The numbers add up, notes Mike Tate, director of transportation for K-VA-T Food Stores Inc., operator of the Food City supermarket chain. “Our company fleet has 75 tractors and 400 trailers,” he relates. “We have 129 drivers who cover nearly eight million miles a year and have a combined 1,193 years of safe driving. That accomplishment is the result of having the right equipment, effective maintenance and the right drivers.”
Headquartered in Abingdon, Va., K-VA-T Food Stores Inc. operates 105 retail food outlets. The privately held, family-owned company—named K-VA-T for the regions it serves in southeast Kentucky, southwest Virginia and northeast Tennessee—boasts a 99% on-time delivery record using a fleet of Volvo tractors and Utility and Great Dane trailers based at a 1.1 million sq.-ft. distribution center. While the Food City name dates back to 1918, K-VA-T Food Stores began in 1955 and has since grown though acquisition of other grocery operations and by expansion into new areas.
Sold on safety
“We operate Volvo VNL day cab tractors because of their high safety rating and their stability control systems,” Tate says. “While reliability, durability and other traditional factors, such as support and parts availability, are also very important to us, it was safety that sold the Volvo power units.”
Food City’s Volvo tractors are equipped with the manufacturer’s Volvo Enhanced Stability Technology (VEST) with ABS traction control. VEST employs sensors that quickly and accurately detect a dangerous driving situation and respond by automatically reducing engine torque and activating the necessary brakes. The system, Tate points out, reduces the likelihood of loss of control by automatically compensating for driver miscalculation or changing road conditions.
“There are several other features of the Volvos that contribute to safety as well,” Tate continues. “The panora-
mic windshield gives our drivers a broad view of the road and projection headlamps increase nighttime visibility. We also add a fender-mounted convex mirror as well as fog and driving lamps to our spec’s.”
Empowering drivers
Food City also emphasizes hiring the best and most experienced drivers it can find, all of whom have excellent records, and gives them incentives for continued safe driving. “We try to hire drivers with 10 or more years of over-the-road experience,” Tate notes. “Each new driver spends three weeks riding with a driver-trainer. All of our drivers are trained to report problems or defects so units are repaired before being released back into service, and they are empowered to decide when conditions are unsafe for driving, including weather, traffic or other
factors.”
Drivers at Food City attend two safety meetings each year to refresh their skills. In addition, there is a driver safety dinner where awards for safe driving are presented, and an annual driver Truck Roadeo that includes a test on pre-trip inspections and a road course.
Role model
A result of all these efforts at Food City is a highly admirable safety record. As an industry role model, the company was recently recognized by Volvo Trucks North America for its “outstanding safety record” and “passion for safety.” Food City won the Volvo Trucks Safety Award for the under 10 million mile category with a remarkable zero recordable accidents during 7.9 million miles of driving in 2008.
At the beginning of 2009, Volvo Trucks invited U.S. and Canadian fleets with more than five units to apply for a Volvo Trucks Safety Award in two categories, one for fleets with less than 10 million miles of operation and the other for those with more than 10 million miles annually. Fleets were ranked by their accident frequency rates for 2008 using the U.S. Department of Transportation definition of a “recordable accident,” as well as their accident prevention programs. The accident frequency rates accounted for the major portion of each fleet’s ranking.
“Food City represents extraordinary ongoing achievements in the safe operation of trucks,” said Scott Kress, Volvo’s senior vice president – sales & marketing. “They have taken the concept of safety and made it the foundation of their fleet. They have focused significant resources and talent on recruitment, training, maintenance and equipment.”
The importance of maintenance at Food City, Tate points out, is found in the company’s extensive PM programs covering 75 tractor items every 24,000 miles and 45 items on trailers every 90 days. The fleet’s 12 technicians also have access to the latest diagnostic equipment, which helps ensure that tractors remain in top condition for their planned eight-year/million-mile service life.
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Food City Trailer Specifications
Model: Utility 53-ft. |
Return on investment
“Safety to us is truly accident prevention,” states Jesse Lewis, Food City’s senior vice president and chief operating officer. “It’s about providing a fleet that gives our drivers the very best to operate, the safest vehicles we can possibly put them in. We feel what we invest in accident prevention gives us a tremendous return on that investment.” FE
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Food City Tractor Specifications Model: Volvo VN day cab |
