Infractions are violation of set rules that are laid out to guide employees while discharging their duties. Infractions are not limited to company rules but also include federal, state, and municipal laws set aside to guide employees. The transportation business is an essential occupation where most people depend on goods and services to be moved from one point to the other. Sometimes these moves could take hours or days from one part of the country to the other. That is why organizations like American National Standard Institute (ANSI), Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA), and Department of Labor come up with rules and guidelines to help improve safety with drivers. 

Within our company and our relationship with customers, we have been able to create a list of infractions that covers most of the industry known infractions. We categorized the infractions into groups to make it easy for coaches to identify and understand what they are. 

Distractions: This is anything that prevents a driver from giving full attention while driving. This is extremely important with medium to heavy duty vehicles. With the weight of the vehicle, it does take longer of the vehicle to come to a stop. Any form of distraction can lead to dangerous incidents. 

Driver Behavior: It is important that drivers have the right attitude while behind the wheels. Being frustrated, tired or sad may make you less focused on the road. All it takes is a split decision to do what is right from wrong and everyone will be okay. 

Fundamentals: While driving, there are basic expectations everyone needs to follow. A lot of driving is common knowledge, but some requirements are provided by companies. Paying attention and following these non-written rules of the road will help keep drivers safe. 

Outcomes: This category highlights the result of not doing any of the other categories explained. This could be catastrophic or near catastrophic events. As the category name implies, these are the outcomes of the actions a driver decides to take while driving. An example of an outcome will be Collision. 

Traffic Violations: This is simply when a driver violates a traffic law. As stated in earlier parts of this guide, there are laws that are set in place while driving to keep everyone on the road safe. These laws rarely vary but we find some differences on state level; so, it's important to understand the state and municipality laws around where you are when driving. As a reviewer, you will be reviewing from the eye of a federal level. Our customers and Coaches will be responsible in figuring out if these applies to their company and state. 

Other Observation: This category highlights issues relating to the equipment's in the vehicle. It also includes other triggered events that require attention but are not already listed in this guide as an infraction. An example will be a plastic covering the hopper camera, obstructing the driver from seeing the content being dumped. 

This guide gives a brief overview of each infraction and provides a visual aid to help us identify these infractions as we review safety events for our customers.