Driver facing camera

Just a word of advice. You'd better check the "at will" status of your state before you try to bring any legal action towards a company. You know that an "at will" state allows the company to fire you with no cause. Every state has different rules when it comes to "at will". I'd be sure of those requirements before I brought a lawsuit against any company. I'm not defended the company that uses them but there are some companies out there that use them properly. Plus, if you're a driver that is honestly applying good driving habits, if the company is using the cams the right way, you should have nothing to worry about.

 

I agree with the below-quoted comment. Some safety critters have no fricking business working in those offices. Some are not even up to date on FMCSA regulations. HOWEVER! Just to be clear almost to a person every safety critter I know would not answer that way. They would say they rather you operate that truck as to NOT have to make that decision. It's called breaking the chain. ALL accidents are the last link in a chain. I am in total agreement with what @Cattleman84 said in post #39.

One more point. I have read or at least skimmed over most of this thread. I have taken notice of a lot of (I won't ) comments. Testosterone is dripping off a lot of these comments. If I were still driving and were faced with one of these things, I would give the company a choice. Remove the camera and mike or I will be forced to decline the job offer. Enough drivers do this and the carriers will be forced to reevaluate these decisions. There is no need to start scratching the ground like a chicken or go pee on a tree to mark your territory here. Just walk away!

 

Unfortunately most drivers can not just simply walk away. If it were that easy we could make some changes for the good.

 

Refuse to drive a truck with a inward facing camera or a microphone. Its called having a backbone. Unless you're an exhibitionist, or like being treated like a maximum security prisoner. Personally, I think not.

 

Well, technology changes. I have spoken to 50s and 60s era truckers (the ones still left) and most tell me they are by GPS tracking like today's drivers are these cameras. I hate the dang things. Heck, a friend of mine had to put one of those tracking things in his car a while back to save some money on insurance. However, my choices and beliefs are not issues. Being able to or not is not the point. A driver has two choices when faced with this. They either accept that camera or walk away. Also, don't be looking for johnnygovernment man to help either!

 

That's all fine and dandy to make a statement like that and I would agree because I had enough money to support my family. However, it's obvious you have never been in a position that you needed to support your family. I feel for those guys because they are just about forced into that position and their choices are drive or stave the family. I wonder what would be said then.

 

I read this comment for the first time just after you wrote it. I then had it on my mind as I went through my Physical Therapy. I had a bit of a late lunch and was thinking about it then too. I could make a snarky reply but choose not to. The thing is just about every indignity a driver today has to suffer through can find its roots somewhere in the past behavior of drivers. Drivers in the 60s and 70s (my father was one too) drivers would take those dang Dr prescribed Amphetamines running multiple logbooks and almost never sleep. Then when they did finally sleep they crashed for days sometimes. People today make jokes and go wink wink over those logbook jokes calling them coloring books etc. When in reality drivers were committing mayhem on the nation's roads. I know several people that died this way. No other reasonable explanation exists for the crash. Then take another problem, parking! Every day more and more CMV parking is being removed because the property owner either got tired of all the cleaning, the prostitution or the local government did and rezoned it. Now I am going to catch a lot of grief over this. Since the 70s the old school drivers have left the industry. In fact today I know of no driver that is active today that was on the road before around 1985. These drivers are being replaced by steering wheel holders that are tearing these trucks up and slaughtering innocents on the highway. This transition is almost complete.

One of the reasons for the CDL was to stop drivers from getting a License from another state once they got that one took away. Trust me, I saw this happen all the time. In fact, one of my uncles had a license from Texas and Oklahoma. When one got a bit hot he would switch to the other one for a while. The carriers were not really taking part 391 seriously either. (yes part 391 has been around for a while).

So while I feel for that driver forced to make that choice, I still say eat it or walk away.

Oh, by the way, you think this is bad. Take a look sometimes if you dare into some of the research going on with FORCING regulatory compliance.

 

I agree with most of your post, I started in 1985 wow have things have changed

 

I dunno about "slaughtering innocents" but there are alotta problems with todays drivers, agreed. As far as the problems boomers have caused for those of us that came after them, look no further than the state of our government and other institutions, but I suppose thats off topic.

 

NO! You don't get to do that unchallenged! You don't take something specific and dilute it using general remarks about the countries institutions. As to slaughter! Do you have any idea how many people are killed by CMVs, especially with tired and fatigued drivers? That number is very real and is way too fricking high. I know about that 70/30 % split about fault. It is so bad that most large fleets cannot afford insurance today. They must self underwrite the risk, or have something in place to sheld an insurance underwriter. A huge section of a carrier's profits goes to this underwriting. I know I am right about this because I have lived during this change. I know how it was before and I see how it is today.