MISSISSAUGA—Manitoulin Transport has been awarded ‘Elite’ status for its commitment to fleet safety in an independent annual national audit by Northbridge Insurance. The Elite status ranking, Northbridge’s highest safety category, demonstrates Manitoulin’s ongoing efforts to ensure the safety of its staff, customers’ shipments and other road users.
“This is a significant achievement for Manitoulin,” said Jeff King, president of Manitoulin Transport. “It validates our commitment to the security of our customers’ shipments, safety of our people, and the communities in which we operate. This further distinguishes Manitoulin as a leader in the transportation industry. The audit mirrors some internal measurements that we conduct such as our cargo claims ratio averaging 99.79 percent. Overall, this reflects the importance of safety within Manitoulin. It’s in our culture to continuously push the envelope and find better ways to do things safely and securely.”
The Northbridge audit of Manitoulin Transport focused on five key safety-related metrics: driver management, equipment management, safety management, cargo management, and compliance performance. Manitoulin achieved a number of perfect scores in various categories and an overall score of 4.7 out of a possible five points, compared to an industry average of 3.3. Only five percent of the Canadian carriers evaluated by Northbridge in 2017 achieved Elite status.
Northbridge Insurance has more than 60 years’ experience working with the transportation sector. It’s Transportation and Logistics Best Practices Council, which creates the industry benchmarks used in its audits, includes risk managers from leading Canadian transportation firms. Its risk management services aim to protect clients from losses and enhance client’s own risk management efforts.
“Manitoulin’s culture of safety was not achieved overnight,” said Gord Smith, chief executive officer, Manitoulin Group of Companies. “It requires rigorous internal standards, painstaking attention to detail, and a desire for continuous improvement. It means not cutting corners to save money or time, or settling for just the basic safety measures we are obliged to meet, but going beyond what is expected. It’s about operating professionally and responsibly at every level of the organization and earning the trust placed on us each day.”
