Millis OTR journal

I would definitely imagine there is. Truckers like to minimalize their own wrong actions, and like i said earlier blame everyone else instead of looking in the mirror and taking accountability. I've talked to guys that got caught with their phone in hand and only recieved a warning, so the instant firing leads me to believe there is more to the story .

The cameras are here to stay and will be industry wide before we know it. Ive been here 2yrs and have never had 1 thing said to me outside of " please allow a safer following distance". Basically any company that trains and/or has a school has them. Other companies will send messages regarding eating while driving etc. Wr dont deal with that.

 

Going to drop my two cents on this. I have not drove but I have done every job in the industry(except maintenance) from running a forklift, daily logs, fuel tickets,insurance, dispatch,yard dog. I recently retired from this place after 27 years.
Back in the 90’s a small watch battery sized silver piece was put next to the drivers door on the cab. It was GPS, the company had a meeting with the drivers, union rep Etc. all there. They explained it was gong to be added to the all trucks.
They did and still use International day cabs 10 speed.
The reason they did this was a simple but serious one. All the drivers took it exactly how I’m reading now. Let me state I am NOT taking sides here or bashing anyone or their thoughts.
As you get to know me I am honest to a brutal point. I will not lie, cheat or steal from anyone.

We had many situations where we needed to get what we called temp drivers to cover say a vacation or we had a heavy week and needed more then the 12 drivers(at the time) we had.
On a side note this was a box company ie “cardboard.”
Speaking from what happened in my company we would get a call from the customer asking about their load. It’s late or it’s not here yet. All drivers had company cell phones before that was beepers before that cb. Come to find out the driver stopped and slept for two hours or stopped and ate for 1 1/2.
Loads didn’t get delivered we did what’s called JIT. Just in time it was huge to growth, 24 hour turn around from order to hitting the dock. So. Customer production lines got shut down.
Being the devils advocate here, we needed the GPS to keep track of where the trucks were at all times. As technology advanced and the concerns could be answered they were added.
As I said I am not bashing anyone please don’t take offense to this massive wall of text.
I am just telling what I have seen in the company I worked at and the reason why. It was from our speaking to multiple company’s going industry(ours) wide.
For us it was a simple reason to make sure load A got to B and to locate the trucks not for why you taking that route etc. we never actually bothered with them unless there was a problem.
Our drivers had anywhere from one stop to 8 stops. The company would pay them to come in on Saturday and clean their truck if they so wanted too.
It started out for a reason in my case. It’s still that way when I retired no cameras.
It can’t be to far from the same reason all this technology came to be industry wide. And company’s from what I seen companies talk to each and if one does it they all do it.
That’s my take on it all.
Is it good? Maybe the reason behind it, but with anything in this world things on paper never get implemented the same way.
Do I like the fact I’ll be watched hell no. Outward cameras sure help me get proof it wasn’t my fault. Inward is a breech of privacy.
Well that’s my .25 cents worth. Hope it don’t make anyone mad that’s not my intention here. Just a personal look from my experience with it all.
Stay safe out there.

 

The safety features for a new driver can be beneficial. Its real easy as a new driver to daze out and be following to closely or to think you arent as tired as you really are. The beeps will make you realize this.

As for trusting their hiring process....you can't really be serious. The hiring process to drive a truck is completely different than a normal job. There is no face to face interviews etc. All they are going on is your background and work history and that doesnt really give them a good knowledge of who a person is....and they then hand their keys to an expensive truck, hauling expensive products, to this person. If I was them I'd want some kind of way to check out their driving and habits as well. With that said once you've proven over a year to be a safe driver then I believe they should start to lighten up on them. Believe me Ive been lucky so far with my 1st 2 students. They've each had a brain, and listened but just as you hear horror stories about trainers, there are just as many about the students that get in some of these trucks.

 

Like @Suspect Zero said things are changing. Those coming into the industry wont think twice about some of the things being implemented because its all they know. My dad drove for 25yrs just retired last year. I heard him bitc h about never running elogs or an automatic so many times....and guess what he ended up asking for an auto after driving 1 to save on the knee pain from 20+yrs of shifting and learned to like the elogs...mainly cuz he wasnt nervous about getting caught anymore. Its all about adapting and overcoming....Im just not ready to adapt and overcome in a new truck lol. Cross that bridge in couple years.

 

Good point Keen98 all that tech is on cars now.
Lane change warning, follow to close warning. Applying the brakes if to close. Hell my buddies Dodge Durango with cruise control will keep a safe distance ahead and behind. He sets it and never touches the brake or gas. Have to agree with you it’s not all doom and gloom except for the inward cameras of course

 

I remember when computers were added in our company. Order entry, time logs. Old timers thought the end of the world was happening. Your right it about changing and excepting it. Everyone changes at their own pace

 

Your experience regarding the cameras was also the one I had.

A buddy of mine was caught looking at his phone and was reprimanded but not fired.

Another guy sitting in Trenton after just being fired claimed a very minor incident involving his cell phone caused him to be fired. Cannot remember what it was but similar to moving it around. I ask him a few questions and eventually learned he had been spoken to several times regarding his cell phone, violating his clock and running his mouth to Diane and I want to say Dan Millis. I sat there thinking I would have fired him too. I remember him being a driver's lounge complainer one other time in the past too.

After all of that Millis was letting him hop a ride home with another driver going his way instead of leaving him to find his own way home.

 

Have any Millis drivers ever had an accident or gotten caught doing anything illegal while being monitored by driver-facing cameras? If not, then there's no reason to have them. It's big brother watching and it sounds like the policy has gotten very contentious at times. I don't have any issues with the safety features that have been mentioned but I DO have an issue with an invasion of privacy, especially if I've given the company no reason to warrant monitoring me while I'm on the job.

I did talk to some other companies as well...quite a few actually. Most of them told me they have no intention of installing driver-facing cameras at any time during the near future.

 

I agree with you.
If you have violations or an accident then put the camera in for say six months then take it out.
It’s truly like having a camera in your bedroom 24-7. That people you don’t even know are watching.
Kinda like big brother show was.

 

Yep. But don't put me on probation right from the start.