Carol Heinowski, Logistics Manager for Outbound Logistics, was recently honored at the 2022 Fleet Safety Conference with a national award from Heavy Duty Trucking magazine during a conference in Santa Clara, California.
In her role for Meijer, she oversees 400 drivers who are responsible for moving our entire fleet of 250 tractors with roughly 3,000 trailers. In addition to safety and compliance, Carol, who works out of Lansing, Mich., is responsible for hiring truck drivers and conducting orientation for new hires.
Meijer has the highest possible rating of satisfaction with the U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT), and our CSA — short for compliance, safety and accountability — scores, which change monthly, are all well below the DOT limits.
While most think low scores might signal poor performance, Carol would say otherwise. The lower the score, the better. While the DOT sees any score less than 65 percent as a pass, we keep our scores in the single digits and teens.
Former Federal Safety Investigator
The HDT award is the most recent accolade for Carol. In April 2022, she presented at the National Private Truck Council (NPTC) conference and, in 2019, she was appointed by Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer to the Michigan Truck Safety Commission. In 2018, she became the first female Chair of the NPTC board.
Carol joined the Meijer team 14 years ago as a Private Fleet Manager. Previously, Carol spent about 20 years as a safety investigator for the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA).
It’s a career that she fell into while a student at Michigan State University when she took a student aide job with the Federal Highway Administration’s Office of Motor Carrier Safety doing clerical work. (The office became FMCSA in 2000.)
After graduation, Carol learned the office was hiring safety investigators and required applicants to have a degree in criminal justice or general business. Fortunately, she had taken her dad’s advice to study general business.
Fortunate Timing
Eventually, she felt the need to take on a new challenge. But she wasn’t ready to uproot her young children to take a promotion in another state or at DOT headquarters in Washington, D.C.
“Then I got a phone call from a retired Michigan State Police officer who I used to work with. He said, ‘Hey, I'm working for this great company called Meijer as a private fleet manager, covering safety and compliance and operations,’” Carol said.
He told her he was planning to retire soon, and his boss had asked him to find his replacement before he left.
“He said, ‘I thought of you, and I think you'd be a great fit. I thought I'd give you a call and see what your career plans are,’” Carol recounted. “And I'm like, ‘Well, funny that you should mention that because I've been kind of getting that itch to do something different.’ So, my job fell in my lap. I’m glad it did.”
We’re also glad. Carol’s breadth of knowledge and passion for the field help keep our team members, customers and communities safe on the roads every day.