Considering applying with Millis

Slim Shady I did my research BEFORE applying at Millis. I had already made up my mind before ever getting here...go to the thread on Dash Cams and look at the date of my few posts on the subject. It predates my school start date. I owned and ran a business for 5 years before coming here. I understand business. I understand cutting business cost and I understand profit and loss. This isnt a matter of like and dislike. This isnt about what makes the driver comfortable or uncomfortable...this is pure and simply a business strategy to affect the bottom dollar. Elogs came and now they are becoming the standard. By the end of 2014 every Millis truck will have new qualcoms and a scanner installed as well as a camera. You do not have to like it but statistics show that the use of cameras reduce the actions that cause critical event flagging by 40%. Those are statistics that NO insurance company of a carrier can ignore, and it is, in the end the insurance company that ultimately dictates what a carrier will or will not do. My mother has owned an insurance company most of my life. She specializes in this kind of insurance so I also have the inside here...which is where most of my info comes from...not Dan Millis. A carrier's bottom dollar benefit to adopting these cameras over time is directly related to the number of rigs affected. For a carrier like Millis with 850 rigs the savings just for installing the units is millions per year. It can reduce insurance cost by up to 30% depending on the plan. In one year thier insurance savings pays for the camera cost...after that its pure profit. Just that one factor dictates that it will eventually be required by all carriers. In fact once the statistics are verified and insurance companies become convinced that thier liability is decreased because cameras can now fight rear end liability cases, they will require carriers to have them. That requirement will first come as a penalty for NOT having them then will come as policy cancellation as it is added to the insurance contract.

EDIT:

I did meet with Dan Millis and I like the guy, I understand he is part of the founding family and he is a corporate officer so I understand that he gives the corporate line and its possible that some of what he said was false. But I had concerns...concerns I did not voice. Why didn't I voice them? Because I'm not confident as a driver. My concerns are that as a new driver, I will trigger more critical events that those of you with experience and I am concerned that this will adversely affect MY bottom dollar...But I didn't voice that concern because my skill level can only be improved by practice. I can only hope my trainer's vehicle does not have one installed so I get that time to practice without getting a safety message every few minutes. I don't like the dash cams, but I understand that they are here to stay.

 

I have no complaints about the dash cams facing the road, Its the one facing the driver that is a problem with me.
I knew they were coming so I quit, also with the routing, fuel stops and opti idle also coming. No thanks


Q. How will the camera facing the driver EVER help him?

A. It can't

 

Stevenneil....I wish I was half as smart as you think you are. Owning a business and riding with pop doesn't make you informed on trucking, and I am far from being an authority or expert in this industry but you are making all of us rookies look bad lol.

Where do you think all of these more experienced drivers come from? how many owned a business before hand and how many had a parent driving long before me or you even considered driving? It's a far bigger number than you seem to think it is. I would advise you to listen and learn before preaching to this group, they are smarter than both of us lol.

 

and we have a winner. all the talk of how it will lower a companies ins saving them money so they can stay in business is a pile. it's more of a company doing what it can to cover it's butt in case of an accident to show more driver liability than company.

 

Solo, I have never claimed to know everything about trucking. In fact I know exactly how much I don't know, and I am very open to anything anyone has to say about TRUCKING. I know enough to know I have a TON to learn. What driving experience I have is driving M920s in the Army in the 80s for almost three years hauling tanks and heavy equipment accident free in vehicles from the Vietnam War Era, but that was 25 years ago and I know well how much I don't know...However the issue with Dash Cams is not a TRUCKING issue. You can have 50 years behind the wheel and not know a thing about Dash Cams, how they work or why. As a matter of fact, though Dash Cams have been in use for decades now in police and EMT vehicles, it has only RECENTLY been introduced to the Trucking Industry. The FMSCA has just begun a study on the effectiveness of Dash Cams in Commercial vehicles. That study has just completed its second year and it has yet to impact the larger community. Most everything I have read from MOST every driver here is based on opinion, conjecture and anger at having thier privacy invaded...not on any facts at all concerning the use of them. I don't EVER base decisions on Conjecture, Opinion, or anger, I need facts. And regardless of how much experience these guys have as truckers, and they have a TON they have limited or NO experience on Dash Cams. What I have attempted to share with you are facts concerning how business works, how insurance companies work, and why I believe Dash Cams have just BEGUN to make an impact. You do not have to agree, that is your choice. However before the end of 2014 you have another choice to make, and that will be whether to take that Millis Transfer tag off your profile pic or not. Every single driver WILL make that same choice before the end of 2014 because by the end of 2014 you WILL have that camera in your truck whether you like it or not. That's fact. That isn't conjecture, opinion, or anger that is fact. Your choice is to stay or to leave. You can leave, but 5 years from now I want you to remember this discussion between this company and what me, a stupid, un educated, unskilled, greenhorn Rookie told you. It is GOING to become the standard. The FMSCA IS BEHIND this. Millis voluntarily added the cameras in 2012-2013 because they were participating in an FMSCA study. FMSCA has now extended that study for another two years. So you can choose to leave. You CAN choose to move on, but what are you going to do when the next carrier begins carrying them? You make your own choice, but don't insult me for being informed, please. I respect you and your experience, just as I respect every driver here. You can look down on me for not having the driving experience you have but you would be mistaken to assume I am an idiot.

 

I am going to try to say this in a respectful way, So please do not take it wrong. There is NO WAY for a carrier to separate Driver Liability from Carrier Liability. As soon as you step foot in thier truck they are legally responsible for ANYTHING you do. The dash cam can exonerate you or convict you, it is a two edged sword. If it shows you were liable, then the company is automatically liable, they CAN NOT SEPARATE THEMSELVES FROM THAT LIABILITY no matter what they do. The only way the company is not liable for any damages you cause while in one of thier vehicles is if you stole the vehicle and were not an approved driver for it. That is the ONLY way. If you kill someone and you are guilty, yes they will say it is your fault, but they have no choice but to reach a settlement with the victim because...and you should know this...while you are in a Millis Transfer Truck you are a representative of the company. You might get fired as soon as they see the video, but they are still responsible. However, if you would take the time to look at other forums who haven't dug in their heels and stubbornly just said no you will find that many owner operators are voluntarily adding these cameras to their vehicles because...and please get this...IF YOU ARE NOT AT FAULT THE CAMERA WILL PROVE IT. THE CAMERA DOES...NOT...LIE...and that goes for the driver facing camera also. If you are doing your job correctly then it will not catch you at fault. If you are not, then it will. The fact is that you will not be able to continue talking on your cell, using apps, jacking with things on the floor and you won't get away with not wearing your seatbelt, it seems to me that the only thing you have to fear is NOT doing your job correctly.

 

Just hang in there steve by the end of 2014 your 1 + yr of exp. will have you at or near the top of millis' seniority list

 

Those of you with experience should know that anytime the FMCSA gets involved in a study like this you can expect it to become a regulation. http://www.landlinemag.com/Story.aspx?StoryID=24473#.UqTucLSneo0

 

You may well be right, Slim Shady, though I wonder how long ya'll can run from it. You should save up now, maybe this is the drive needed to get owner Operators back thier real AUTHORITY. They will be the last to be regulated by this I am sure, so if all of you each buy your own trucks you could probably put Millis and companies that adopt the cameras out of business.

 

This is not a discussion/argument that is going to go anywhere. Lets agree that none of you like it, none of you find any benefit in it, and all of you plan to quit when your truck gets it, I wish each of you luck...and I will watch to see how many of you actually do quit. I give each of you respect for your year...or years in this industry, Perhaps I will meet some of you and actually get some good advice from you about another subject matter. We will also hopefully agree that I am a realist. I am convinced of what will ultimately come, and I would rather prepare to deal with it than run from it. In that vein, I will cease to discuss the issue. I look forward to other conversations, but this one has become pointless.