Five BAD trucking companies

Where I work (Linde Group) we have both the EOBR (PeopleNet) AND the DriveCam system. After a little getting used to, it's not that bad. The planners don't get to work us 16 hour days anymore. We start getting close to our 14 and it's time to head to the barn. No more crap like "Oh, can't you do just one more load" ? Nope. Drive Cam only activates during a rapid speed change or imminent rollover. It is not on all the time and only records 20 seconds of video before and after an accident. The only thing our supervisors look for is cell phone usage prior to an accident or stuff like smoking with a flammable load. It hasn't been near as invasive as we thought it would be. In a lawsuit happy world where the aftermath of a hazmat rollover can cost millions in damages, I'd probably want to protect myself too. Sure, EOBR's can monitor speed, rpms, seat belt usage, brake applications and pretty much all occurrences done while driving, but a few of us have found that it can also save your job on several occasions. Far too many drivers still have a casual approach to hours of service and fatigue, thus the future requirements for EOBR's.

 

No one asked you to take responsibility for anyone else.I stated that my strike was a strike of 1 and hopefully others would join me.As far as a noble cause-I guess I am trying to preserve my lifestyle for the last 36 years, and really don't see the need for eobr's. Most of the time I run legal.I always run safe.I take an hour nap every day and most times dont have a problem with energy. There won't be any more money thrown at drivers so you can forget that.Good luck to those that embrace the new way of life on the road.I hope you get what you want.

 

So..."Most of the time, I run legal"..(to use your words) "I always run safe"..Well, if your not legal all the time, then IMHO, you aren't that safe. And a "nap" is no substitute for real rest. A "Strike" ? You have got to be kidding me..That's been talked about for years and will never happen. Too many of you cutting the throat of the "other guy" to get his freight. And what lifestyle would that be that you are trying to preserve ? That myth of the American truck driver as some kind of free spirited cowboy ? That kind of went by the wayside in the 70's..I've been at this close to 36 years and it's never been anything more than a job, never a "lifestyle", just a way to keep the lights on and send a couple kids to college.

 

Strikes, I grew up in PGH PA, out of high school I took a job delivering bar mops and entrance mats and safety mats, and roll towels for the bathrooms, there was this place called the copper mill we delivered to, it was on strike the entire time I worked there, approx 8 months, then I left. worked elsewhere for another 5 months, and was called back and offered the supervisor position. Guess what , still on strike, the strike ended shortly before I left to relocate to NC( total almost 2 years) . It achieved nothing that I could tell. that was in 1977. Another observation is I agree that companies are paying less, they are cutting pay and benefits , because they can. But if you strike and go into another industry you are in for a huge disappointment. Another observation, all the references to the new drivers being all of the problem, your kidding yourselves. Some of these changes have got their foothold due to older drivers who right or wrong could not be trusted to explain their logs, speeds etc. And what they were popping to stay up at night all hours
Before any one goes ape crap , My last employer, cut our pay 3 times in the last year I worked for them, over 3 dollars an hour, it was a choreographed thing with the state , about unemployment etc. Listen I am going to learn trucking due to I will not work for them ever. They have already been posting jobs through temp agency's for 9 dollars an hour. Fair enough? SO yes they get what they pay for , but eventually nothing will be manufactured in the USA because of the educated morons coming out of College , not the workers making a well earned fair wage. That is also why I am learning trucking, it may not get made in the usa but it will arrive in a sea container in a US Port and get distributed by truck most likely.
Plus what ever your trucking company does wrong, or regardless how you are tracked, your time at the factories or distribution centers is small compared to your time sort of on your own in your truck. Did you hear that? If I had to deliver where I worked , the 20 minutes to half day or more I had to be there and endure their unbelievable inefficiency and lack of would be so much better than actually watching it and living it for 40 to 70 hours a week.
There will be a turnover regardless, and the best drivers will be kept at their good jobs by the pay the company chooses to give them, or if they are run by educated morons, they will lose good drivers, been happening for ever in all types of work. Pay does not make a worker good, s/he works they way they always will depending on their ethic experience etc, they will stay at a job only if paid fairly or better. They will find fair wage. There are just fewer companies management who realize it.

all things change yet we need not fear anything new....... Aurelius

 

I tried to get on with an intermodal company once. I was told by the safety-recruiting manager how important safety was, and how he was trying to improve it.

Because I had no intermodal experience (the equipment is different), I had to go with a trainer for a couple of days to learn the ropes. The trainer's idea of learning the ropes scared the crap out of me. Two feet off the rear bumper of one of those Smart cars at 65 mph in a 55 mph zone, in the left of three lanes in Illinois. That was the safest thing that twit did. He would tell me to cheat on my logs, tell me how to get around scales because all the loads were overweight, how to pass on a problem trailer to others without getting caught, etc. He said it was the only way to make money with that company.

I had already decided I wasn't going to work for the company when we returned to the yard at the end of the day. In the office, as I waited, I heard one driver being fired for doing 100 mph in Michigan. He wasn't fired for the actual speeding, he was fired for getting caught and still ending up late with the load.

I simply walked out and went home, without a word to anyone.

I got a call from the so-called safety manager, who everyone else in the company just basically ignores. I told him what happened, and what I observed. He said he would find me another trainer.

A couple of days later, I got a voice mail asking me to return the driver manual they gave me, and that I would be paid for the day of training. He said he couldn't find anyone else willing to train me (big surprise, given what really goes on there). I wouldn't have returned anyway, given I count myself lucky to have survived the one day with them.

Just like the companies are now doing to protect their new CSA 2010 scores, we drivers have to protect our own scores as well. Walking away from dangerous companies who expect the worst of drivers works.

 

Well, who made us illegal in the first place? The insurance industry, PATT, MADD, now Teamsters, ATA and always has been the ambulance chasing lawyers. The CDL is a Criminal Drivers License. Werner has a logging system that is ok with the DOT and cheats the system. Others also. The system is driving toward absolute micromanagement by the government and trucking industry managers who must make the most money for the stockholder. You are now BORG, men and women of the trucking industry. If you are not a team player, you will be tossed out to be recylced as a greeter at Wallyworld. Get a copy of Fleet magazine and watch the proceedings. The president of Prime addressed the intentions of the industry and that is to remove capacity in the market place of transportation. He stated this at an industry conference and it was reported in Fleet Owner. How is it that we who move the freight are treated as chattel. You are nothing under the feet of big buisness. Just a number. Quite a few mid and large company execs are speaking out about the new proposed 8 hour driving/12 hour rest period, proposed by the ATA/TEamsters/PATT/MADD,etc. The report in Fleet Owners estimates need for 250,000 more drivers if this comes to law. Who benefits from this action. Certainly not the driver, as there will be no raises of pay. Think NAFTA. Where do these drivers come from, with lawsuits being won by groups like MADD/PATT,Teamsters, that force FMSCA to write new HOS so you will eventually not be able to wipe your rear without the governments and insuruance industry permission. You say that won't happen, yet the regs are being written to add VORAD style intrusion radar to be added to every truck. Cameras added to interiors of cabs to watch your every move, and when you sneeze, that WILL be considered distracted driving, and the insurance company and everyone in the company you drive for will know, and you will be sent to retraining. Just look in the magazine, especially if you can get the subscription. It is all layed out in every article and ad for those products and industry is embracing it and if not WILL be forced to do so to stay in buisness. You can not make a decision, legally, as a driver , to take a nap,20 or so minutes , if you're feeling a little tired. it has to be shown as on duty not driving, or off duty, and what I mean by that, is you're being told that someone else has to think for you. You don't have the flexibility. I'm not arguing the point with anybody on logbooks.Yet no state
requires drivers of non commercial vehicles to take a physical or drug screen before qualifying for a drivers license. It is a very inequitable situation. Emulsified has one thing right in his statement, and that is we as drivers have brought this situation on ourselves. We are criminals for trying to do our jobs and take care of our families. With no thank you's from anyone. But we let lawyers and juries dictate our livelyhood.
Every driver puts his life and his livehood and the future of his/her family on the line every time you drive your rig. And this occurs because for the most part,after you figure out you won't get rich in this buisness, there is another calling, and that is to serve your fellow countrymen, spit on as you are, abused and used as you are.

 

Couldn't agree more.

 

Ask one of the moderators how we can virtual load all the comments and send them repeatedly to our Congressional leaders and swamp them 'till we get the results needed!

 

The problem is, Efficient Operation, EOBR, combined with Running legal under the current Hours of service standards is next to impossible, Even for large carriers.

This goes far beyond drivers and companies losing pay by being forced to run legal, or weeding out the competition.

Most Shippers, Receivers, and carriers have ran somewhat efficient operations for the past 90 years, based on the fact that drivers will get a load delivered on time NO MATTER WHAT. Even the large carriers have to scramble to get a load delivered safely, legally and on time if a problem arises.

I wouldn't have so much of a problem with EOBR's if we could go back to the pre-2004 system and split the sleeper berth the right way. I know when I need to sleep and for how long. I don't need some desk job bureaucrat moron or Quallcom telling me I can only do it for 2 or 8 hours. The current HOS regs are a pathetic joke labeled in the name of safety.

 

Read the post above you also, you don't seem to understand.

When the price of gas and groceries, and all other durable and non-durable goods goes through the roof because every OTR and day cab truck is forced to run legal, You will here people screaimg "WHY WHY WHY? we need MORE regulation to control the efficiency, safety, and output of those fat lazy scumbag truck drivers." The circle of fecal matter will continue until we as a people either pull our heads out of our hind ends or we destroy ourselves with regulations and reforms.

Being a student you would probably never understand.