Every company wants you to be COR Certified, more importantly, YOU want to be COR certified; Now it seems like a hassle, but I assure you it is easier than you think. But not without work to be done. (P.S. ITS FREE)
Getting our COR was not a challenge when we attempted it. The biggest challenge we faced was finding out HOW to get our COR. Now I'm going to back this up just a tiny bit and tell you about the few things we already had in place when attempting our COR. Now this guide is not for the seasoned trucker, or the big company with 50 employees and a safety person, this is for the beginners, the just-starting-outers or the old boys with absolutely no idea where to start with all this fancy paperwork.
Equipment List
Now this might seem like a no-brainer but even if you have one piece of equipment, its the perfect opportunity to show you are tracking your maintenance, CVIPS, due dates, and maintenance history. Now in the age of technology you can easily do this in a folder and completely on paper or run a Google Sheets, or Docs file. I'm going to include an example. I can assure you Safety Driven is going to ask for it. Including what is next. Now this is a pretty Low-tech way to do it, but it does organize things in a easy to read format.
Maintenance Forms
If you've ever watched videos of tires flying off into oncoming traffic, you can see why the government asks us to be diligent on our maintenance. Do we want to see stuff like that happen in Canada? Definitely not. Does it happen? Absolutely. (Looking at you Taylor Bridge truck) I made a paper sheet that allows you to either have a driver circle request aka requesting maintenance on this part or record showing you have maintained said part. I will be attaching it below. Your welcome to steal it or just use it for reference and make your own. I'm sure a quick google search will also give you many results. Now I cannot stress this enough, YOU and your employees have to be diligent in this. Every time a Maintenance form is done it must go into that vehicles file, as well as CVIPS, dealership maintenance records. You are proving you prioritize safety and maintenance.
Safety Meetings
Okay so you checked off BOX 1 and 2, you have can tell me exactly when your Maintenance and CVIP's are coming ANNND your documenting your maintenance. A safety meeting may seem like a nice place to get free pizza and tune out to the sound of your Kenworth rattling along on the pavement, but there's actual necessity to it.
EVERY SINGLE MONTH- CVSE puts new bulletins out. Between 1-5 Bulletins. Changing rules, making amendments, and adding Unidentified Aircraft Weigh Stations in the sky. (kidding just checking if you were paying attention). A safety meeting is the perfect opportunity to go over changes, talk about how it affects your team and brush up on at least a few RULES, or seasonal road changes coming to your area.
Safety Manual
Of course they want to see you have an existing Safety Manual, and you should but if your a O/O or maybe only a few trucks maybe you haven't gotten there, or paid for someone to make you one. We had one, that I built, But after doing your OOCOR or COR you will be following theirs anyway. So I recommend calling them and doing your course.
Safety Driven
Safety Driven is who issues COR Certifications for the transport industry. None of this advice works for any other industry. What you have to do is a course. If your an OOCOR (Owner Operator) it will take about 8 Hours. Small Company with a few Employees, even longer. It is completely FREE, I keep seeing these companies offering to get you your COR for thousands of dollars... NO. FREE. You buy the decals after your completion of the course that, and whatever administrative costs you incur putting all this together. THATS YOUR ONLY COST. After your course is complete it will be up to you to get all your paperwork together and send it off for approval to Safety Driven. I think I sent approximately 100 Pages. Voila. Wait for a while, add anything else they require. You have officially earned your COR.
Here's the website https://safetydriven.ca/
Phone Number 604) 888-2242
This last piece of info is maybe for people who aren't in the trucking industry, but want their COR for their industry. If you go on WCB, Login and Go to the Health and Safety Tab. There is a link called Search for COR certifying partners. Click that and you can find the certification for your industry.
Obviously I can't write everything about getting your COR but I thought I would give a few tips to get you there!
Thanks for reading. Stay safe out there!