I try to keep my computer clean....no documents, no cookies, no nothing that can point out who I am. This is because I know how vindictive these companies can be. I'm not naive enough to believe they're 'good at heart' and wouldn't stoop so low they'd come after me someday. Dream on. I make sure my firewall is akin to WWI trench. Sounds like I need to keep it updated. Sounds like I need to double the size of my electronic minefield.

Always maintain anonymity. You never know--in the future these outfits may be able to file suits against bloggers. But before they can do that, they need names and hard proof. I make sure I deny them both.

__________________
--Paved Dudley--

Yeah I drive a Swift truck
And that means one thing
It means she's slow
It's a typical company truck
It's just all show and no go

I'm gettin' passed by Yella
And even Overnite
I'm gettin' passed by ever' body in sight
46 days on the road
And I'm not gettin' home tonight

No, my hometown's nowhere in sight
And if you think I'm pissed off
You're right
46 days on the road
And I'm not gettin' home tonight


Love pissing off those trucking company insiders.

Who cares if any of the trucking company office personnel read these internet forums. They probably laugh at most of it. Maybe they will learn something.
I think you are being a bit paranoid. How would any of them "come after"
you? We are protected under the 1st ammendment to express our opinions. If they wanted to go after someone for slander, they would have to prove it. The way these trucking outfits screw people over, the last thing they would want to do is have all their b.s. exposed in a court of law.
Maybe that would be a good thing, so the public could see these crooks for what they are.
I applaud forums like this, that expose the scam we call the trucking industry. I only wish this information would have been available years ago.
Sure these outfits hate these trucking forums. It exposes these crooks to the light of day. It makes them work harder at their miserable trade of lies and deceit.
Who knows, maybe some good will come out of this, and these companies will be forced to start improving themselves. Just think, if everyone said no to their b.s., they would have no choice, but to improve. There seems to be no shortage of wided-eyed newbes, willing to take the plunge.

Well if you work for a decent company, you don't have anything to worry about. I look at it this way, if I am looking over my shoulder that is not the company for me. If it is an ate up outfit, I don't want to be there anyway. The companies that I warn people about, I don't care what they think. I won't work for them!

__________________
My childhood dream of becoming a truck driver turned into a nightmare!

Perhaps. One can only hope...

Well, if the company's employee handbook has a section about how you portray the company, in your off hours or otherwise, then they will. You just can't post any potentially identifying information, such as a truck number.

I was once a victim of this, hence my strong feelings on this issue.

No, that only applies to speaking out against the government, not where you work.

A non-union company in an at-will state doesn't have to prove anything to anyone. A corrupt terminal manager will hand you a write-up for "speaking out against the company", and you will either sign it or get fired. It's that simple, and you don't have a leg to stand on.

The only way that could happen is if the company commits a criminal act.

Agreed. That's why we're here.

I wouldn't generalize the trucking industry like that. Granted, it is like shark infested waters, but I make a good living.

Of course. They all do. None of them like bad publicity, whether they deserve it or not.

And the longer we are here, the more people will become informed.

Between that, and all the undesirable characters that infest this industry, there is still a very big labor pool for the more corrupt companies, so as of yet they have no reason at all to anything different.

__________________
Z-Lady's devoted hubby.

Utah is a "right to work" state, meaning everyone has the right to work. Sure, this sounds good at first, but it also means a worker there can be fired on a whim so someone else can enjoy the right to work. If I post something on a site about my Utah trucking company, I could very well be fired if insiders deem it casts too negative a light, no matter what my constitutional rights are.

And with Napster's rather well-publicized take-down, I'd keep a low profile because of potential future lawsuits. Napster is a good precedent people can use in the future to sue you if they can "prove" you're harming them economically via the net. The harmed may even be able to go back in time and dig up massive amounts of evidence posted on blogging sites, which will be permissible in court. Money influences. Money is like that.

Deny them the proof. Blog, blog, blog, sure. But NEVER tell 'em who you are. Leave no clues, and keep your firewall updated.

__________________
--Paved Dudley--

Yeah I drive a Swift truck
And that means one thing
It means she's slow
It's a typical company truck
It's just all show and no go

I'm gettin' passed by Yella
And even Overnite
I'm gettin' passed by ever' body in sight
46 days on the road
And I'm not gettin' home tonight

No, my hometown's nowhere in sight
And if you think I'm pissed off
You're right
46 days on the road
And I'm not gettin' home tonight


Love pissing off those trucking company insiders.

I remember reading in USX's company handbook a section on portraying the company in a positive light. But on a few occasions,they told receiver that the load was late due to me,the driver,when in fact it was due to their own operational ball dropping. One time I was contacted by a manager in the customer service dept,because they got chewed out by a receiver for lying to them. I had shown the customer the qualcomm info which proved the load was not late due to me. I was reminded of this policy and basically told to fall on my sword for them.

Believe me, a lot of companies are searching the interwebs to find out information on employees or prospective employees. Posting on websites like Myspace has gotten people fired and prospects turned down.

The 1st amendment does not apply in workplaces. Your company can tell you what you can and cannot say. Failure to do so can result in termination. Same thing applies to dresscodes.

So......bottom line? Don't post anything on the net that you even remotely think can put you in a negative light with your company.

Oh, and posting illegal activity? Yep, law enforcement is using posts on websites to crack down on offenders also.

Yeap. Keep your ID secret. An old trick my friends and I used to use when we ran a site was have more than one person use the same ID.

This is a great strategy to use, as the ##### will be trying to prove which poster posted which supposedly damning information.

Who knows....I (WE?) may be using this strategy now. I (WE?) will never tell. Come and get me. Or is it US?

__________________
--Paved Dudley--

Yeah I drive a Swift truck
And that means one thing
It means she's slow
It's a typical company truck
It's just all show and no go

I'm gettin' passed by Yella
And even Overnite
I'm gettin' passed by ever' body in sight
46 days on the road
And I'm not gettin' home tonight

No, my hometown's nowhere in sight
And if you think I'm pissed off
You're right
46 days on the road
And I'm not gettin' home tonight


Love pissing off those trucking company insiders.

That's a good one. I'd have to tell them to go have sexual relations with themselves before I'd "fall on the sword" for anyone. There's too many other places to work to tolerate this crapola.

__________________
Z-Lady's devoted hubby.

Well, post anything negative you may see fit. Just don't post any identifying information publicly.

__________________
Z-Lady's devoted hubby.