When you are an expert in the trucking industry and passionate about safety, it’s natural to want to share what you know to help others improve. That’s why we’re proud to announce HELP Inc.‘s National Director of Field Operations, Steve Vaughn, is now a regular contributor to the respected industry forum, IdeaXchange.

IdeaXchange is a popular feature on Fleet Owner‘s website and features blog posts by Xpert™ contributing authors to share industry perspectives and encourage business and career growth. At the moment, there are 26 industry professionals sharing insights about the trucking and transportation world.

Steve is well-versed in a variety of vehicle safety and truck inspection topics, as he served 28 years with the California Highway Patrol before retiring as Chief of the Enforcement Services Division. In this role, he was responsible for statewide oversight for commercial vehicle regulation, inspection and enforcement in California.

In addition, Steve has served as Congressional Liaison with the U.S. Congress, president of the Commercial Vehicle Safety Alliance, and has chaired or participated on several committees including the American Association of Motor Vehicle Administrators, Intelligent Transportation Society of America, TRB Truck and Bus Safety Committee and the California Peace Officers Association. He also served as California’s public sector representative to the HELP Board of Directors from 2000-2008.

In his latest role as a contributor to IdeaXchange, Steve will be posting twice each month. Here are his first two posts for IdeaXchange:

Why Your Trucks Are Getting Inspected: “While there are federal guidelines for what is included in a roadside inspection, there are no hard and fast federal rules determining which trucks will be inspected and which won’t. Although there are inspection data sources that indicate a carrier’s safety performance, ultimately the final decision for closer examination is at the discretion of the state and, more specifically, of the certified inspector or officer.

While to the casual observer it may seem difficult to know for certain why one truck gets pulled in for inspection and another is allowed to continue. However, there are some red flags that could compel an inspector or officer to focus on a specific vehicle and driver…” Read more here.

How to Use Enforcement Inspection Data to Improve Your Operation: “Fleets have an abundance of data available today given all the sensors and telematics devices, which are either installed by OEMs or retrofitted on many of their vehicles. Accessing and using this information is critical to ensuring your fleet is operating legally, safely, and with optimal efficiently.

With so many data sources available, today’s fleets are able to operate more efficiently than ever before. Of course, the sheer amount of data available at your fingertips can be overwhelming — unless you have a reliable and well-developed program to assist you in understanding what it all means…” Read more here.

We look forward to Steve’s future columns and encourage our PrePass community to check in on IdeaXchange on a regular basis.