New Camera System Coming to all company trucks.

e logs are a bit different then someone able to watch you. Still they tried this idea last year and it flopped its too expensive and too many drivers refused to drive the trucks they canned the idea. Swift above anything is a cheap company they are not going to spend that much money on something that does not make them money.

 

From reading this forum it seems that most need somewhere to live, and the sleeper of mega is just the ticket. Just need a few extra cents a week in case theres not enough points for hot dogs...

 

I know of a company that lost over 20% of its O/O within a week of announcing implementation of an e-log policy. Another 5-10% were biding their time hoping to run out their tags before they were called to have the box installed...but were planning to leave when they got the call. It got the companies attention...safety director (who was in charge of the policy) had to scramble to save HIS job, as the threats of legal action against the company were pretty strong. The implementation was pushed back 6 months and the company is now eating the cost of the device and the subscription (they had initially wanted to bill the O/O $1250 for the device and $40.50/month for the service...no options other than buying from/through the carrier, which was a breech of contract AND a violation of federal leasing regs.

For a company the size of Swift, that would be the equivalent of 750-800 drivers. Not going to happen.

The company above USED to have higher hiring standards...2-3 years experience, clean record, etc. Nobody working there owes anything to the company. If you have a truck leased on, the title is in your name. Even though they have relaxed their hiring standards and now take on "recent CDL school grads", the company isn't financing the CDL school. Employees aren't bound to the company for any length of time.

Not so at Swift. Swift L/O's don't have the option to take "their" truck elsewhere because it isn't their truck. If they leave, they lose the truck and whatever equity they think they have in it, as well as other negative impacts. A lot of Swift company drivers are under contract as indentured servants working off their CDL school...if they quit, they have a big debt to repay. The company knows this, and knows that it makes drivers more inclined to tolerate uncomfortable situations.

Best way to stop the cameras would be for the "test subjects" in the pilot program to screw up in a manner which the video leads to a larger settlement due to aggravating factors seen in the video which otherwise wouldn't have been able to be proved by the plaintiff's attorney.

Heck, even if a large number of indentured servants DO pack up and leave, the debt they'll owe to Swift for their CDL school and the value of the leased trucks turned back in to be leased to another group of suckers...we'll, it would offset the cost of recruiting a few extra warm bodies for a few weeks.

 

Actually you do not have any huge debt to swift for their school. It's 3400 not a large enough amount to worry about when other companies offer to pay it off. As for the leas trucks they cannot alter the deal after its been signed , that is basic contract law.

If even 10% of Swifts trucks stopped rolling for a week it would hurt them to much. They couldn't afford the risk on something that brings in no money.

 

the FAQ sheet is being handed out!! They are being put in company drivers trucks. It's a done deal. No point in arguing about it. It's happening.

two things though.
one. They don't know when as of yet.
Two. The faq sheet doesn't say if they're going in existing trucks or just the new ones coming in.

 

Hopefully only in new trucks.
I have a '13, so I should be keeping it for a couple more years.

Still, no matter how the cameras operate, I don't want one recording every move I make.
It is only more ammunition that might be used against me if something happens.
It could be as small a thing as checking my left mirror for a second as someone cuts in front of me from the right and slams on the brakes, and it could be used against me by the company or insurance company.
Any number of things come to mind, and I don't want to have to second guess every decision and move that I make.
A driver facing camera would be nothing but a distraction to me.

 

What risk? I've been hearing this ######## since the day I got my CDL. "If they implement new HOS and mandate a ten hour break, the industry will fight back"... "if these companies go to e-logs, it'll be the end of them"... "if CSA2010 goes into effect, the industry will go on strike". Yeah... didn't hold my breath in any of those instances, and you probably shouldn't, either.

 

I would be all for this if they also had "person" facing cameras at each dm's cubicle and each planners. Only fair right??

 

the cam is coming, your not going to quit, there is a ong line of drivers waiting to take your place. even if you quit they will not even miss 1 load. if you can drive, no worries, if you cant maybe its a good thing that you quit now.

i have a cam in my truck, i purchased it, w an accident in 12/2013 he cam showed i did nothing wrong it backed me. t leave home without it.

i had

 

Not really the same, OceanDan.
But to put one in their POV to see what they are doing as they drive to and from work, to see what they do on their break time... that would be more fair.
I'd kinda like to see what some of the planners seem to be smoking or shooting.
And include the programmers of these stupid programs as well.
Heck, let's get a camera in the head guys office and car and home.
Cameras in all the meetings where so many stupid decisions are discussed and made, and make the video available to all the drivers.