Knight To Get AI Netradyne Cameras

My truck makes a honking sound if my right turn signal is on and it thinks a car is there. Oftentimes that car it thinks is sees is a Jersey barrier or some other object. Scares me every time. When I was knew I'm sure more than once I swerved back into my lane thinking a car was doing the honking.

I shudder to think where this could be heading as AI advances...

I drove one of our new 26 Kenworths last week, and I found myself constantly looking at the dash to see why it was beeping at me. It was raining, so every time the rain blocked the camera it would chime and have 2 warning lights come on on the dash. The wipers would clear the rain, the lights would go out and then come back on when it was "blocked" again.

Luckily, we only have outward facing cameras, and our pay isn't tied to any formula based off of triggered events. It mostly looks for complete stops at stop signs and red lights, following distance and speed. If it is triggered it is reviewed by a driver coach who will set up a "coaching session" if it is a valid event. I've only had one session for not completely stopping at a stop sign in one of our yards. But generally you call in they review the tape and tell you what you did wrong and "Coach" you on how to avoid doing it again. All of the coaches are million plus mile drivers so at least it isn't some pencil pusher telling you how to drive. Our pay is not affected, and there is no discipline unless it is something egregious.

First off, let me apologize to Davy. I indeed read his earlier post in haste, and I was exhausted at the time. He didn't make any comparison of any companies to the Nazis. Please forgive me sir.

There's been a lot said in here about this new Netradyne system. I must admit, you guys and gals make me apprehensive about it. Fortunately, we don't really start getting into it until around the end of the year. Some of the things that Kearsey said they told her at the beginning are the same talking points we've been getting now. Knight is obviously trying to break this into their drivers thinking early on, so they don't have a mass exodus of drivers over this new change.

There is one thing we can always count on in this industry. That is the simple fact that things will change. In the past 12 years of trucking I bet I could honestly say there was some change in company policy or tech we use at a minimum of every six months. Change is inevitable.

Over the years I have observed drivers respond to change in a multitude of ways. One of the most common ways is to just move to a different company. Of course, that in itself is a form of change, and the same people who say they don't like change will make changes fairly frequently. It is a head scratcher for me.

Davy kind of got me thinking about this whole issue of having bonus pay tied into camera events, so I want to discuss it a little. I think Davy and I probably fundamentally disagree on this matter, but let's talk about it a little so that folks can see both sides of this story. Davy has had a difficult time of it with his camera. He's made his frustrations clear with us over the years. I have no doubt his frustration is legitimate.

I have not had those same experiences, so I have a hard time relating to what he has gone through. I have no problem getting a false triggered event removed. I don't need them to tell me what the settings or parameters are for the camera. I learn what they are from the way it gets triggered, and I respond by driving differently so I don't trigger it. To me it has been a fairly simple thing to overcome. From what Davy has said, I almost think he has been dealing with some incompetent managers, or it might even be possible that he doesn't realize how to best communicate with the office personnel. I kind of doubt the communication issue, but it can be a problem, and I bring it up in the hopes of educating the new drivers reading this discussion.

When we drivers talk to the folks in the office, we have to speak to them in a completely different way than we do each other. We can't be combative or even a little rough around the edges. I'm being honest with you when I tell you I am super sweet and gentle when talking with the folks in the office. They carry a completely different type of ego than we do, and you have to deal with them in a way that is sometimes completely unlike your real self. My dispatcher once told me, "I don't know how you get so much accomplished when talking to the guys in the office. You just have a way of talking to them that makes them feel bad about denying your request. Other guys tend to make them feel glad about denying their requests." Please take note of that. I almost have to act like I am not even myself when speaking to the safety people or any other folks in the office.

Davy argues that our bonus pay is actually part of our wages. I don't get that. A bonus is a bonus. It is tied to a performance based system, and it is paid when the performance is reached. It is not there to pay drivers less, but rather to reward top tier performers. I can only count two months in the last two years that I didn't receive my full bonus money. That is my experience. It is very different from Davy's. That denies his contention that the greedy corporations are set on keeping driver's wages down. It supports the idea they are willing to pay top pay to top performers. There are parts to being a top performer that have nothing to do with driving a truck or proper trip planning and execution. We have to know how to function and communicate with our peers. They may be different than us, and we have to learn how to communicate with them in a way that gets things accomplished,

Just two months ago, I had a complaint about my bonus. I had earned a killer bonus check and I was being denied it because I had missed the fuel mileage number by .01 miles per gallon. That really got to me. I had to make several calls, but we got it resolved. They even changed their goal by .03 and last I heard, something like 55 other drivers got their bonus money due to that simple change. I always get that fuel mileage, I knew something was off. I just had to get to the right person and convince them their estimated goal was off a little due to the extreme cold we experienced during the month.

Some of you may even laugh at the way I drive. I drive extremely carefully. I drive like I am driving a tanker filled with nitro-glycerine. I slowly accelerate, slowly decelerate, and take curves off and on ramps extremely carefully. It works for me because I like to outperform their expectations. In a nutshell, I like to overcome any and all obstacles set in my way. If those obstacles keep me from earning the most money, I soon figure out how to conquer them. If I need to keep from triggering that camera, I figure out how to do just that. It makes me safer and more satisfied with my income. Who can complain about that accomplishment?

The bottom line is, we were lied to about the purpose, functions, and actual actions related to the camera. I got a "driver on cell phone" alert, pulling out of our wash bay, less than 4mph (I know this, because I was out of hours and creeping.) and the drivers facing image is first non existent, then blurred. So I ask you, if "everything but the drivers seat area is blurred, and not able to even be subpoenad," I ask you, "where is the cell phone?"

Some of us, were seriously against them in the beginning. We decided to take a chance. When a team driver is caught running a stop sign, WHILE DRIVING ON HIS WIFES LOGS, has no actual punishment, I ask you, what exactly is the point?

Some of us were as Optimistic as Old School. Those people were also proven wrong.

Old School I have a question for you. At what point do you stand up and say this is too much? You always seem to come defend anything companies come up with like an HR rep is standing behind you while you type.

Several top preforming drivers here agree the "nanny cams" are a problem for a multitude of reasons. But you insinuate it is the drivers that are the problem, it can not possibly be the company or their policies.

Forgive me, I keep feeling I'm not saying things in a way we all understand.

One thing we drivers tend to not understand is the layered management in trucking. There's a lot of people in trucking company management. Each layer is responsible for the layers beneath them. Just about the only ways they can measure success or failure is through numbers in reports.

There's a lot of conference calls and meetings each week where upper layers put pressure on lower layers to produce better numbers. Those managers have no idea of the many ways you avoid disaster each hour you spend on the road. They know about service failures and success. They know about fleet fuel consumption, and fuel expenses compared to revenue produced.

They look at a lot of numbers. Eventually that pressure works it's way down the path to the man at the bottom - the driver. The driver is expected to be productive, efficient, and safe. That's a lot of pressure.

When managers want better results they resort to incentives they can measure with reports and numbers. That's how we get into these event recordings and bonus pay based on not being prone to triggered events. I understand why drivers dislike the system, but it's the kind of stuff managers drool over. It gives them solid evidence of success and failure that they feel is reliable.

Part of being a successful trucker is learning to work within their system. It takes a lot of effort, but when there is a financial incentive, it makes sense to learn the system and make sure it doesn't hinder your career. At Knight we have to keep our camera or events score (smartdrive score) below 15 to qualify for the bonus money. Extremely careful driving will get you there.

Here's some screenshot of my last month and current month score. I have maintained a zero score, just as I do on most months.

Guys, I spent 30 years managing employees. So I have a strong tendency to be empathetic with the frustration of managers. I'm at the total opposite end now, and I still see a lot of the problems I saw as a manager.

We can all do better. I give it my best every day, just as most of you do. I just have a hard time thinking my company is set to keep me down. I've owned several businesses. I always wanted my people to be the best and prove it to me, so they could be paid the best. I still have faith that our companies want the same things I always wanted when I was in business.

Bobcat, I don't think the drivers are the problem. I actually think they are the solution. That's why I try to share my experiences with you. Sometimes it's just our mindset which needs to be altered. If I'm convinced the company wants to use and abuse me, then I interpret each step they take in that light.

I have a completely different mindset from most drivers. I also have much different results from most drivers. I try to supply evidence and it only stirs up strife when I do.

I have a question for you OS. This isn't a criticism by any means as you've established yourself over time as an asset, they respect and appreciate your skill and dedication and rightfully so. Do you think that had another driver who was newer and didn't have your reputation would have found a similar discrepancy regarding your fuel economy, that the result would have been the same? I honestly don't think it would have and that's a consistency issue which can be an issue at larger companies. Not every dispatcher will run it up the flag pole because favoritism is a very real thing. Not every driver is capable of achieving your status and reputation for a number of reasons and I think sometimes people forget that, even though that individual without that reputation is also correct in their findings. A lane departure trigger might be ignored as a flaw because wait, that's Dale vs safety calling a newer driver and it absolutely happens. That inconsistency will effect the bonus structure.