CarriersEdge, a leading provider of training for the trucking industry, has added to its extensive list of courses a topic that drivers hope they’ll never need but will find hugely valuable if they do. That subject is accident reporting.

 

CarriersEdge’s new training module takes drivers through the legal and safety procedures and responsibilities following an accident to protect themselves, the carrier and other involved motorists and passengers.

 

“The best time to plan how to handle an accident is before it happens,” said Jane Jazrawy, Chief Executive Officer of CarriersEdge. “We’ve designed a course to give drivers the tools they need so that when an accident occurs, they know how to prevent further damage or injury, work with law-enforcement and emergency personnel and gather information, all while staying calm.”

 

The CarriersEdge course is much more than a basic list of steps to follow at an accident scene, Jazrawy added. It teaches a full process “so that it’s easy to remember and a driver can respond appropriately in a high-stress situation.”

 

As with other courses in the CarriersEdge library, the accident reporting training combines text, audio, pictures and graphics in an interactive format to enhance retention of the information. It’s designed like other CarriersEdge courses to be available online, on laptops or mobile devices and accessible at whatever time and location is most convenient to the driver.

 

The course teaches a simple four-step process—stop, secure, report and document—and what goes into each. Topics covered in the course include:

  • Appropriate behavior at an accident scene;
  • How to secure a vehicle with warning signals;
  • How to assist the injured;
  • Information to be included in an accident report and how to collect witness information and take photographs; and
  • Drug and alcohol testing.

 

The course also includes a segment on a topic that is rarely included in other training, but is an important matter for drivers: post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) for drivers involved in accidents.

 

CarriersEdge developed the course in response to feedback from its fleet customers as well as insurance companies with which it works. “Our insurance partners really saw a gap in their clients’ knowledge base with regard to accident scene reporting,” Jazrawy said. “We were able to combine our own research into truck safety best practices and what those partners have learned to come up with training that answers that need.”

 

The course is integrated into CarriersEdge’s system that allows carriers and fleet operators to efficiently and effectively manage employee training. The CarriersEdge library includes more than 70 full-length and refresher/remedial courses, covering topics from the safe securing of cargo to hours of service (HOS) rules and logbooks to defensive and winter driving.

 

Interested parties can learn more or sign up for a free trial of the main CarriersEdge system on its website CarriersEdge.com. They can try the course directly by contacting [email protected] or 905-530-2430. CarriersEdge offers monthly subscription pricing with unlimited use of its courses for a fixed rate.

 

“No one wants to be involved in an accident, but the reality is they can happen to even the safest drivers,” Jazrawy said. “This course will give drivers an easy-to-remember, easy-to-use method for handling accidents in a professional manner, keeping a bad situation from becoming worse.”