Ep. 556 Using Rancho Mesa Resources to Prepare Drivers for Winter Weather Conditions

Rancho Mesa’s Alyssa Burley and Client Technology Specialist, Brenda Colby sit down to discuss how to prepare company drivers for winter weather conditions.

Show Notes: ⁠⁠⁠⁠Subscribe to Rancho Mesa's Newsletter⁠⁠⁠⁠

Host: ⁠⁠⁠⁠Alyssa Burley

Guest: ⁠⁠⁠⁠Brenda Colby

Editor: Jadyn Brandt

Music: "Home" by JHS Pedals, “Breaking News Intro” by nem0production

© Copyright 2025. Rancho Mesa Insurance Services, Inc. All rights reserved.

Transcript

Alyssa Burley: You’re listening to Rancho Mesa’s StudioOne™ podcast, where each week we break down complex insurance and safety topics to help your business thrive. 

I’m your host, Alyssa Burley, and I’m joined by Brenda Colby, Client Technology Specialist with Rancho Mesa, and we’re going to discuss how to prepare company drivers for winter weather conditions.

Brenda, welcome to the show.

Brenda Colby: Happy to be here Alyssa.

AB: Now as we move into the winter months, temperatures are beginning to drop across the United States, exposing companies to a number of dangerous weather conditions.

And, depending on where your company performs work, employees could encounter rain, ice, snow, and fog while on the road—and we’ve actually been dealing with that lately—and even while they are performing their job duties. And this can be especially dangerous for drivers, who for the coming months, will need to safely navigate the change in weather patterns. Additional training and accident preparedness is essential to keep employees safe behind the wheel. So Brenda, what resources does Rancho Mesa have to help our clients keep their drivers safe this winter?

BC: Well, the first resource I want to talk about is our driver training. And the best way to prevent an accident is to train your company’s drivers. So before placing any employee behind the wheel, it is a best practice to provide them with comprehensive driver safety training which is available to clients through our SafetyOne™ platform.

Clients can access this training through the SafetyOne Learning Management System in both English and Spanish, and it covers everything from the basics of driver safety, to defensive and distracted driving, and we offer the complete program as well.

AB: Agreed. And if a driver knows about certain obstacles to expect on the road and has the prior training on how to handle them, the likelihood of an accident occurring can decrease significantly.

And, driver training doesn’t have to be a one-time event. So, what other resources do we have that can help re-inforce ongoing driver safety training?

BC: Well we also have over 52 driver-specific toolbox talks available through SafetyOne in both English and Spanish. And these can be used as weekly reviews of safe driving practices during the winter months—and cover topics like Driving in Fog & Low Light Conditions or Driving in High Winds. And, listeners can subscribe to Rancho Mesa’s free weekly Driver Safety toolbox talk emails to start receiving driver safety meeting content directly to their inbox each week.

AB: And just to reiterate, you don't have to be a Rancho Mesa client to sign up for those.

Okay, Brenda, these are all really great tips to help avoid accidents, but we know that no matter how much you prepare, things can still go wrong, especially in extreme conditions.

So, what resources are available if an accident does occur?

BC: Yeah, you’re right. Even with adequate training and preparedness, accidents may still occur.

A digital Automobile Accident Report is available through SafetyOne. The report can be accessed through our SafetyOne app, or via a QR Code for non-app users. And it outlines the steps an employee should take once they have been involved in an accident, and allows the employee to record important information including vehicle information, injuries, witnesses, and photos. It also has the capability of pinpointing the location of the accident by locating you via GPS.

Injuries caused by auto accidents can also be recorded in a company’s OSHA 300 logs for end-of-year reporting using the RM365 HRAdvantage™ portal.

AB: Overall, it sounds like our resources streamline both training and reporting to ensure a safer winter season for our clients. Brenda, if listeners have questions about our RM365 HRAdvantage™ portal or SafetyOne Platform, what’s the best way to get in contact with you?

BC: As always, clients can contact me at bcolby@ranchomesa.com or call me directly at (619) 486-6562. 

AB: Brenda, thank you for joining me in StudioOne™. 

BC: Thanks for having me.

AB: Thanks for tuning in to our latest episode produced by StudioOne™. If you enjoyed what you heard, please share this episode and subscribe. For more insights like this, visit us at RanchoMesa.com and subscribe to our weekly newsletter.