How A Former Truck Driver Built a Safety Culture at A. Duie Pyle

For 46 years, Rich Kaczynski has talked the talk and walked the walk, using his driving experience to build a safety culture at A. Duie Pyle.

Rich Kaczynski — everyone just calls him Rich K — had intended to pursue a career in chemical engineering. But the need to support himself in college resulted in a detour that led to a 46-year career in trucking.

For 32 years, he’s worked for A. Duie Pyle, a primarily less-than-truckload and logistics provider serving the Northeast.

As was not unusual back in those days, Kaczynski got a job as a truck driver without any formal driver training. 

“When I went to work at this trucking company. They had bought a tractor-trailer, and the driver they hired didn’t show up, so I was the fill-in,” he recalls. “And I learned real quick how to drive a truck.” 

The hard way.

“When I pulled out of the owner’s property and took out 40 foot of his hedges, I realized I had to turn a little bit wider with a trailer than with, like, a motorcycle trailer. So it was trial by error, but I learned very quickly.”

Actually, he says, the fact that “math and science were kind of my thing” helped him.

“Still to this day, when I get into a truck, when I back up, it’s all angles to me. It’s like a mathematical equation.”

Kaczynski started working for Pyle 32 years ago as a driver. At the time, he says, there were about 75 drivers at the company and a single facility — but it was starting to grow, and Rich K. grew with it.

From Truck Driver to Safety Manager

When Pyle was evaluating the then-new Qualcomm in-cab satellite communications technology, Kaczynski was one of a handful of drivers who tried it out. When the owner decided to put the units in all the trucks, he asked Rich K to train the other drivers.

“He sat in one of my very last classes and, a couple weeks later, brought me into his office and said, ‘I don’t think I’m using you the right way.’ And he asked me to come in and start an in-house driver orientation program.”

Kaczynski was one of three people in the safety department at the time. In 2001, he was made the safety manager, and today, he is the loss prevention manager at Pyle.

He’s also the national chairman of the American Trucking Associations’ Safety Management Council Management Advisory Board. 

The Importance of Training in Truck Driver Safety

With 20 years of driving experience, Rich K has driven 1.5 million safe miles. That experience has helped him cultivate a strong safety culture among Pyle’s drivers. 

One of his proudest accomplishments remains that driver orientation program he created 23 years ago. 

“You know, to build a good house, you have to have a good foundation,” he says. “And I think that’s the same with drivers as well.”

In the past, he says, he worked for some companies where drivers were handed the keys and a manifest and sent out for deliveries with little more than a “good luck.” Given the time and money spent hiring drivers, he says, it doesn’t make sense not to give them the tools they need to succeed and operate safely.

“We bring all of our drivers to our corporate office for a week, and we have an entire program we’ve laid out. The foundation of it is what I created years ago, and it’s still moving forward and improving to this day.”

He also manages Pyle’s eight-week in-house truck driving academy, develops driver instructors, trains Certified SMITH System Defensive Driving instructors, and more.

Taking Advantage of Changing Trucking Technology

Of course, trucking technology has changed a lot since Kaczynski first tried out those Qualcomm units years ago.

“I’m not a bells and whistles kind of guy,” he says. 

He and another safety manager recently drove two brand-new tractor-trailers to Indianapolis for the National Truck Driving Championships.

“They have every bell and whistle technology-wise that you can have. When I first got in the truck, some of the technology was actually new to me, and all the beep beeps and the bells and whistles going off…. as much as at first that annoyed me, it made me a better driver.”

In addition, the data from the telematics on today’s trucks helps identify trends.

“One thing with the telematics is, if you have it, you have to use it. If you don’t use it, shame on you. That could haunt you in court, but there is so much great information” that can help you improve your fleet’s safety.

The telematics “paint a very good story, and once you get used to them and know how to decipher that information, you can take that information and use it to coach your drivers.”

He says that showing drivers the video captured by an in-cab camera when there’s an incident is a valuable coaching tool. At first, drivers may say, “I didn’t do that,” he says. “And when you show them the actual information, it does change their behavior, and it does make them better drivers.”

Teaching Drivers About Fatigue Management

Telematics made the need for a more robust fatigue management program apparent. So that’s been a recent project for Kaczynski.

He says that before installing the Samsara in-cab camera and telematics system, the previous system only captured 30 seconds of video before an event such as hard braking.

With the new system, safety managers can look further back in the video to identify factors leading to an incident or accident. 

“We could see that there were certain events where there were fatigue issues involved.”

Kaczynski knows from personal experience that following federal hours of service rules doesn’t automatically prevent driver fatigue.

A Personal Driver Fatigue Wake-Up Call

He likes to share a story from when he was driving nights and departed one Monday night from a facility in Claymont, Delaware.

“I had the weekend off. I had two young children. I worked nights. Come Saturday morning, I spun my whole life around. And instead of sleeping at nights, I decided to become that good father and husband and spend time with my family on Mondays.”

On this particular Monday night, he drove about 10 miles and realized he needed to pull over for a catnap. He awoke to the sound of a dog barking.

“I went to sit up to see what was going on, and I couldn’t because somehow I had got my arms and my head and shoulders through the steering wheel, and I was sort of stuck in the steering wheel,” he says.

Fortunately, the truck windows were open, and he was able to call for help. When the fire department finally cut the steering wheel off to get him out, he realized he had pulled over at 11 p.m. Now it was 10 a.m. the next morning.

“So, I understand that fatigue part very well, because I lived it in my own life, back in the day. And I try to share that story and other events.”

Including Families in Driver Fatigue Education

The fatigue program he developed was a comprehensive campaign. 

Four different fatigue training videos were created for Pyle’s monthly safety meetings. In conjunction with those quarterly videos, Pyle mailed flyers to the drivers’ homes because families are a big part of fatigue prevention.

Driver fatigue awareness was also included in the “Duie News,” a loop that plays on televisions in all its facilities.

The results? Drivers are more conscious of the risks of throwing off their sleep schedule on weekends and try to make sure they get more rest. But perhaps more importantly, drivers now call in to say they can’t work because they’re too fatigued to drive safely.

Building a Safety Culture

That comfort drivers have in making decisions about their own fitness to drive is part of the larger safety culture at A. Duie Pyle.

Many companies talk about having a safety culture, but not all succeed. We asked Rich K. what advice he has for others.

“You have to walk the walk and talk the talk,” he says. “It’s got to start from the very top. Our owner goes into orientation and talks to every new hire group that comes to our company. He wants them to know that safety starts at the very top with him, and he believes in it.

“You can have all the policies in the world, but if you don’t talk the talk and walk the walk, and if it doesn’t come from the top, it’s not going to work.”

Leaving a Legacy

Rich Kaczynski is retiring next year, and he’s working to mentor those who will follow after him.

“It’s been a pleasure to be a part of that experience,” he says, “to grow with the company and be able to grow the different programs we have and try to stay ahead of the curve.

“I’ve been in this business for 46 years. I’m a 1.5 million plus safe driver. I want every driver to be a million-mile safe driver. And I hope whatever experiences I’ve had, the programs I’ve helped put together, can help those drivers become those kind of drivers. 

“You know, I do walk the walk and talk the talk, and I truly come to work each day to help make sure all of our employees come home alive and well every day.”