Negotiating out of driver facing cameras

I need some advice regarding the driver facing cameras.
I know some things can be negotiated in the hiring process...

I'm looking at working for a mid size carrier with roughly 350 trucks. I like what I see and there's a lot of positive things about this company, I've dug into their history, employees, policies etc... and I definitely want to work for them. However there's a major hang up for me and that's driver facing cameras, aside from all the positives and good pay the driver facing camera alone is potentially a deal breaker. This is a massive amount of stress added and a decrease in the already poor quality of life as a truck driver.

I've said in the past that I refuse to work for a carrier with driver facing cameras but this one is so tempting considering all the other stuff that comes with it.

With that being said I'm not sure if it would be a good idea to try to negotiate out of it. I don't want to ruin my opportunity to work there and I may just deal with it if I have to. But I've considered offering something like a 3 cpm pay cut or meeting them half way and installing my own camera. I don't care or mind the forward facing camera, that tells them everything they need to know about an accident.

I have an issue with driver facing cameras for a number of reasons:

#1 invasion of privacy - simple as that, you don't need to watch me in my home, you don't need to watch me sing or talk to myself or listen to me and my gf have a spicy conversation or watch me change my clothes in the sleeper cab.

#2 liability - every company claims it will be used to help you in an accident when in reality they will use it against you and throw you under the bus the first chance they get.

#3 respect - I'd understand maybe if someone's fresh out of trucking school but if you have a crystal clear record and no accidents with years of experience that is proof enough that you are safe. We are professional drivers, we got our CDL's because we're the best drivers on the road (at least some of us) and yet we are given no respect.

#4 the reality of trucking - sometimes you absolutely have to tap a button to get the thing you need like pressing the 9 key to transfer your call to the right department or when google assistant does something entirely different from what you told it to do etc... there's a difference between being burried in your phone texting and driving like an idiot versus taking half a second to tap a single button. And no, I'm not going to take an exit and go park at the loves fuel lanes to pull up google maps.

With #4 being mentioned, how strict are companies typically about phone use, obviously you shouldn't send entire text messages or be browsing the web or social media etc... but is safety gonna be pissing down my neck because I needed to hit the button to transfer to the fuel department? Can I even eat a sandwich or touch my stereo? Can I pick my nose? Is it absolute zero tolerance on "distracting activities"?

I'm not sure if this is something I want to bring up to the recruiter without having a solid plan.

I know this sounds rich coming from a random guy on the internet but I'd like to think I'm a pretty safe driver, I have never had accidents of any sort of safety issues in over 3 years of trucking.

I know this whole thing is about an insurance discount, so what pay do I have to give up to make up for the insurance discount they lose out on? I feel like 3 cpm is a worth while trade. GP Transco has an offer to cut cpm to ditch the cameras. Is company policy a non-negotiable thing? What do you guys think?

 

I'd hate to give them up because other than the camera, basically everything else fits perfectly into what I'm looking for.
I struggle to find good companies that just do everything right...
ie; no scams, decent pay, no elaborate deception, no 1099, no leaving you stranded, no shorting your checks, no crazy policies or excessive safety measures, no escrow you never get back, actually takes care of their equipment, no lying, no cheating, no stealing, no forced dispatch, no illegal activity, no pressuring you into running illegally, no over the top DOT physical etc....

I'm sure at some point I'll find the magic bullet, but until then I can't afford to keep job hopping.
I've already had to pay my own flight and leave an orientation from a scam company a few days ago.

Also I don't know if it's my imagination but are there more and more scams out there that have big all caps MAKE $4K A WEEK 10K MILES A WEEK GARUNTEED and they're at the top of google search results, always with the wild outrageous claims. Even outside of trucking I'm beginning to feel like everyone is trying to scam me and deceive me and take all my money and I'm getting really tired of it.

 

No realistic amount of pay would make me willing to drive with a driver facing camera, I will sacrifice some pay to get rid of it since everything else about them company seems pretty good. Really that camera is the only negative thing I've seen, this looks like a great company otherwise. I doubt I could negotiate more than an extra 2-5 cpm for keeping the camera... Not worth it.