Smart Drive??
 

Does anyone have any info on these cameras?? I hear Marten is about to put these in the cabs of our trucks??

This is new news to me. Must be for the insurance company.

Got the news today at the terminal. They are supposed to be able to look at us at all times. Is that even legal??

If they own the truck, they have every right to do that. Just make sure that you close the curtian when you go to sleep..... :wink: :wink: :wink: :wink: :o

Its not that simple man, to me putting a camera in the cab like that is like putting a camera in a motel room. As long as its not in the bathroom its ok??

LOL. I know what you mean. Become an OO and you will not have to worry about that. I know that I would not like the ideal.

there HAS to be something illegal about this...privacy laws or something?..it takes away from the factor "hot having ppl looking over your shoulder"!!

Got more info on the cameras. They say it only records when you jerk the wheel real hard or you brake real hard. My whole thing is what are the microphones for. I dont mind if they want to watch me drive thats boring but the microphone kills it for me. There is no reason why a microphone should be in the truck.

i totally agree, except i still dont like that fact of them watching me...what i do in that truck is my business, no offence....
if i want to drive down the road and talk to myself or have phone conversations wiht my friends and family thats my business...weather it only activates when i brake or jerk the wheel or not, its purely an invasion of privacy and i'd have one hell of a lawsuit...its bad enuff they're forcing us to drive the speed THEY set! how much control r we gonna let them take over our career?

Welcome to today drivers! The on-board video/audio option has been in use by some companies for a while now. In the petroleum transport industry for sure.

These cameras will activate, as already stated, during hard breaking, quick turning etc. They can also be activated and viewed at will, along with the microphone.

You ARE at work remember? Nothing different than GPS tracking whereas your location was only as good as your word. It may seem like an invasion of privacy, but it in the end, it is just a company protecting it's investment.

Sucks big time!! Oh hell yeah!! I'm just surprised that we haven't seen more discussion about how such devices will impact the industry.

It's not a matter of sooner or later............it's already here.

And besides that the zoo keepers want to keep an eye on the monkeys in their cages. :D :D :D :D

i understand, i just am rather shocked that the industry has taken such a plummet in safety and valued trust...im sorry but today is the first i've heard of this whole "camera in cab" thing...im apauled it's come to this...

None taken '95.' Please do not be offended when I tell you that you are completely wrong, unfortunately.

It must be the gas fumes, they're getting to Jumbo... :lol: :wink:

I am in my cage so I can poke fun.

That's one I'll never live down Jumbo. :) Gotta admit, it was pretty funny! :D

what ever happend to ppl liking to drive for bigger companies because they didnt have the immediate boss lurkin down their neck??...if ya'll think about its accually much easier to stay wiht a large company for a longer period of time then the smaller local ones....i admit i dont have the best incident record in my career, in fact im waiting at the mailbox for my DAC report to be mailed to me...already sent away for it...hope they didnt forget about me.. :roll:

I am too RR9501. I was thinking about posting it when it gets here so that everyone could see what a DAC looks like. I'm expecting it anytime.

The industry is evolving quickly, kicked square in the nuts by high fuel prices and an economy in recession. They days of carriers, local or OTR, small or large, being able to tolerate inefficiency, wastefulness and carelessness are over.

Such invasive, active monitoring devices are touted to ensure compliance and efficiency and as a defensive tool in lawsuits/litigation. We'll see huh?

yea, well if my DAC report's not as embarrassing as i think its gonna be..lol...perhaps i'll post it here too, i think we should get permission for GMAN first tho..lol
but yea, it was bad enuff when they put those qual-comms in our trucks, as if they dont have enuff of an elctronic leash on us?...lol...
yea, just unplug them or put a coffee cann over the white domes on the roof...lol...but now they have video-spy on our in-cab??...i think its demeaning..and im truly apauled they would try and pull a stunt like that....

I agree and if the EOBR's work like the airplane cockpit recorder then I'm for it cause it'll help the reconstruction team determine what the driver's actions was before the crash to help determine who was at fault.

i think they want to see if you are on the phone or reading or eating when something happens, i know i would duct tape that sucker and if they said something about not being able to get a picture i would say it must be broke, just be sure to remove tape when you get near the terminal

That's exactly what Big Brother is looking for ct77. And you know what? They're gonna get it too. No matter how much we dislike it.

They've already figured out the disabling techniques that you have pointed out. These usually fall under "immediate termination" in the employee handbook.

Sorry to play the devil's advocate here. Just letting you know.

yea, i see what yer all saying...but i'm with ct77 on this one...i'd find a way to cover it or block their signal...oops!...i'd rather go with the whole black box idea....check that IF something happens....

Well, you could block the signal. That, however, will do nothing to disable the hard drive that is still recording. You have only disabled the 'live link' and they will be after you quicker than if your Qualcomm goes out.

This is not only a "live" system that we are talking about. Everything goes on to "hard storage" a la 'black box' technology that we read about in the aviation industry. No stopping it I'm afraid.

Maybe we'll have to dispense with some bad habits....................

wow...that really sucks...and im sorry but i just cant see how any of u would agree and think this thing is OK...i say we petition!...lol

I'm playing Devil's Advocate with Belpre on this one. Key thing to remember here is, if it's THEIR TRUCK they can pretty much do what they want. I look at it on the flip side....if you or I involved in a major accident (God forbid) this could actually help clear us as a driver of the accusations that could be thrown against us in court (providing also that you are doing what you are supposed to). BTW, wasn't the argument a few months back concerning E.O.B.R.s that they would go into the fleet's whose safety ratings pretty much sucked, and that companies with a good running track record would be exempt?

As for the argument of unplugging qualcomm's and/or covering the satellite dish itself to get away with stuff, how will you explain your actions against the E.C.M.'s readout? This reminds me of a driver out west I heard complaining one day how he was fired for something similar (if memory serves me correctly he was with Swift); he had been covering his satellite dish so the company couldn't pick up that he was shooting down hills, severely over-speeding. Apparently he didn't realize that the E.C.M. records engine speed history, and when an occasion finally arrived requiring his truck be plugged up to the computer and information was gathered about what he had been doing he was terminated soon thereafter.

If you have to play stupid games to try and make a few extra $$$ that could potentially endanger the lives of people out here, you're driving for the wrong company and either need to A)switch companies or B)get out of this industry altogether and find another occupation before it catches up with you. Doesn't matter if local, regional, or O.T.R........ :wink:

ok carlos, yea i see your point now...but im not saying i ever did unplug my qualcomm or cover up the satelite, but i've heard of ppl doing it...but i still juist dont like them hovering over me with a camera in my truck...the companies i've been with have never once said a thing about my downhill speed...for 2 1/2 months of my career have i been stuck in a 65mph truck...i vow never to again if i have to go back otr....it puts me to sleep and bores crap outta me...

As it was posted here, and in other topics along the same lines:

The truck is *NOT* yours. You are driving that truck for SOMEONE. It's theirs to do with as they please, except for the obvious of putting a camera/mic in the sleeper berth.

If you're not happy with what someone does with THEIR TRUCK, there are plenty of other carriers out there.

well, myself and many other ppl agree with me that its an invasion of privacy, whats wrong with just installing EOBR? i dont have a problem with that....but everytime there's an accident and someone gets hurt, its always the drivers fault...sorry but i'm voicing my opinion

What purpose would it serve to invade the drivers space ?

Have the people in Safety....(recently re coined "Risk Assessment" :roll: )

gone completely neurotic ???

Do people actually get paid to sit around and think this stuff up ?

The price of transmitting and receiving would be astronomical...

Qual comm device as it is cost a ton of money per month if the

company has a big fleet.....i think drivers can be paranoid

alot of the times

lol...yea i knw what u mean, SuperServce, when i was with them, they told us the qualcomm msgs cost $.01 per msg.....u have a full fleet of talkers and it certainly ads up!...lol

If we want to be treated as professionals.

We will have to be monitored and regulated as professionals.

No exceptions.

u mean your accually agreeing that this is a good idea?...Why?
for those of us who like to talk to ourselves..lol...we'd be the laughing stock back in the terminals....hahahha
there's many other ireasons i dont agree with the idea of cab-cams..

I absolutely agree with it RR. This goes to the core of one of the primary reasons that I tend to have issues with OTR trucking as it currently stands.

If there is nothing to hide. Why worry about such systems? My contention, all along, is that there is plenty to hide. And plenty being hidden. Mostly at the driver's expense when things go wrong.

Our already heavily regulated industry is ripe with bureaucratic/politically/industry driven misguidance that is wholly unfair to the driver.

If airline pilots snickered about HOS regulations as we do. How would you feel about boarding an airplane? How about aviation maintenance? What if they operated with the same integrity that we see time and time again on this board?

It's about a lot of things being wrong RR. It may not seem as if I am on your side, but I am. I walk in your shoes every day. I don't like what I see a lot of the time.

look i'm not saying i have anything to hide cause i dont...but your a grown man, would u let your mother or someone go to work with u and watch u all day long?...no absolutly not...its the thoguth of being watched over....its one thing to have to call your dispatcher once a day or have him call u and ask where u r or whatnot...i just dont see a liable point to being watched like that...its rather disturbing...its one thing for them to watch your every move wiht the satelite....i'd turn my keys in the day they installed something like that in my truck...
there's nothing wrong with them calling my cell or sending me a qualcomm msg...if i had one...

Ok RR. What about the driver that continually posts here that alcohol consumption in a CMV is not illegal and that the "spirit of the law" would allow it. Would you want him consuming alcoholic beverages while operating your equipment (parked or otherwise), or would you rather be able to see what he is up to and disable that equipment immediately and terminate said employee for cause?

ummm.,...well who said anything about using alcohol in the truck?...tho i do see your point, however for some Odd reason i feel the only time alcohol consumption should be ok is if he's sitting a pilot doing jack $hit, bored out of his mind on a 34hr restart, and in the sleeper with the keys out of the ignition of course....haahaa
he's not going anywhere anyway, so why cant he chill out with a cold one...and if he's in the sleeper he's not hurting no one cause he has plenty of time to get it out of his system b4 he hits the road again...yes, true he is representing the company at the same time....but how is it different if he has a few cold ones on his home time?...please do not jump on me for this one...i've talked to many drivers and i'm not the only one who feels this way...
so there should be exceptions to the rule...am i wrong?