Camera? Not on my watch

It is interesting that companies are jumping on the driver facing camera band wagon with no proof it will reduce accidents. Can the driver turn the camera off if the truck is not moving?? But the real reason is as always the mighty $$$$, insurance companies reduce rates with the cameras installed. The mega fleets will all have cameras eventually, that's a given but the smaller companies will not as they have a financial interest in keeping the best drivers in their trucks. It hits a smaller company harder in the check book to loose/hire drivers. I can never see driver cams becoming law, that is a rocky road legally so the feds will rely on the industry grabbing the easy $$$ and doing it themselves.

 

put a towel over it and ride

 

Behind insurance discounts, that very thing - i.e. the safety department being able to micromanage your every little driving habit - is the other big reason these driver-facing cameras are so popular with the big companies now. And when DriveCam first came out, the only thing that set it off was a high-G event. Now it can interact with vehicle telematics, and be triggered by a whole multitude of things, from speeding 1 over whatever the qualcomm/peoplenet thinks the speed limit is (the data is not always up to date or correct), to rolling (at all) without your seat belt on. More triggers, more activations... more activations, more likely to catch you violating some BS policy like not talking on the CB radio, or not having both hands on the wheel every single second you're driving, etc.

Believe me, if they thought they could get away with it, most big companies would have driver facing cameras AND cameras in the sleeper, to make sure you're actually sleeping on your breaks, and micromanage how much you're sleeping, etc.

 

Don't forget most of the camera systems are leased, or there is some sort of monthly payment per truck. The companies who sell them have a vested interest in making them seem worthwhile, and from my experience, I was beginning to think they could have altered the video or settings to make the events happen 'easier'.

 

i wouldn't ride with a cam watching not in my truck or theres time to draw a line in the sand and tell them to kiss off

 

if the camera was facing the traffic I might consider it. if they need to film me 24 hours a day then they should not have hired me. I had a camera in a previous company's truck and it was only supposed to come on for certain reasons. One of them is a button that will make it start recording at the drivers command when they see a disaster about to happen. I drove three different trucks and there was no button to start the camera. a few months later the camera was on every day. they can put some fresh meat in there or someone from the socialist northeast.
good luck to you all from the land of the palmetto.

 

Not a truck driver.

 

I'm a driver also.

 

Do you guys over there at Regency have cameras in your trucks? Looks like a good outfit.

 

I am with you on that one. I will cut my CDL up and throw it in the trash before having a driver facing camera on me.