hard braking

Just ask the safety director one question...

Would you rather I:

A) Applied the brakes in what you might deem to be a "hard" manner; or

B) Hit the S-O-B who decided it was necessary to pass me as he neared his get-off, cut across 2 lanes of traffic mere inches off my front bumper while on the brakes to get whoa'd up for the exit ramp? (or whatever else had ACTUALLY happened to cause you to apply the brakes hard...as long as you were doing everything right)

Obviously, you don't want me applying the brakes too hard....so next time I'll just hit the stupid f'er.

At that point, I'd end the conversation...either by hanging up the phone or walking out of the office....leaving the safety director to ponder the predicament he's placing you in by threatening your job over a hard braking incident. Many of these clowns have never spent any time behind the wheel and forget that there are some things that happen beyond your control, and dealing with those situations at certain times involves the use of the brakes. That's WHY trucks have brakes. Matter of fact, that's WHY the braking standards for trucks have been recently modified to mandate shorter stopping distances because stuff happens, and sometimes you've just got to get slowed down in a hurry. The alternative is attempting to occupy the same space as another vehicle. Brakes are a heck of a lot less expensive than body shops, medical bills, and lawsuits....and sometimes they forget that.

 

bad sensors,bad tires, braking on bumpyroads,inattentive drivers, drunk drivers, wannabe nascar drivers, wildlife and dogs [cats dont qualify] stoplights that some ghost tripped and some first generation american taxi cab driver are all excuses ive used before. i city drive and float around without using the brakes to much and it is usally someone elses inconsiderate driving that makes me jump on the binders. the geeks in the office dont have a clue how many times we are avoiding thease situations. happy trails

 

I am thinking about early retirement. More and more bs.

 

I am safety, I will always be safety. I'm a trucker. Don't dare judge my actions. I make Billions an hour. I'm 110 % all the time. When I make a mistake, bad things happen. No one will never know it all. I know a little.

 

Probably not. Even with no real world driving experience, anyone that's educated would know that data (hard braking event) has no merit unless they're comparing multiple trucks running more or less the same route/terrain. In that case, go after the high blade of grass that sticks up way above the rest. You cannot just assign some decel value and spread it across a fleet like butter.

The real problem is a lack of common sense in the office. They don't teach that class in any school I've been to. I don't care if you run truck drivers, network engineers, or walmart greeters. If you're gonna threaten a man's livelihood, it better be something worth losing him over.

 

I can't believe you guys even put up with crap like this. I'd rather live under a bridge with an Obama phone and food stamps.

 

I rarely complain about my work, driver. I work long hours and work hard. In exchange, I'm home nightly and make good cash. This is my first incident across the board ... no tickets, DOT run-ins, nada. I asked around and I'm not the only one getting these things. Kinda makes one wonder if part of these things aren't designed with a little method to the madness ... say, so a certain percentages of drivers don't make a safety bonus each quarter due to these things.

 

I've seen this in the last few years.

I had a truck that the speedometer needle would drop to zero mph even though I was still moving. Some how this also disabled the governor. Probably lose wire and pot hole did it, but anyways, got flagged for hard breaking when it was nothing more than the speedometer needle incorrect and going to 0 mph.

Other times touching breaks while going over speed bumps, pot holes, or through standing water, if the wheels lock up for a second, they think its a hard stop, even when you didn't slow down.

If you have a good reputation of X years and good personally relationship with your employer then you should be fine. Its up to them if they will keep you, or fire you for any or no reason at all.

I know some companies, due to CSA2010, are now firing drivers the first time they get a ticket, regardless of what it was, speeding, left lane, anything, even before a chance to dispute the ticket, driver immediately terminated.

We are disposable. The job economy is terrible now, and everyone is looking for work. There is no reason to treat us with respect since there are so many others looking to take your place, and they already have drivers "willing to do what it takes" so yeah don't complain either else you'll be job searching eventually.

Will you get more hard breaking notices? Most likely, safety dept has their policies to notify the driver each time, etc. Will you get fired? Probably depends on your attitude and relationship with the company. If you always have problems, always complain, always give dispatch a head ache, then hard breaking is perfect opportunity to get rid of you.

Enjoy!

 

That's what I did a month ago and don't miss the bs one bit .
If I was 5 years younger I would have changed carriers but I can get by fine on my retirement income so why take a job somebody really needs ?

 

So I'm in far left lane next to hammer lane,4 wheeler is coming on the "get on"on a 6 lane " spaghetti bowl" we are all doing about 50 and the shmuck comes 5 lanes over at 40mph,and STOPS in front of me so the idiot can get in hammer lane...
yup "hard brake" .... Most veered to right lane to miss the idiot....hmmm? Grrrrrrr