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For a Competitive Edge, Safety Is a M.U.S.T. B eyond the obvious reasons for carriers and freight agents in the transportation industry to foster to fully understand each unique situation, sometimes the
Fostering a solid safety culture not only saves lives and reduces accidents and cargo damages, it strengthens customer relations.
meeting is moved outside, into the shipping environment. During a M.U.S.T. customer visit, Landstar safety team members, the Landstar agent, and shippers may examine product
a safety culture—saving lives, reducing accidents and cargo damages—there is another reason to take safety seriously. A solid safety culture can strengthen customer relations. Safety Isn’t One Size Fits All For safety practices to be truly effective, they should be a good fit for both carriers and shippers. But with so many different types of freight, and practices and policies that vary from company to company and carrier to carrier, in addition to federal and state regulations, finding a good fit can be challenging. That’s why an integrative approach, like Landstar’s Mutual Understanding of Safety Together or M.U.S.T. customer program, is so often the right choice for many shippers. With M.U.S.T., safety practices are customized to fit the shipper, instead of squeezing the customer into a one size fits all program. Mutual To put the mutual in M.U.S.T. we often start with a discussion about Landstar’s safety culture and how we aim to provide a shipper with the best, safest, most secure transportation available. But it’s not about us. We open a dialog with the customer on their safety goals, practices, and possible solutions. Understanding A round table collaboration can be quite effective in loss prevention. We believe there are no secrets in safety and appreciate the opportunity to share our perspectives, experience, and data. But
loading/unloading and securement to
determine the best way to ensure the product is properly prepared for transit for an on-time, damage-free delivery. Safety Collectively, the carrier and customer work toward solutions, or agree that the practices in place are in the best interest of everyone involved. Often the result is either standardizing those safety practices and implementing them at the customer’s other locations or may be as simple as clarifying existing processes and practices. Together Whatever the resulting solutions are, both the customer and the carrier have a stake in the safety protocols, making compliance or adherence to the self- imposed actions much more likely to be effective. With M.U.S.T., no two visits are the same, because no two customers or shippers are exactly alike. So, while the particulars may be different, the results are the same—safety as a service. M.U.S.T. serves both the customer and carrier in working to achieve their common goals of improved safety
practices, reduced accident risk, and claim-free delivery. But working together also strengthens the safety bond, creating lasting dialogue and relationships. Adopting integrative safety programs like M.U.S.T. often lead to the expansion of safety practices within multiple customer locations, growing a safety culture, and making more people safer than before—and that’s an advantage for everyone in the industry. A collaborative approach, like the M.U.S.T. customer program, involving the carrier, freight agencies, and customers to formulate and implement safety solutions has been a part of the way Landstar operates for more than 25 years.
–By Shelly Seaton
Vice President of Safety and Compliance Landstar www.landstar.com
18 Inbound Logistics • June 2025
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