Case Study: How Going Digital Resulted in ‘Perfect’ Compliance Files for One Carrier

The paper-based filing system inherited by the safety manager at a  large, regional delivery company was not just causing a lot of headaches, it was creating compliance issues for the company. “Documents were missing and I’d have to track them down,” he said. “There was no transparency so a lot of times I wouldn’t even know what was missing until I dove into the individual files.” 

The result was that he found himself spending a solid 1-2 days a week trying to keep up with the compliance requirements for the 75-driver company – updating driver files, chasing drug tests and uploading documents. “Everything was paper driven,” he said. 

 This meant that their driver applications had to be filled out, scanned and emailed to their background screening provider for review. It would then take a full week before they heard whether the application was accepted or rejected.  “If it was rejected, it would be up to us to find the errors. It was extremely time consuming and frustrating.” 

 It was a frustration the safety manager shared with a retired inspector during a mock DOT audit – along with his desire to move to an electronic process.  The auditor asked who the company was considering using as a compliance provider. The answer was Foley.

 “He told me Foley was one company he never ran into any issues with when auditing files. That was enough for me to make the move,” he said.

The other factor that sold the company on Foley was our comprehensive product offerings. “Especially once the Clearinghouse took effect, I really wanted a full-service, all-in-one program,” he said. “I’m only one person and I wear a lot of hats. I didn’t have the bandwidth to manage everything myself.” 

Making the Switch to an Electronic Recordkeeping System 

 Once they became a Foley customer, the first step was to audit and convert all their paper files into digital files that would live on the Foley Platform. 

 “We chose to start from scratch with our files so that we’d have a clean slate,” he said. “If you’re dealing with a mess like we were, that’s definitely what I’d recommend.” 

One of the big differences he noticed right away was the advanced notifications system, which provides both him and his team with alerts when a compliance deadline is coming up. “With our previous vendor, we’d get a blanket email once a month that had a long list of driver names and the documents that needed to be updated – there wasn’t really any advanced warning.” 

 On top of that, if something was submitted incorrectly, the company wouldn’t be notified until the next month. “It was very tedious,” he said. 

Now, he can log in to his Foley account and instantly see when a driver’s CDL needs to be updated, or when they’re due for a DOT Physical – with months of advance notice. “There’s a lot more transparency and I have the ability to plan ahead,” he said. “The difference it’s made has been huge. I can’t stress that enough.” 

 With his Foley partnership, the company no longer worries about their compliance, nor would he sweat it if a DOT auditor came calling. “I would confidently give them my Foley login and tell them ‘it’s all yours.’   

 I would never go back to a paper-based system – I would fight tooth and nail,” he said. “[Foley] took us from a mess of paper and made our compliance so much easier to manage.” 

 “The day we were able to shred all our old paper files. That was a party.”