For those who have mandatory driver facing cameras?

I'll be back with you on sources. It's a reasonable request. The reason I didn't look up my sources in my original post is because I'm a busy person that gets little time off, and I didn't even know if the person (who posted in 2020) was even paying attention. Doing research takes time, and I don't do it for a missing person. I'm a pretty fast writer, so it only took me a few moments to type that up.

Incidentally, statistics that are favorable to my argument tend to disappear. I once did a masters thesis against traffic citation cameras, and posted it in a journal. Within a month, that state removed its official statistics from its website that I quoted (that only 2.5% of deadly accidents are caused by exceeding posted speed limits and running red lights—combined). It apparently embarrasses them when the people know how, even if the devices were 100% effective, they could not even possibly stop more than 2.5% of deaths. In this case, you can no longer find charts on this particular statistic on Google, because it successfully casts doubt on the overall effectiveness of the cameras.

Insurance companies can be irrational, too. You see, companies are not people. They are run by many individuals—all interested in their own position within them. A corporation does not necessarily act as a unified organism like an autonomous human would. It can run like a large dysfunctional family. This is known as corporate corruption. We understand this in nations that are corrupt, but the same principle applies to large and powerful businesses. People within them all vie for their own personal profit and influence and are generally not interested in the well being of the company overall above their own personal well-being.

One last point that I find interesting is how trucking companies are now positioning themselves to throw safety "under the truck" proposing the hiring of 18-year-olds. Now who here doesn't know that the younger the driver is, the more likely they'll get into an accident? I'll find those statistics, too. And this proposal is also illogical. Because if you hire a truck driver when they're 18, that means that they will already be driving a truck (or deciding to give up on it) by the time you would have hired them as a 21-year-old. In other words, logically, you do not have a net-increase of truck drivers merely from hiring the same drivers at one age group instead of another. What you do have, is more accidents, and likely more drivers who were not ready to drive trucks being banned from driving in the future, due to the irrational greed of the trucking industry. All of the sudden, when filling drivers' seats becomes an issue, to hell with safety!

 

Here are a few quick quotes from a trusted source: The NSC Large Trucks - Injury Facts

Also in 2020, 107,000 large trucks were involved in crashes resulting in an injury, a 10% decrease from 2019. Since 2016, the number of trucks involved in fatal crashes has increased 5% and the involvement rate per 100 million large truck miles driven has remained steady at 35. Starting with the 2016 data year, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) began using a new Crash Report Sampling System (CRSS) to estimate the number of nonfatal crashes. CRSS uses a different sampling design than previous estimates and is not directly comparable to earlier data years.

A total of 4,965 people died in large-truck crashes in 2020. The number of deaths decreased 1% from 2019 but is still up 31% since 2011. The majority of deaths in large-truck crashes are occupants of other vehicles (71%), followed by truck occupants (17%), and non-occupants, primarily pedestrians and bicyclists (12%).

I'd like to point out that 2011 is a good benchmark year to approximate the introduction of cameras into most trucks. A 31% increase in trucking deaths (despite design improvements that tend to help survival rates) needs some explaining. During covid, significant decreases of trucks on the road overall make for a logical decrease in trucking accidents.

The risk of motor vehicle crashes is higher among teens ages 16–19 than among any other age group. Teen drivers in this age group have a fatal crash rate almost three times as high as drivers ages 20 and older per mile driven. Teen Drivers and Passengers: Get the Facts | Transportation Safety | Injury Center | CDC.

The number of people who died in large truck crashes was 28 percent higher in 2020 than in 2009, when it was the lowest it has been since the collection of statistics. Among vehicle occupants killed in large truck crashes, both the rate of passenger vehicle occupant deaths per truck mile traveled and the rate of large truck occupant deaths per truck mile traveled have declined substantially since 1975.

In other words, prior to the introduction of cameras in trucks, trucking death rates had already plunged to an all-time low without them, and when the cameras were introduced, the rates began to go up again. Fatality Facts 2020: Large trucks

 

I just got a driver facing camera the samsara CM32, I just got written up for having an air freshener hanging in the way of my face, I’m a female and I feel so violated being watched all day. How can I disable at least the audio so it can’t record all my conversations? So now I wear a handkerchief over my face with sunglasses, turn off the ignition while I eat and drink and block the thing so some pervert isn’t jacking off while constantly on surveillance. I hate it but I can’t find another job near by. What can I do to have some privacy in my truck??? I hate hate hate it.

 

Turning the ignition off does not turn the camera off.
If you have a front window curtain it will at least block the view into the bunk while you are shut down.
There is no way for you to turn off the audio.

They are not watching you all the time. Certain events are triggered, which then send a video of the incident. It is usually 10 seconds before to 10 seconds after it is triggered. But since it is always recording and has quite a long time in the storage, they can go back to review. It may hold several days of footage.

Your only option, if you stay with the company, is to learn exactly what triggers the events and avoid doing those things.
If you do not trigger events they will have no reason to look at the footage.

 

I don't drive for companies that have driver facing cameras.

I keep my phone mounted on my dash, and I will occasionally touch the screen to change music channels, but that's it. I don't even talk with a headset.

It's the principle of it. It's where I live. People wouldn't tolerate cameras in their living room. I live in their truck driving across the country, making them a lot of money... and they want to put on video in my living space? No thank you. You would have to pay me more just to deal with your stupid camera, recording me picking my nose.

Its kind of sad, really, when you are out in the middle of nowhere, 100 miles of nothing in any direction, and you cant fart without someone hearing it 1000 miles away.

Nothing is sacred anymore.

 

Okay, 1st, sorry to hear about that, but 2nd, it's the sign of the times. Unfortunately, you have no recourse, like drugs, refuse to test, you must be guilty. It's a shame you have to hide to do your job, I certainly wouldn't, and to cover up the camera is just as bad. Must be up to no good. See? That's where we are today, it irritates the behoozes out of us older drivers, that this is what is needed. The sad truth, it is. I'm not blaming you at all, I'm sure it was a low ball move, as I doubt you would have took the job, knowing the cameras were in place. Cameras are EVERYWHERE today and if insurance has its way, which they do, be glad you don't have that silly "coaching" baloney. Maybe you do, or it's coming. You can run, but you can't hide today. It's not going away, and soon, ALL vehicles will be tracked. Rental cars already are. If the job is okay, probably nobody "looking at you" indecently, I think this is the way it is, and will be for years to come, until those robot trucks take over, that is,,, in the meantime, give them one of these and see what happens, I know I would.

 

You’re in someone else’s piece of equipment. It’s their choice to install a camera, it’s your choice to stay there or not.

 

my last company had cameras, but were very kind to drivers that kept distance,, not speeding in construction zones, and followed most of there rules, i ate with no hands on the steering wheel, drank my coffee one hand, comb my hair, they never said a word, i looked at the camera, it was recording me, they never said a word. just keep a clean driving record, no accidents, or tickets, and keep them out of court. your good to go, ha ha ha

 

I heard JB Hunt is getting cameras

 

I don't think anyone at the company or at the monitoring company is going to watch you and jack off. But I understand that you don't like your picture put all over the airwaves. Fact is, you can't trust corporations now days. They're always busy at work abusing unsuspecting people by taking data that we think they're using for non-nefarious reasons and hiding weird stuff in the terms of use.
Since I gave up trucking a few years ago, I went to work in the local jail. Most car drivers probably know by now that their DMV photos are used in mug shot lineups alongside hardened criminals regularly, and have been for years, but now both corporate and government photos of citizens are used ubiquitously without any real direct permission. This stuff can be handed out like candy to FBI, ICE, and anyone else, and soon enough you could find yourself in one of those now-infamous "Guilty til proven innocent" situations we've been hearing about in the news lately. If you don't have a lot of money tucked away to defend yourself, and a lot of spare time to do so, you're guilty. Heck, even if you do have that money tucked away, "it's probably drug money", and you could be relieved of it.
I don't know how you got into a situation where trucking is the only thing you can do where you live, but you might also be working on paying back a student loan to do it. Get out of corporate trucking as soon as you can and run your own rig. Don't run it through them, either. Just go completely independent, or team up with another person and share a truck for a living.