Dispatch threatening drivers for not driving on ice...

This would certainly take care of a shipper trying to throw a driver thats out of hours off their lot

 

Yep. Coercion is indeed against the regulations. Written and added in 2016. We covered this in safety class last week. Report it and see what happens to the person that was coercing you. That will tell you a lot about the company you are working for. make sure you have this documented in text, on company communicator, or have recorded it if it occurred on the phone.

 

And I bet when you got it there, they weren’t in any hurry to receive it. I don’t know how many times I have heard they need it now, and I get there, and the receiving employees are acting like they don’t even need it.

 

Somebody thinks everything is ran by the book, tell that to the weather, these mountains can throw you a storm that will increase your workload. We had to drive to the closure, camp, then when open do all the deliveries. This is not a one size fits all industry, there are many weather, traffic, construction and what ever delays, something needs to be structured for weather, traffic, commerce keeps going on, if you want a country running free you do not make rules hurting the workers to keep the idiots safe. If you can not run on any ice without a degree of safety you are in the wrong business during winter, take another job for those 9 months that might snow. We are getting to soft, saying this is to dangerous, to hard, get out there and do it, go slower, give more room, carry a emergency bags for when you stuck out in middle of nowhere comfortably with water and food and a bag to crawl in to keep from freezing. man up.

 

Super Dispatcher should be soon to be Super BS ExDispatcher.

Any one making threats like that should be talked to by HIS or HER supervisor. All the way to the Company Board or Owner if necessary.

YOU in the meantime, fraidyicecat stay put. Don't go out on that ice. The minute you do, you just condemned yourself to more abuse from Super BS Dispatcher in the future.

There are anti corection laws in place since 2012. If you feel unsafe, stay put.

I cannot tell you the legions of bosses telling me that wretched load of potato chips is most essential to be in Indy tonight. Ice or not. EFF that. Im going to dinner and maybe a movie or something. Or something else. Wait until the ice goes bye bye.

 

Can you clarify the above statement?

 

If I had to guess, he's afraid that one of the spineless drivers who need an ELD in order to stand up to dispatchers attempting to push them beyond the HOS will be similarly weak in the knees when standing up to dispatch over the road and weather conditions. The lack of electronic doohickies to validate their "unsafe" determination will mean they'll cave to pressure and chance it on the ice.

Of course when they crash, dispatch won't accept any responsibility for the driver being on the road. Kinda like a black op that goes off the rail, and now you've been disavowed. Driver owns that wreck 100% and will be the only one to face any consequences.

 

Nor should they have to.
Drivers discretion.

I've told the FM under his pressure 'oh, but everyone else is doing.... blah, blah, blah' (you know, the lies in an effort to cause a guilt trip) - 1: I'm not a ####ing sheep. I don't care what everyone else is supposedly doing. 2: There's one captain of this ship. And it ain't you.

We get on alright. But I still hear tell that some of the weaker drivers are bullied into hazardous running.

 

I'll say a word, some posters say the ones afraid of ice should man up as it were.

I can do ice all day and have been there done that. Sometimes in ice storms I am the only truck moving in the area. There is a price usually when I get out of that area and into better weather I have to stop, eat, hydrate and rest a little bit. But usually I got it out of there despite the ice and everything. Im #### good.

However... not everyone is good on ice and yes there is a certain amount of need to get moving in this Nation to keep everything going. The problem I have is the threats. If your boss is making threats you already have a problem whatever the situation is or was. The last one that made threats towards me had to go find another replacement on the spot at 6 am. His rig did not move a inch until he probably drove it himself. If something is bad fix it. Threats don't get to be acceptable.

However I have my limits. Usually related to being able to walk on said ice. If I can walk on it and not fall on my bum, generally the tractor trailer can roll on it too. (The science of ground pressure is beyond the scope of this thread...) but that is my personal ice test.