Safety & Compliance Manager

Position Summary: Safety isn’t a binder on a shelf. It’s how we work. At Van Kam Freightways, we’ve been keeping freight — and people — moving across Western Canada for decades. Behind every truck on the road, every shipment on the dock and every employee heading home at the end of their shift is a commitment to doing things the right way. We’re looking for a Safety & Compliance Manager who can help us take that commitment to the next level. This isn’t a role for someone who wants to sit behind a desk and police policies. We’re looking for someone who wants to be in the operation — talking with drivers, walking the docks, coaching leaders, digging into incidents, spotting trends and turning safety data into meaningful action. You’ll be part safety leader, part compliance expert, part coach and part problem-solver. Most importantly, you’ll help us build a safety culture that reflects our values: CARE about our people. DEVELOP better ways of working. ACHIEVE results that make our operation safer and stronger. THE ROLE As our Safety & Compliance Manager, you’ll lead safety, transportation compliance, injury management and operational risk across our transportation and warehouse operations. You’ll partner closely with Operations, HR, terminal leadership and our frontline teams to make sure our programs don’t just look good on paper — they actually work in the real world. That means balancing regulatory compliance with practical solutions, holding people accountable when needed and helping our leaders understand the why behind what we do. WHAT YOU’LL OWN Keep Us Safe & Compliant You’ll oversee our transportation and workplace safety compliance programs, including:
- National Safety Code (NSC)
- Hours of Service and ELD compliance
- Commercial vehicle safety requirements
- Transportation of Dangerous Goods (TDG)
- Driver qualifications and compliance
- Occupational Health & Safety requirements
- Warehouse and dock safety
- Regulatory inspections and audits You’ll keep an eye on changing regulations, identify gaps before they become problems and make sure we’re always ready when an auditor comes knocking. Make Safety Visible We want safety to be something people see, hear and experience every day. You’ll spend time in our terminals, on our docks and with our drivers and leaders — conducting inspections, coaching, supporting safety meetings and looking for opportunities to make work safer. You’ll lead and support initiatives around equipment safety, PPE, emergency preparedness, hazardous materials, safe work procedures, ergonomics and more. And when something isn’t working? You’ll help us fix it. Learn From What Happens Incidents happen. What matters is what we do next. You’ll lead and support investigations involving:
- Workplace injuries
- Vehicle collisions
- Near misses
- Property damage
- Environmental incidents
- Safety-related cargo claims We’re looking for someone who goes beyond “Who made the mistake?” and asks “Why did this happen, and how do we prevent it from happening again?” You’ll identify root causes, recommend practical corrective actions and make sure those actions actually get completed. Help People Get Back to Work When an employee gets hurt, we want them supported from day one. You’ll lead our injury management and return-to-work program, working with employees, leaders, healthcare providers and workers' compensation partners to coordinate safe and meaningful returns to work. You’ll manage claims, monitor recovery, develop modified work plans and use trends to help us prevent future injuries. It’s compliance — but it’s also CARE in action. Turn Data Into Action We don’t want reports just for the sake of reports. You’ll help us understand what our safety numbers are telling us. You’ll track and report on things like:
- Injury frequency and severity
- Lost‑time incidents
- Preventable collisions
- Hours of Service compliance
- Workers' compensation costs
- Insurance claims
- Audit results
- Corrective actions
- Training completion
- Driver and terminal safety performance Then you’ll work with our leadership team to answer the important question: What are we going to do about it? Manage Risk & Insurance You’ll also work closely with our insurance brokers and providers to support our commercial auto, cargo, liability, property and other insurance programs. You’ll help coordinate claims and renewals, respond to underwriting requests, monitor driver eligibility and identify opportunities to reduce both operational risk and the cost of that risk. YOU MIGHT BE OUR PERSON IF… You understand transportation safety — really understand it. You’ve worked around trucks, drivers, terminals, warehouses or logistics operations and know that what makes sense in an office doesn’t always make sense at 2:00 a.m. on a freight dock. Ideally, you bring:
- 5+ years of progressive safety, compliance or risk experience.
- Experience in trucking, LTL, transp