Primary Means of Communicating With Employer/Company/Family

Discussion in 'Questions From New Drivers' started by OldScribe2009, Sep 30, 2012.

  1. OldScribe2009

    OldScribe2009 Bobtail Member

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    Jul 18, 2009
    Fayetteville, Arkansas
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    These days, if the people you work for want to get in touch with you, is your personal cell phone the most reliable means of communication? Does anyone have an employer who provides cell phones while you're on the road?

    I'm particularly curious about modern day communications on trucks. I'm sure most are equipped with satellite-tracking, so it's not difficult for a company to find out where a driver's at, or where's he's heading, but what about phones and laptops and the other latest link-ups?

    Finally, do most of you rely on your personal cell phones to keep up with your family? If you need to contact The Boss Man (for whatever reason) do you use a different means of calling/communicating?

    I'm just curious because technology has changed everything--and it's changing more and more everyday.

    Thanks for any help! :biggrin_25514:
     
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  3. RickG

    RickG Road Train Member

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    E-mail seems to be taking the place of the cell phone . Drivers shouldn't be distracted by phone calls . My carrier gives all drivers smartphones . Drivers are instructed to communicate with dispatch through e-mail only so phones are free for communication with customers . Drivers are allowed unlimited use of the browser for access to personal e-mail , Facebook , etc .
     
  4. MNdriver

    MNdriver Road Train Member

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    I have a smartphone and a mobile broadband device. My phones also support Skype as well as on the computer with the MBB. We will skype once or twice a week, otherwise the wife and I talk daily.

    between the two, I have voice, email and text messaging pretty much anytime of the day.
     
  5. Balakov100

    Balakov100 Road Train Member

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    Temple, TX
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    Company Qualcomm
    Anybody else Cell Phone/Intarwebs.
     
  6. Numb

    Numb Crusty Curmudgeon

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    Charlotte, N.Carolina
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    company "dumb" phone and personal "dumb" phone. no laptop. no phone talking while driving either, my rule,not company. if it's important I'll call back.
     
  7. White Dog

    White Dog Road Train Member

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    Iowa
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    Yep; just a regular cell phone.

    Some companies will give reimbursment (usually set amount) for personal cell phones, some will ask you to submit only the business related calls on your bill and reimburse you for them (which is crazy these days because there is really no way to tell when one pays a straight monthly fee), and then there are those that require you to have your own phone, and don't give you a dime (this case you can write a third of your cell bill off as a deduction).

    Of course you have the companies that asign there own cell phone to you for business use only.

    I have dealt with each method....and prefer to use my own phone, and get reimbursed a set amount each month, or use the deduction. I don't want to baby-sit a whole other phone.

    As for personal calls; my wife and two adult kids know better to call me unless it is a true emergency....and everyone else is easy to ignore. I will call my family and/or anyone that has called me throughout the day, when I am parked.
     
  8. Pmracing

    Pmracing Road Train Member

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    Arlington Heights, IL
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    Qualcom for trip info from dispatch. They will call if immediate communication is desired. I am not pulling over to check what the single beep from the qualcom is during a run. Just to find it is a lost trailer alert, or weather alert, etc...

    Family contact, I am home nightly! Heheheee Or I will text the wife during the day, while I am stopped anywhere, if something comes up whether humorous, important or just a banality.

    Mikeeee
     
  9. Grumppy

    Grumppy Trucker Forum STAFF Staff Member

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    West Monroe, La
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    We don't have qualcom or email etc. The company provides us with a basic company cell phone. If they needed to use my personal cell phone for company business, I would require that they pay a % of the bill.
     
  10. snowwy

    snowwy Road Train Member

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    ours is text message. if we need to call then we call shop phone as our dispatch doesn't seem to have unlimited minutes.

    i think our office uses internet phone service though. i know they use internet fax service.

    we don't get reimbursed. but we do get the tax writeoff. we have to have our own phone. so if the driver doesn't pay his bill. really puts him AND the company in a jam.

    i'm the only driver with an electronic office. i have internet. i use for my laptop. i have my own fax service. printer and my logs are done on laptop.

    i refuse to sit at the scale becuae i don't have my paperwork. and some of them scales refuse to give out there fax number. that can really put a driver in a bind. been there. done that. won't do it again.
     
  11. Febreeze

    Febreeze Light Load Member

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    Sep 30, 2012
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    Unlimited/free texting is your friend. So is having a 'favorite/most preferred/free' plan that allows you to talk to the people you most often must speak to via voice.
     
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