J.B. Hunt announces inward facing cameras

I am not concerned about the sleeper. I am concerned that if I take my hand off the wheel or have to adjust something somewhere or hit a button on my phone or something that someone in the office is going to be calling me demanding to know why my hands aren't on the wheel or my eyes are not 100% glued to the road.

There was a Reader's Digest story VERY recently about trucking and the people leaving it due to the stresses the office people place on them (among others). A lady in the article said she hit the brakes hard to avoid a car, and IMMEDIATELY someone from the office called her and chewed her out and demanded to know why she was braking and then that person said she had to go back to training. The trucker quit her job because of that.

Essentially, truckers said micro-management was forcing them to re-think their careers.

 

It's been something that's been tried a couple three times. Cost and technological hurdles have made them incompatible with any fleet that does drop and hooks. The biggest practical issue is "how do we stop the camera from being torn up?". Look at the number of license plate holders that are bent/rusted out. The next biggest issue is how do you connect the camera to both power and the trucks display? Look at the issues the industry had with ELD connectivity.

Even if those issues are overcome, there is still the "end user problem". Guys start watching the back up camera and STOP WATCHING THEIR MIRRORS. This results in running the tractor and the nose of the trailer into fixed objects. The camera doesn't solve the underlying backing incident problem, it just adds a crutch that atrophies a needed skill.

 

You got that right. A lot of drivers--especially us old-schoolers--got into trucking because we didn't want a pointy-haired boss up our arse all day.

 

That’s not happening. I’m not going to list the things I do that I shouldn’t do. There is no micro-managing at IWX.

The most difficult thing to learn (for me to re-learn) is the order they want things done. Macros and hours of service.

I’m used to paper logs. I have to imagine I’m filling out a paper log while changing status or I F’up.
IWX has many 3 million mile drivers. That’s crazy to me. When I started driving people jumped from company to company. The thought of staying with the same company for 30 years? Unheard of.

Sad to say this, but IWX literally has 3 million mile drivers dying in their trucks. It’s that good, they’re not quitting. I was told that you DO NOT want to be a 3 million mile driver.

 

Nice, that's what the recruiter told me too. Looks like I made a good choice. Like I said, I'm planning on being there for a while so I'd like to be happy and make them happy. I don't want to be micro-managed. I've had some jobs that left me alone to do my job and even though the pay wasn't great, that's why I stuck around as long as I did on those jobs.

 

It’s a good place to be. I wouldn’t be talking to you right now except the blower motor in the cab of my truck wants to work intermittently.

I’m home til tomorrow morning. 2,600 miles in 5 days, and would have had closer to 3,600 if my original truck hadn’t broke down.

I didn’t realize when hired IWX sends you out approximately 600 miles and brings you back same miles. So we are constantly relaying loads.

I like it! And it’s easy.