Beacon Transport Driver Facing Cameras

Been driving for Beacon for almost 8 years. Have had good and bad experiences, some of them posted here. Sadly, they have chosen to bring in driver facing cameras, constantly recording...of course they say no one will ever see the video unless there's a triggering event (like a bumpy road, or taking a speed bump too fast...lol!) I was told by the safety manager they'll begin installing them in the next week or so. .

I was hoping to retire from Beacon...now I'm here reviewing my options. Sad.

 

Yeah I’m not too happy about them either. Many companies are going with driver facing cameras now, it’s just the sign of the times. The only argument I can come up with to have them is they absolve the trucking company from blame if the driver is doing what he’s supposed to be doing. Of course it works both ways though. Both driver and company stand to lose in court if the driver was willfully distracted.
Still the device places the burden of proof on the company and the driver and removes the onus for the prosecution to have the preponderance of evidence as to whether or not the driver was at fault. As technology progresses, it becomes incumbent upon a trucking company to take preemptive measures to install devices that absolve or place blame on both driver and company. Prosecutors will want to know if trucking companies have these devices in their trucks and while they’re not currently mandated, what would be the argument for NOT having them?

Drivers find them too invasive even if a third party controls the feed. Many truckers are going with smaller companies that don’t use them. We live in an Orwellian society so this is just one more step towards George Orwell’s epiphany.

 

Sadly, I thought Beacon was one of those companies that would remain personally in touch with their drivers to never install such an intrusive device. I understand the financial aspect of insurance discounts, but will it outweigh driver turnover costs?

Also, for drivers with good safety records, if we have to suffer the indignity of big brother, we may as well go to a company with better pay and benefits. Beacon was never the worst, but when top of pay scale is $0.49 and insurance doesn't even include vision, they certainly aren't the best.

Still, up until the camera thing, I felt respected enough to call it home. I've never been an anxiety person (always thought that was kind of an excuse, actually) but I'm beginning to understand it. The stress and anger since just learning of this has made me a more distracted driver. Instead of wrestling with the road and the weather, I'm preoccupied with these cameras. Ugh.

 

You people still don’t get it. They’re primary purpose is to stop bad habits and they do a good job of it for those who drive there and can pass the random image audits of the driver’s [bad] habits and styles while moving

These typically only are implemented following a major crash in the fleet where distracted driving of the truck driver was easy to prove was the sole cause of the crash. They tried to get drivers to not do these things but their passive attempts failed and it finally nearly bankrupted them and they’re done playing Russian Roulette with un-monitored drivers they can no longer trust.

It sucks but they’ve obviously reached the end of their patience. And no, they’re not even a little concerned or interested with what you’re doing while the vehicle is parked. Please. Get over yourself.

 

Time to bail out of that company. Installing driver facing cams is unnecessary, outward facing is all you need to prove a crash. If they really find it necessary then only install driver facing in trucks with problem drivers. Its also not true that this is what all companies are doing, many larger carriers like Swift and Millis are moving away from driver facing cams due to recruiting issues, and rightly so

 

The driver can darn well purchase a two hundred dollar camera to face outwards and catch that 4 wheeler causing that accident just the same on his own personal money. We have here in effect a camera war. Instead of he said she said, its now video wars in the court if it got that far.

In my time the truck had been wired to call phone home on hard braking or excessive maneuvering events. When someone tried to do a insurance scam and I apply the best possible evasive action that truck is extremely busy calling to my safety who now calls me with a bunch of time consuming questions with a eye towards firing me that day. Cameras were beginning to become available then. Pricey at that time in my life in the 2001 period but available.

Safety does not care in those days that I did not touch that stupid car. No one will say good job driver. Oh no. It's the total opposite. And now we have progressed to cameras? Ugh. That thing would be filled with profanity and stuff flying in the cab as we went around that car. Some of which will be NSFW and I would probably be fired for offending that poor soul monitoring the feed back in the Company HQ.

I completely understand the post you write about the good of the safety etc. I don't have a problem with that except one. I'll be darned if someone wants to video tape me driving for hours on end day and night waiting for that one moment that I don't happen to see my trailer get loose or that 4 wheeler get in the way yet again. I refuse to accept such close survillence. Might as well pick a dispatcher and take him or her out of that cushy office in the company building and plop him or her in the right seat. Or better yet grab a lethargic safety suit waiting on that inevitable phone call that I changed lanes too hard or something and plop it into my right seat 24/7.

I simply refuse it. Flat. There are plenty of newbies at 21 years old who has grown up in a camera filled world and they are the ones you want behind the wheel. Me? I remember a time when we actually had some privacy now and then. Which is actually pretty good back then. No one needs a recorded video feed of me drinking coffee or lighting smokes all day or night for 1000 miles with each one a potential firing for being a termed distracted driver. Orwellian indeed.

 

Well..even swift's attys told them to remove the driver facing cameras because ambulance chasing attys would scrutinize even things that didn't matter...

 

EXACTLY! It can be completely arbitrary. Who determines what constitutes as distraction? As you pointed out, everything can be scrutinized . It’s a slippery slope. Hopefully this is a prelude to removing them altogether as they can potentially do more harm than good

 

The other issue is this...if companies are so worried about who they hire, then maybe they ought to check their hiring standards...

 

You make some good points. The common misconception about these cameras is that someone is sitting on the other end watching it constantly. Lol... who would want to sit there watching some billy big rigger going down the road picking his nose or scratching his crotch or spitting into a bottle all day?

I don’t want a camera in my face any more than the next guy, but this is the 21st century... Probably at least 90% of all workplaces are under some kind of surveillance.

And what about all the cameras at shippers/receivers, truck stops, company terminals, etc.? Are we going to stop delivering to receivers that have cameras pointed at their docks? Are we going to stop buying fuel from any truckstop with cameras pointed at the pumps?