CPC’s MapAhead Safety Program: Built by Drivers, For Drivers

Every driver knows the truth: The hardest part of a delivery often isn’t the miles, but the last few hundred feet. Tight parking lots, blind corners, low overhangs and awkward dock approaches are the moments when experience matters most, and one surprise can turn into a safety issue.

That’s why CPC Logistics created the MapAhead Safety Program. In 2021, Regional Manager Dean Cretsinger and then Safety Supervisor Curt Ryan came up with the idea of launching a microsite for CPC drivers assigned to Walgreens to improve safety and communications and lower accident rates. Over the years, the team has continued to refine the site with features like MapAhead.

MapAhead was built from the driver’s seat. Over the past several months, experienced CPC drivers assigned to Walgreens routes have been working alongside operations managers like Curt Ryan and safety managers and supervisors to create detailed, store-specific maps for every Walgreens location CPC services. The maps are uploaded to the CPC FACT microsite for drivers to reference in advance of arriving at the stores.

So far, more than 800 Walgreens store locations in Wisconsin, Illinois, Iowa, Minnesota, Michigan, North Dakota, New Jersey and New York have been mapped along with all domicile locations in Wisconsin, Illinois, Minnesota and Ohio. And CPC is in the process of adding the MapAhead program to the West Coast and in the Southwest and Northeast areas.

“The areas drivers operate in at the stores are often very crowded and confined,” said Senior Manager of Safety LeRoy Hulse. “These maps are intended to familiarize drivers with entering and exiting and how to position their truck for delivery ahead of time. Familiarity with store locations helps lower the risk of damage and injury, makes the delivery faster and smoother, and reduces stress for drivers.”

Based on their experience, drivers literally draw on the maps to show:

• The best entrance and exit points.
• How to approach the loading zone.
• Where hazards such as low overhangs, bollards, power lines and tight turns are located.
• What to watch out for before pulling in.

“Anybody can drive to Eau Claire, Wisconsin, by using the interstate, but once you get to a store location for delivery, the guessing game begins,” Curt said. “If you enter the location in the wrong direction, you could find yourself trapped in a parking lot that’s too small to maneuver around. You could find yourself backing out onto a four-lane road, creating a hazard. Our maps show the best entrance and exit for the trucks and where to park for delivery. There are also special notes with specific instructions for each location.”

While MapAhead is especially valuable for new and temporary drivers who are unfamiliar with store locations, it’s designed for everyone.

“When I was a driver assigned to Walgreens, I utilized the CPC Walgreens microsite almost daily, even with all my years of experience,” said Midwest Safety Supervisor Don Rogers. “Being a truck driver can be stressful and having the knowledge of what to expect when I arrived for store deliveries was priceless. With this knowledge drivers can focus on the important task at hand.”

Even seasoned drivers use the maps as a quick refresher because store layouts change, conditions shift, and a reminder can make a clean run even cleaner.

“The feedback from the veteran drivers has been positive,” said Northeast Safety Supervisor Carmen Parisio. “They have all said how they wished that this was available when they started. The new drivers have stated that it has been a help when making their deliveries.”

In addition to receiving positive feedback from drivers, MapAhead is helping reduce incidents at Walgreens stores.

“Since the CPC Walgreens microsite went up in 2020, there have been roughly 165,000 deliveries to 650 store locations, and there have only been two accidents,” Curt said. “One involved a driver who was not using the maps. For the other, the map was not on the microsite due to a glitch that was quickly corrected.”

The goal is currently to map every Walgreens store that CPC services and continue improving the CPC FACT microsite to make it even more helpful for drivers.