offers a 401(k) Savings Plan. Make sure you are taking advantage of this TAX
DEFERRED SAVINGS opportunity.
As an added benefit, Pemberton Truck Lines, Inc. will match your savings investment 20 cents on the
dollar, up to 8% of your gross earnings. That means for every dollar you invest, Pemberton Truck
Lines, Inc. will invest 20 cents into your account.
There are several investment options (low risk to aggressive) available.
Contact Bob Pemberton in Knoxville (extension 137) for details!
Think Safety