Orival Thompson

Relentless Ally

A Trooper for Highway Safety

Orival Thompson is no stranger to following the rules in his role as US Department of Transportation (USDOT) compliance manager at Balfour Beatty. In fact, there was a time in his life where he enforced the rules to protect the citizens of Florida as an officer of the law.

Orival served more than 36 years in law enforcement, with 21 of those years dedicated to the highway patrol in the motor carrier enforcement unit.  

After retiring in 2016, Orival began a new chapter as a DOT compliance consultant for motor carrier companies, sharing his expertise and knowledge in highway patrol and DOT regulations. After serving as a consultant for our rail team, Orival joined Balfour Beatty as a full-time DOT compliance manager that following year. 

“A lot of people don’t recognize Balfour Beatty as being a motor carrier company,” Orival explains. “Though we are a construction company, we use commercial motor vehicles to transport materials throughout jobsites. Because of this, we have a responsibility to follow USDOT guidelines.”

As the DOT Compliance Manager, Orival is responsible for ensuring Balfour Beatty maintains compliance with federal and state regulations required for commercial vehicles, including the management of Balfour Beatty’s USDOT score, which is a leading indicator of businesses’ driver safety. 

Orival takes his responsibility as “gatekeeper” of our USDOT score seriously. 

In fact, he conducts workshops across the US to educate our civils teams on topics such as pre-trip inspections, vehicle and driver violations, proper load securement and drug and alcohol requirements. Orival’s workshops are part of a larger, comprehensive safety and risk management plan to ensure the wellbeing of our drivers and all other drivers or members of the public they encounter.  

"Highway safety is our ultimate goal,” Orival states. “The [USDOT] rules and regulations often change, and consistency across our business helps to prevent violations and demonstrate our commitment to Zero Harm.” 

Orival is passionate about his role as a liaison between Balfour Beatty and federal/state regulating agencies, staying informed about the latest regulatory updates, qualifications and trends in the transportation industry to maintain Balfour Beatty’s driver safety score—a figure we are committed to continuously improving.

Orival’s personal mantra, “If you can’t do the right thing all the time, then you should not do it at all,” speaks to the integrity and wisdom he displays in his role and makes him a Relentless Ally for the safety of our people and the public on construction sites, roads and highways across America.