Where is everyone #5

i wonder what some of you guys will do when alternative fuel trucks and autonomous trucks come into the industry... that mindset is the reason we are where we are... you are right. a 1 truck guy cant do anything. it takes more people to stand up for themselves to make change.. but im sorry for thinking i worked in an industry full of people who cared about what they do and cared about the bigger picture of what they do... i am learning it isnt the case in trucking... which is unfortunate

 

You can't stop change, never been done, never will be. Like @beastr123 said, buy a cheap smart phone for tracking purposes, write it off as an expense and move on. Trying to hold back on the reins of change due to technological advancements is a waste of time and effort.

 

Generally no one calls and when I am done I just turn the settings off for the app.

as far as electric trucks or other advances go - I will adapt to that change or I will do something else.

I do not love trucks - they are tools to do a job and make a living. I also do not long for days gone by or the romanticized version that.

There is no “Big Picture” - it is all individual pictures and individual motivations.

I try to help if I can but, I am not responsible for anyone but me (and Zoe).

this has gone far a field from what my original post was about. I was attempting to inform a new entrant into my area of trucking what the industry norm is and nothing more.

this kind of crap is what keeps people from offering help or posting here.

 

There is a problem with this scenario, Rontonio, in that not all of us run during the day. I had a C.H.Robinson agent the company gave me a load to haul for. I did the arrival call and I did the delivery call (of course he wasn't available), but when I was sleeping during the day and get a call, I warned him one time. If you call me again for a check call, I will file an HOS coercion violation charge against him. He was stunned. I then read him the riot act. Just because he works daylight hours, doesn't mean that I do. I pull into a truck stop anywhere from 4-6 am. That means my sleep time is during his work time, and I don't appreciate him bothering me during my sleep time unless he wants to leave his personal phone number with me so I can make the check calls in the middle of the night during his sleep time. He asked me if I talk to all my customers this way, and I answered, only the ones that call me during my sleep time...and admonished him, don't do it again. I will call you, don't call me. He didn't and chilled afterward. I then got on my dispatcher for releasing my phone number. I reminded them, I'm a company driver, not an O/O and if they want to know my location, the dispatcher has it on his screen, and since I check in with them they could relay any information to the "customer", unless they're too busy (as my one dispatcher was) checking out sports scores and online shopping.

You may be right, that this may be an expected level of service, but Tibbett is equally right in that as an O/O he gets to set his own service offerings as well. Just because we need good paying freight, doesn't mean we need to prostrate ourselves under their expectations, with or without compensation. If enough 'single' trucks say no, in enough numbers they will have to accept it. As a geek, I know when an app asks me for permissions on apps, I read everything they ask for and if any of them are things that I would have an objection to in real life (looking through my address book etc) I will refuse. Likewise, you may not care about them getting mom and dad's numbers and addresses, but mom and dad may not like getting all the junk mail, spam and Identity Theft that can occur with the access to their information in your phone. I know you think this may be trivial, but it is a real and prevalent threat daily. Bottom line you're both right...so let's find common ground as drivers to help us fashion the right response and level of exposure to set the bar, that we will endure to make a living.

Peace, out.

 

My boss calls me at the hospital and demands that I come and clean out my company truck so that another driver who just had a at fault wreck could go into it.
No, I say, you called me at my hospital room so you know that is not possible. Well, he says, then I will have anyone available clean it out this week end. No, I say, I will send my sons to pack it up.

Oh, we don't want to put you out. Hmmph, I snort, how nice. Will you be bringing your truck on when you get up and around, he asks? Well. Depends on how it goes, I reply.

I got off the phone and turn to all 3 sons and tell them what I need. My Army friends stand up and say, we will take care of that. Oh, darn, I think as they walk out the door.

One phone call latter, I am employed. After I get well and after I get Black Mariah running again.

Didn't go well for him.

 

Was at Love's.

 

If people understood that tracking isn’t a spy drone invading your privacy. You can turn it on and turn it off. It can’t access your personal information unless you give it permission. Also if you are riding around with any where from a 250,000 to well over a million dollars worth of someone’s equipment is it that unreasonable for them to request some form of tracking. We expect it from Amazon and ups don’t we?

 

Thats BS. I have insurance for that situation and I'm a carrier they vetted.

 

Yes, you do and are. So does ups. But it’s still not a big ask. Besides a lot of the equipment manufacturers require it as a condition of being awarded the freight.

You absolutely have the right to refuse, but you won’t get the work. That’s a business decision you must make.

 

Have not done it, and probably won't do it. I get along just fine.