Recording phone calls

It's legal but you have to tell the person you are recording or it can't be used for anything except maybe tell your boss Martha told you to drop it.

 

Legality is different state to state, you would have to check with the state your company is based out of, or the state your dispatch is based out of, but skate-board pretty much correct

 

I e-mailed the state attorney for FL over the exact same issue. The answer was (for FL laws) "both parties have to give their verbal consent to the conversation being recorded". So, when I called my company's office, I had a script. "Before we continue, I must inform you that this conversation is being recorded, and your participation in this conversation from this point forward will be considered as your verbal consent to the recording". I've never been hung up on so many times in my life.

 

Legal Ques...humph! What, I recommend is focusing on your own morale & being able to focus on a simple problems that are work related: Who, What, Where, When & Why.

This question related to your morale will clear up by focusing on the problems in communication with your dispatcher's immediate Mgr. If, your Company can not bring into focus simple communication...then the hard choice that you face is not the ques of legality...its do I quit n find a new Carrier.
(remind them that your use of a recording device is for your personal notes. However, if, you want to be legal: send a certified letter to your companies human resources department stating: going forward you will be recording all conversations related to work, if they have any ques. send a follow up letter within 5 days. screw the informal notification. (keep it nice, we're all trying to do the same job.)

 

If you feel you should'nt have dropped the load or any other concerns,don't listen to your company,they're not at the customer.Even if you're company gets mad, so what the customer is paying you they're the boss over your company.I think recording the conversation would be more work and a big hassel then what its worth.No matter what your company says always ask the customer first.

 

Always request questionable instructions in writing; be it over whatever communications system the company uses, by way of text to your phone, or even an email. Always. In the past I have refused to turn the wheels until I got written confirmation of what was being asked. Sure, it ticks some people off, but that's too bad for them.

As for recording, you could do it, but be wary of the wide variance of laws. In some jurisdictions it is single-party consent and in other's it is all-party consent. Add in the fact that you could be a jurisdiction with one set of rules and the recorded party in another jurisdiction with a different set of rules... gets complicated. Of course your intention is to only use it to confirm to your employer that the request was made, but it could escalate and possibly cause you grief. Although I doubt it would ever come to that.

 

That's why I never delete emails on my company email account. Saved my ### yesterday as a matter of fact. Felt good to be able to one up the powers that be for once.

 

This is one of the benefits to QC communications. Who needs a recording when a record of what was said is right there in writing for all with access to see? This situation came up just last night. One of the guys who covers night dispatch is a former driver - so he says - and he's the biggest jack wagon I have to deal with. My drop n hook turned into a live load that was several hours late. Not only am I going to be late for delivery but my 14 will be up before I can even get there. His response? 'I didn't hear anything'. This is his way of saying, 'get it there at all cost'. I don't roll illegally and we're on Elogs anyway. Hung up with him and sent him a message on the QC. Now he's forced to acknowledge that I'm running late and get with our CS and yada yada yada. Otherwise, my DM comes in in the morning and I have to answer as to why I didn't let anyone know I was running late and you guys know how this goes.

I'm curious as to which WM you were delivering to that doesn't live unload? I mean I'm guessing it's a specific account maybe. I've ran several multis through a WM. It's one of the three questions they ask at the receiving window everytime. Load locks? Extra stops? WM unloading?

 

I am in the camp of those that say the party needs to know or you're breaking the law. My story:

Got pulled over by DOT and state trooper in PA. As it happened, my dash cam was on and it was also recording voice. I plead not guilty to the charges he eventually laid. The video/audio file was too large for me to e-mail to my lawyer so I posted it on You tube and e-mailed my lawyer the link to the video. A few weeks later, Mr. Super Trooper called my cell phone and told me he had seen the you tube video and I had committed some crime by recording his voice without his knowledge. He used the term "wiretapping laws". He gave me 2 hrs to take the video down or he was going to charge me.

Can you believe that? I have some good ones I tell ya.