Safe or Sorry: Why Carriers Can’t Afford to Treat Safety Like a Suggestion
After months of LinkedIn back-and-forth, we finally connected with Rhythm Gandhi, The Safety Gal & founder of Fleet Regulators, for a long-awaited virtual coffee. Right away, we knew she was our kind of people. She's sharp, straightforward, and serious about helping carriers get compliance right.
Fleet Regulators make compliance practical. Rhythm and her team work alongside carriers to implement real systems that keep trucks moving, drivers safe, and businesses on track.
That’s why we’re bringing her voice to Truck U every Wednesday. Her first piece, “Safe or Sorry: Why Carriers Can’t Afford to Treat Safety Like a Suggestion,” sets the tone for the whole series.
Safe or Sorry: Why Carriers Can’t Afford to Treat Safety Like a Suggestion
This post kicks off my Truck U blog series, where I’ll strip away the jargon and tell you what compliance really means in the real world. No sugarcoating, no government-ese. Just the facts, the consequences, and the practical side of building a company where safety isn’t just written in the manual, it’s lived in every trip, every inspection, and every load.
Why Safety Matters: More Than Just Rules
Here’s something every carrier owner and fleet manager should tattoo on their brain: compliance isn’t about the DOT making your life miserable. It’s about keeping your trucks safe, your drivers alive, and your business in business.
When you run 80,000 pounds of steel down a public highway at 65 mph, you’re not just hauling freight. You’re moving risk. You’re sharing the road with families in minivans, commuters in sedans, and kids on their way to soccer practice.
One lapse in judgment, one ignored inspection, and you’re not just facing a fine, you’re facing headlines, lawsuits, and possibly a company-shattering accident.
Safety isn’t paperwork. It’s protection.
The Real Cost of Cutting Corners
Too many carriers have a “we’ll deal with it later” attitude. Maybe they skip a pre-trip here or ignore a minor defect there. Maybe they tell themselves that because “we haven’t had a crash yet,” they’re doing fine.
Here’s what “later” really looks like:
Financial Fallout
FMCSA fines can run into tens of thousands of dollars. Add in downtime, tow bills, and out-of-service orders, and suddenly you’re bleeding money.
Case in point: A Texas-based mail hauler received an unsatisfactory safety rating after a June 2025 crash on I-20 killed five people. The driver admitted he fell asleep at the wheel (where’s the fatigue training?), but investigators uncovered deeper failures: no pre-employment drug testing, no post-crash alcohol testing, and a shocking 46.2% out-of-service vehicle rate. In the past 12 months, trucks from the fleet were also involved in four other injury crashes. This wasn’t just one tired driver, it was years of ignored safety obligations catching up all at once.
Insurance Nightmare
Insurance carriers don’t play around. A poor CSA score or a history of violations sends premiums skyrocketing, or worse, leaves you uninsurable.
Lost Loads
Brokers and shippers check your record. If your safety score stinks, don’t be surprised when the loads dry up.
Driver Drain
Good drivers don’t risk their CDL for sloppy companies. They’ll quit and find a carrier that takes their livelihood seriously.
The Unthinkable
A serious crash can wipe out everything you’ve built.
In 2024, a small California fleet was declared an imminent hazard and ordered off the road after a six-vehicle fatal crash. Investigators found the two-truck operation had a 75% vehicle out-of-service rate and a 100% driver OOS rate. Leadership had no drug testing program, wasn’t registered in the Clearinghouse, and “lacked knowledge of safety regulations” despite repeated violations. That ignorance didn’t protect them. It shut them down permanently.
Bottom line? The “savings” from cutting corners don’t exist. They just delay the bill, and when it comes due, it’s ten times higher.
Why Safety Is Actually Profitable
Safety isn’t just about avoiding losses. It’s one of the smartest investments you can make.
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Clean Inspections = Faster Freight
Less downtime at scales means more miles, more loads, and more revenue. -
Lower Scores = Lower Premiums
Insurance carriers reward fleets that keep violations down. -
Driver Retention
Drivers stick around when they feel supported and safe. -
Customer Confidence
Strong safety scores give brokers and shippers confidence and leverage in rate negotiations.
The numbers don’t lie:
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Insurance premiums hit a record $0.102 per mile.
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Combined with deductibles, total risk costs were $0.133 per mile.
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Carriers averaged $0.031 per mile in out-of-pocket safety expenses.
For a fleet running 100,000 miles annually, that’s $3,100 in direct safety-related losses per truck.
A carrier that cuts safety-related costs by just 50% improves profit by $0.0155 per mile. Across 20 trucks, that’s $30,000 in extra profit.
That’s not “compliance overhead.” That’s a profit strategy.
Safety pays.
Culture Eats Policy for Breakfast
A tough pill: a safety manual won’t save you. Neither will posters in the break room. Culture always wins.
If dispatch pressures drivers to push HOS limits, it doesn’t matter how many times you talk about compliance. If maintenance waves off defects, don’t expect drivers to take inspections seriously.
Culture is what happens when nobody’s watching. And in trucking, it shows up in roadside inspections and CSA scores every day.
A true safety culture looks like this:
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Leadership sets the tone and walks the talk.
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Drivers are held accountable and rewarded for clean inspections.
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Issues are fixed quickly, not ignored.
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Safety is integrated into operations, not treated like an add-on.
Compliance Horror Stories (and Lessons Learned)
Want a reality check? Here’s how ignoring compliance destroys carriers:
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The One Violation Spiral
A single log falsification leads to an audit. The audit uncovers systemic issues. Suddenly fines, downgraded ratings, and broker rejections follow. -
The Crash That Killed a Business
One preventable accident results in lawsuits in the millions. Even if insurance covers part, reputational damage kills contracts. -
The “We’ve Always Done It This Way” Carrier
Years of ignored maintenance led to a catastrophic brake failure that sidelined half the fleet. They never recovered. -
Florida Turnpike, August 2025
A truck driver made an illegal U-turn through an “official use only” crossover, blocking all lanes. A minivan hit the trailer, killing three people. The driver’s questionable CDL and lack of vetting exposed systemic failures.
Lesson: These aren’t “freak accidents.” They’re predictable outcomes of ignoring safety—and they’re preventable.
Drivers Don’t Care About Acronyms (And That’s Okay)
Most drivers don’t care about CSA, SMS, or BASICs. They care about miles, paychecks, and not getting hassled by DOT.
Translate safety into driver benefits:
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Clean inspections mean less wasted time.
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Pre-trips prevent breakdowns.
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Compliance bonuses = extra money.
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Safer practices protect their CDL.
Make it personal, and drivers will care.
Building Systems That Stick
The carriers who win at safety don’t rely on luck. They build systems:
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Regular Audits – Weekly or monthly.
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Corrective Action Plans – Real, measurable steps.
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Driver Training & Coaching – Short and frequent.
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Incentives & Accountability – Reward clean records, deal with repeat offenders.
Pro tip: If compliance feels overwhelming, outsource it. A fractional safety partner can keep you audit-ready without drowning you in paperwork.
The Safety Gal’s Final Word
The question every carrier needs to ask isn’t, “Do we have time for safety?” It’s, “Can we survive without it?”
Safety and compliance aren’t burdens. They’re the foundation that keeps the wheels turning, the contracts flowing, and the business alive. Ignore them, and you’re playing Russian roulette with your company’s future.
If you’re reading this as a carrier owner or fleet manager, don’t wait until your company becomes the next headline. Build systems now, or bring in a partner who can keep your operation safe, compliant, and profitable.
Because at the end of the day, it really is this simple: safe or sorry? You choose.
info@fleetregulators.com
www.Fleetregulators.com
Next Up in This Series: Culture Eats Compliance for Breakfast: Why Your Safety Scores Start in the Break Room
Disclosure
This post is for educational purposes only. It’s not legal advice, insurance advice, or a substitute for calling your agent. We’re good, but we’re not psychic. Policies vary, laws change, and courtrooms get weird. Don’t make decisions based solely on something you read on the internet, unless it’s from us, in writing, with your name on it.
All opinions are our own and do not represent the views of any carrier, employer, or underwriting department that occasionally wishes we were quieter on LinkedIn.
