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Shifting Gears: Applying ISO 9000 Quality Management Principles to Trucking

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Of all the industries in the United States and around the world, few are as challenging as the transportation industry and more specifically, the trucking industry. Comprising 5% of the GDP and with over 70% of the cities and towns around the globe solely dependent on trucks to deliver their goods, trucking is truly the backbone of the economy. However, high insurance rates and fuel prices as well as a constant shortage of drivers have made running a trucking company a very difficult endeavor.

Although in use by many different industries, ISO and other quality programs are rarely used by trucking companies. In `Shifting Gears', the authors present case studies and easy-to-follow information that carriers and shippers can use to improve the processes related to shipping and trucking. Based on the premise that quality is a framework for improvement, the authors identify eight specific ISO quality management principles within the book:

Customer Focus
Leadership
Involvement of People
Process Approach
System Approach to Management
Continual Improvement
Factual Approach to Decision Making
Mutually Beneficial Supplier Relationships

Because the book is written in non-technical terms, trucking companies of all sizes will be able to learn and apply the lessons and advice within the book. Reading `Shifting Gears' will not make companies' experts in ISO 9000 but it will clearly explain the importance of structured quality programs and get them on the right path.

As someone who has spent the last 13 years in transportation and who is a certified Six Sigma Black Belt, I can attest that the trucking industry must embrace the quality principles of ISO and Six Sigma. Issues such as backhauls, revenue generation, freight pay and audit, OS&D, pick ups and deliveries, operating ratios, maintenance, etc., can be managed better through the use of a structured quality program such as ISO 9000.