Highway Transport Delivers Service and Solutions

Highway Transport shares the importance of discipline

Discipline is an important trait for employees. With the use of discipline, employees can put their training and instruction into practice to work together toward common goals while remaining focused and developing good habits for both work and life. Lack of discipline can lead to a litany of issues, including missed deadlines, failed projects, and even safety infractions that can cause accidents or a negative domino effect in our supply chain.

At Highway Transport, a Knoxville-based company that provides bulk transportation of specialty chemicals, equipment cleaning teams maintain more than 1,000 stainless steel tanks hauled by more than 500 tanker trucks to keep employees, the environment, and roadway drivers safe. It’s an interesting process, and discipline provides the integral element of success.

Train, train, train. Then follow procedures.  

Vineyard noted that equipment cleaning technicians use detergents and sodium hydroxide – “it’s like oven cleaner times 100” – with heated steam and a pressure washer in an enclosed space. Their initial training lasts about a year with multiple ongoing annual sessions. Technicians must adhere to state and federal regulations pertaining to issues such as air quality and wastewater management. Vineyard travels the country to train the teams he manages, improve processes, and determine what needs to happen to make operations run smoothly.  

Insight from an equipment cleaning career 

• Foster discipline: “There are 79 steps in a general chemical tanker clean that technicians have to follow every time,” Vineyard says. “They must be self-motivated to do it perfectly, and they must be properly trained on every step. If they aren’t disciplined, a driver could lose pay, an expensive load of chemicals could be contaminated, or someone could get hurt.” Vineyard looks for a disciplined mindset and passion in potential employees. “You can live without discipline, but you won’t have a clean house or food in the fridge.”
• Solve problems through innovation: “We must protect resources like water and air. We reclaim water, treat it, and use it over and over. We also developed air scrubbers for most of our facilities. We asked chemical engineers how products are made, and we broke that process down to figure out how to eliminate issues. People doing the work can convey the problems, and we can work together to solve them,” Vineyard shares.
• Use technology: “We have state-of-the-art air purifiers and testers to check the atmosphere before technicians enter a tank, ” Vineyard says. “Our protective equipment must be used properly. Technology keeps our technicians and the general public safe.”
• Encourage trades: “Not every person is made for college, and if you have a passion and the discipline to pursue a trade, you can grow a successful career. We need to encourage younger people to consider entering trades,” Vineyard says.
• Find or become a mentor: “I had a mentor who helped my younger, hotheaded self by focusing that energy to grow my skillset,”  Vineyard shares. “He helped teach me how to carry myself around management and maneuver in certain situations. Now, I’m in a position to do that for others.”

Trucking impacts – and discipline serves – us all

Trucks deliver many of the goods we use every second of every day, and hopefully, this provides an inside perspective and some takeaways that we can all think about and implement in our lives and careers. We appreciate the dedicated and disciplined professionals who work hard to make delivering these goods safe for us all.

While we believe our Highway Transport team upholds a standard of discipline from which others can learn, we know that dedication is not a quality or need specific to the trucking industry. All of us – regardless of our profession or work environment – must take pride and responsibility in our respective jobs. Our mutual accountability and commitment to excellence drives safety, profitability, and success, starting in our companies and communities and driving impact for the U.S. and global economies.

Learn more at highwaytransport.com.