CSA 2010: How will the Driver Rating System affect you?

So just curious, at what point do you request to have your 'steers' replaced?

 

I am saying that everything is not black and white. There will be times you will have to make the decision as to wether you run a questionable truck or trailer. There will also be times you will be told to run a questionable load or equipment. Sometimes you will argue and win, sometimes loose, and other times run, because that is what you need to do at the time.

I would qualcomm the condition also, and track everything. If told to run bad loads or equipment, make sure it is said on the quailcomm, and not the phone. The problem is both you and the company will get dinged with the new system. Until the companies get hit harder than the driver for equipment violations that can be proven was reported to the company by inspection reports or qualcomm, then companies will continue to push drivers. If several thousand trucks and trailers are owned, the amount of bad inspections will have to be a lot to move the safety score upward if the majority of inspections are good.

A driver can take the blame as far as the company is concerned. The driver is easily replaced, plus, they would like to get rid of you before you start getting raises and benefits, then replace you with someone else making training wages.

 

I wonder how wise this may be under these new rules.

 

Please elaborate?

 

Elaborate what?

Read the prior thread.

Anything that the driver can be held responsible for is also company responsibility. To knowing drive something that can get you dinged and on your record may not be a wise move like the poster said you may have to do.

 

I'm just saying these times will come. I run as legal as I possibly can. Sometimes I have to use the 7.5 minute room on the log book to my advantage. I check all equipment before moving, and if any problem I call in to get instructions. Luckly the company I work for listens to me. I have recently driven trucks back home that were safe, but may not make the DOT man happy. I made this decision to save the company a lot of money and me a day down time. When I first started I drove trucks that would not pass any kind of courtesy look.

There is no such thing as a Johnny on the spot, always legal driver, no matter how hard a person tries. It just can't happen. I'm not worried about the CSA2010. Luckily I have a clean record, and hope it stays that way. I can, and have, refused to move unsafe equipment, and will do it again when the time comes. I'm not a rogue driver these days, even though I have been very much so in the past. Times change, and the consequences for bad deeds do not warrant the risk in my opinion.

 

I am not saying you are or not.

My comment is in response to the driver making a decision to run with questionable equipment or not. Those are the positions that may have issues.

 

At my company (arent they great?) all you can do is keep requesting that they "look" at them. Cuz we are just a bunch of dumb truckers who couldnt possibly understand something as complicated as a big rig! According the them, if we want to be mechanics, then why are we driving?
I knew I had problems with my steer tire 2 weeks before I saw any uneven wear and asked the company (arent they cool?) look at it. They had my truck for 15 days fixing the A/C and someone in our shop even wrote in the shop notes that I was experiencing steer tire problems, but they decided to ignore the problem until they couldnt ignore me any longer. If I hadnt of threatened to drive across a scale and ask for some help, I'm sure that I would still have that bald tire!
Most of us operate in "grey areas". We balance what we percieve to be the chances of getting caught or breaking down (the risk) against the cost of down time for an accident, a repair, or OOS order (the punishment) so we can make the money we need to pay for our way of life (the reward). In most OTR scenarios down time is lost pay, we will try to avoid that at all costs! However if we were paid for all our time, except sleeping and eating, maybe we would get our equipment repaired when it was needed.
These companies and the DOT keep making the punishment larger and easier to get AND keep making the reward smaller and harder to get! Conseqently, the risk factor just keeps going up! Does that make any sense?

 

Not exactly. My point and their's is that things aren't always going to be cut and dry. There will be times you will have to make that decision for yourself when the company tells you to do something that you may not be comfortable with or that you feel is questionable or that may be illegal. Make no mistake that indeed the responsibility will fall directly on your shoulders and yours alone even with this new system the company may get dinged also but you will be the first one responsible and be dinged as well. From what I read on here the other day DAC service or now called hireright may be soon coming to their own demise and hopefully so. IMO everyone of us out here RISK evrything everyday because if anything bad happens that invlolves you everyone else involved will be looking for a way to put it on us the driver regardless if you we have any fault at all. There is not aright or wrong answer to your question because it stands solely on you to make those decisions but the best advice I can give you is to CYA ( cover your ### ) in any and every circumstance because it might just save you in the end. If your told to do something illegal get it on the quallcom in writing or whatever form of communication your company uses. If you have safety issues send them in writing. These are the best methods of CYA. Recorded phone conversations would not hold up nearly as easily as written communication. I think all of us who have been doing this any amount of time have at one time or another done things against our better judgement but myself as I get older it's not worth losing my lively hood and family over. My record speaks for itself and I would not be concerned with finding another job if I refuse to do something and got fired for it. That is where it is hard for a new driver because you really have to tread lightly till you gain some experience. Best of luck to you.

 

Brickman

I agree wholeheartedly. These idiots should have never, ever wore the badge. Like I have said before, all fields have them. I am just glad these no longer patrol.