SWIFT In Cab Cameras

Cameras have been around for over a hundred years. The question now is why now? Dumbed generation? Desperate people just wanting a job?

I swear to God some of you drivers i think you're homeless bums. The conditions you accept to keep a thankless job. You not going to get rich driving a truck. If you're driving just to go see the good ole USA you're doing it the wrong way.

For the fella that says " we all answer when one driver wrecks " last i remember as a grown a$$ adult you answer for your own mistakes. The big misconception is its like Bj mackay and Smokey and the bandit out here. Be prepared as a adult to handle your situation. There are some a few drivers that will help you and a bunch that will not. I've seen drivers back other drivers into truck as a spotter. Guess what they laughed about it and walked off.

Go ahead brett call me stupid again.

Well Brett here is the deal. I think you may be over evaluating the right/ desire for privacy a little bit. And you CAN say "yes I'll use my cell phone and credit cards, but the camera in the face is where I draw the line. I don't think anyone is trying to live under the radar. In my case I do have my actual face on the board but not once have I said I don't want to ever be seen. I also have a public blog for the world to see and read and it covers topics like this one right here.

My point is you have to draw a line in the sand somewhere. And I think what we're seeing here is people drawing that line. If people don't stand up for there rights and say enough...They will continue to infringe upon them until you have none if you just sit back and take it and not say enough.

We do have a safety sensitive job but there are many others with nowhere near the amount of regulations and laws that truckers do. And I seriously believe we are not compensated enough for what we have to go thru as truckers.

The real alarm with in your face cameras is the potential for abuse by the companies. And I think the reactions by the people against said cameras are coming from people most afraid of their civil rights. If it weren't for people saying "enough of this crap, we're gonna throw the tea into the bay," we wouldn't be living in a free country today. Which if you haven't noticed is turning to a socialist one at warp speed. Which is largely perpetuated by people laying over and just taking whatever the government gives them.....or takes away.

Lastly what do I propose we do. "Use the honor system?" Well I tell you what...I don't think that is too far a cry to say. We have measures in place to keep drivers legal. No matter what we will never stop having accidents. So I suppose to put it crudely, since my break is almost over, we must accept some "collateral damage" along the way. I would have to look at actual statistics but I think that truck related accidents have a huge problem with the other vehicle's involved not being educated enough of a trucks capabilities and restrictions. Why not educate the public more instead of taking away more of the drivers rights?

Well Brett here is the deal. I think you may be over evaluating the right/ desire for privacy a little bit. And you CAN say "yes I'll use my cell phone and credit cards, but the camera in the face is where I draw the line. I don't think anyone is trying to live under the radar. In my case I do have my actual face on the board but not once have I said I don't want to ever be seen. I also have a public blog for the world to see and read and it covers topics like this one right here.

My point is you have to draw a line in the sand somewhere. And I think what we're seeing here is people drawing that line. If people don't stand up for there rights and say enough...They will continue to infringe upon them until you have none if you just sit back and take it and not say enough.

We do have a safety sensitive job but there are many others with nowhere near the amount of regulations and laws that truckers do. And I seriously believe we are not compensated enough for what we have to go thru as truckers.

The real alarm with in your face cameras is the potential for abuse by the companies. And I think the reactions by the people against said cameras are coming from people most afraid of their civil rights. If it weren't for people saying "enough of this crap, we're gonna throw the tea into the bay," we wouldn't be living in a free country today. Which if you haven't noticed is turning to a socialist one at warp speed. Which is largely perpetuated by people laying over and just taking whatever the government gives them.....or takes away.

Lastly what do I propose we do. "Use the honor system?" Well I tell you what...I don't think that is too far a cry to say. We have measures in place to keep drivers legal. No matter what we will never stop having accidents. So I suppose to put it crudely, since my break is almost over, we must accept some "collateral damage" along the way. I would have to look at actual statistics but I think that truck related accidents have a huge problem with the other vehicle's involved not being educated enough of a trucks capabilities and restrictions. Why not educate the public more instead of taking away more of the drivers rights?

Taking away rights? What "right" is being taken away, and what government are you referring to? I'm in the USA.

Let me ask you a question Brett. In the past you posted that you have eaten meas while driving, well what wold your reaction be if you were driving down the road and get a call saying you need to go to the nearest terminal and clean out the truck as the cam saw you eating while driving and they have fired you over it.

Keep in mind you have 0 accidents 0 service failures and not so much as a complaint against you but now you are fired because of what they saw on the dash cam.

Do you still think they are such a great idea??? You have 15 years behind the wheel of a big truck and you are telling me it does not phase you a bit that your lively hood can be put in the hands of some 18 year old behind a desk doing random checks on drivers?? People who cannot even hold a CDL now have the power to tell you that you are unsafe to drive the truck. That is just one situation.

There are many more things that the cams work to the disadvantage of the driver. There is pretty much nothing to be gained from a driver facing cam that cannot be learned from a forward facing one. If the driver was not paying attention and causes a crash a forward facing one will show that just as well as a driver facing one. There is also NO reason for it to record audio that can be justified other then the company wants to know what you are saying. What you say has 0 bearing on your reaction to any situation.

Man, this thread is crazy, and I've evaluated and re-evaluated my position a lot while reading this. But I think I finally get it.

I am one of the biggest conservatives out there, and I am all for the Constitution and the rights of citizens, but I just don't see the correlation between these cameras and "big government spying on us." This is not being done by government, it is being done by PRIVATE CORPORATIONS. Free market capitalism dictates that companies will do whatever they legally can to increase their bottom line. This is not only good for the company, it is good for the employees, the economy and the country. This is a perfectly legal thing for them to do, seeing as how they own the trucks and are ALLOWING YOU THE PRIVILEGE of driving it for them. They are the ones assuming all the risk and liability for putting you out there. If this can help them weed out and/or re-train those drivers who knowingly increase that risk and liability, thus decreasing their insurance costs and increasing their profits, I say more power to them. But if the free market ends up proving that this was a bad move, then I'm sure they will adjust accordingly. As long as there is a potential to increase their bottom line, they can and should have every right to do so.

I think the main issue here is that people just don't want to admit that they may be doing things which are unsafe, and they're afraid these cameras are going to call them out. From everything I've read or heard about the trucking industry, there seems to be one overarching problem: nearly everyone thinks they are "Mr. Supertrucker." They know everything there is to know about safe trucking, they've been doing this for [insert number here] years and ain't no one gonna tell them how to do things, they've been doing it this way since the [insert decade here] and they learned from [insert old-timer's name here] and they've never had a problem with the way they do things. They're the ones who'll put two 1900 pound chains on a 20,000 pound steel coil and call it good, because "two's all you need, that's how I've always done it and anyone who says otherwise is full of crap." But you know what? No one ever has an accident... until the day they do. There is a reason why talking or texting on a cell phone is illegal. If you knowingly and willingly engage in this type of activity while driving an 80,000 pound vehicle down a road at 65 mph surrounded by innocent civilians who could be squashed into jelly in a split second by your inattentiveness, you SHOULD NOT BE DRIVING A TRUCK. PERIOD.

The other point I want to make is that civilians are not professional drivers. WE ARE THE PROFESSIONALS. The fact that the public is not educated enough on the capabilities and restrictions of trucks is no excuse for any truck driver acting unprofessionally. It's not the "stupid 4-wheeler's fault" most of the time. It's the truck driver who didn't allow himself enough following distance, who decided to drive through rush hour traffic in Chicago instead of waiting a couple more hours, who decided to back across four lanes of traffic without a using a flagger or setting up triangles, who didn't walk around his truck before getting in and backed into a van full of kids, who didn't plan out his route so now he missed his exit and is frantically and angrily trying to figure out how to get turned around and ends up crushing some old lady between his trailer and the guard rail. We are the ones responsible for the safety of our rigs. No one else. And if you do not realize the seriousness of that responsibility, if you do not do everything in your power to be the most cautious, most attentive driver you can possibly, you are criminally negligent (and you will be found so by a court of law 100% of the time).

Look, the regular motoring public already faces most of the same restrictions we face as commercial drivers. They can't text or talk on a phone, they can't drive distractedly, they can't drink and drive, they can't tailgate, speed, drive aggressively, and so on and so on. They are not under any type of honor system. There are cops out there continuously giving tickets and arresting people for these infractions. Why should we get any special treatment because we choose to drive for a living? And are they having their rights infringed upon because police officers are looking into their windows, giving them breathalyzers, checking their speed with radar, taking pictures of red-light runners, running their plates, etc.? Maybe we should just abolish traffic laws and let everyone drive as they please and accept any collateral damage in the name of individual freedom?

Get over yourselves people. We're not talking about x-ray spy satellites, drones or nanomachines watching you take a shower. We're talking about a camera which monitors you when you are ON-DUTY, WORKING in one of the most safety-sensitive jobs out there. Even if they were turned on and monitored continuously during your shift (which would not only be illogical, but nearly impossible), so what??? Don't text your girlfriend, don't eat a messy burrito, don't drive with your pants around your ankles, and everything will be fine. Do that kind of stuff when you're off duty. And if you can't control yourself that much, either find a company willing to put up with your unsafe habits (good luck) or buy your own truck and start your own company and you can run it any way you please. Just don't expect to stay in business very long.

See now we're having a civilized discussion/debate. No name calling, no belittling. Awesome!

First off I have made a correlation between what swift is doing, (and the next companies that will follow suit) is putting a camera on you to watch your every move while driving. Then turning around and saying it's in THE DRIVERS best interest, even in fact it's not. It's the companies best interest but if they come right out and say that, few will be on board. In what I feel will be fewer cases in the drivers benefit than the companies and here's why.

It is simply not humanly possible to pay attention to the road 100% of the time. What happens if while traveling your QC gets a message do you turn your head to look? Then in those few seconds someone jumps out in front of your truck. The driver will be shown at fault. For doing what EVERY SINGLE DRIVER HAS EVER DONE. If you add up all the time you ever took your eyes off the road for a few seconds to; light a cigarette, grab food, grab drink, look at a map, take a call from dispatch/shipper/receiver, read a sign/billboard, pick up a fallen object, the list goes on and on. Going back if you add all that time you've spent doing those things it will add up to alot and now every driver that there ever was, is/was a bad driver. Because not 100% of their time was spent watching to road.

Now introduce a 24-7 recording and you will always be found guilty for doing what EVERY SINGLE DRIVER does. How does that protect you the driver? It doesn't...It protects the company pure and simple.

They say "the camera only records 20 seconds in the case of a critical event. 10 seconds BEFORE and after". There in the comments is the lie itself. If they have the 10 seconds BEFORE, than the camera is in fact recording 24-7. I don't know the particulars since this is not a widely open discussion, but I'm sure there must be a memory chip either in the camera or elsewhere that is recording every moment.

So now it's been said. Why should anyone be on board with a device that will show you at fault for ANY time you weren't 100% attentive. Which like I said is not humanly possible. Only a robot/machine can do that and that my friends is what this industry is coming to. Self driving big rigs are already being tested.

So now let me move into the nuts and bolts of MY problem with the cameras. Since it's been established the camera moniters 24-7, and the data/video is being either stored or watched remotely; all the things you do as mentioned above will get you fired. Eckho already mentioned this but are all you proponents of 24-7 monitoring of your driving willing to lose your job/ career for something we ALL do by not paying 100% attention? Don't one person try to tell me you never read QC for directions or glance at a map, fire up a smoke. With that camera you will be far more likely to be at fault even when not getting in an accident.

Some drivers do all these distracting things far more than others. So because of the mistakes of some, everyone must now be monitored or recorded. Ok so I understand the argument for the safeties sake of the cameras, but will drivers be compensated for their loss of privacy? Which by the way is in fact "a right." Will drivers be compensated for this? The answer is hell no. Will drivers reap any profits? No. Will companies save millions of dollars in proof of driver error? Hell yes!! So let's call these things for what they really are. A way for COMPANIES to save revenue. Do they have a right to do this? Yes. Do you want to do a job with every single move you make scrutinized and recorded and make crap wage to do it? That's your call. Do you have to do this job because it's the best thing you have going for you for not getting a degree and white caller job? Maybe. Will you still drive with a camera recording your every move? Maybe. Do you have to like it? No. Do you have a right to voice your opinion? Last I checked you do but don't blink because Americans rights are being taken away with a quickness.

I make a correlation with private company monitoring you and the government because they are both doing the same thing.

If you're living in the USA and you're not seeing your privacy and rights being taken away, then you're living in a false myopic world, not the world of truth. It's coming from the government and now the private sectors from the wealthy.

Last query....Why is it such a bad thing to question and rebuke your privacy being taken away? Just because it's everywhere already? So when is enough, enough?

It is simply not humanly possible to pay attention to the road 100% of the time. What happens if while traveling your QC gets a message do you turn your head to look? Then in those few seconds someone jumps out in front of your truck. The driver will be shown at fault.

You're actually making the point for having the cameras. If you're so unaware of your surroundings or you've put yourself in such a bad position that one quick glance at the Qualcomm and you're in a wreck then guess what? The camera is going to show exactly what happened - you screwed up.

Of course everyone looks away from the road. How else would you see your mirrors or your gauges? Nobody ever said you can't take your eye off the road. They said you can't get in a wreck. And avoiding a wreck includes knowing what's going on around you at all times and knowing if you can look away from the road for a moment or not.

See, this is exactly the kind of stuff the cameras are looking for. What was the driver doing in the moments leading up to the event? Was he distracted, and was that in any way to blame for the event?

I think the main issue here is that people just don't want to admit that they may be doing things which are unsafe, and they're afraid these cameras are going to call them out.

Exactly.

Cameras don't lie. If you're being paid to do a job for someone and that someone wants a camera on you when you're working then they have that right. In this day and age with technology being what it is I would say the overwhelming majority of non-truck driving Americans would agree that companies not only have the right, but the responsibility to monitor their drivers at all times. And you know who else would agree? The FMCSA which devised the CSA system for exactly that reason - to hold companies responsible for the quality of driver they employ.

Atilla asks Brett:

Are you getting any type of compensation for recruiting and or promoting trucking Brett?

Attilla, Brett is compensated extremely well for recruiting and promoting trucking careers. Brett gets paid every day that he reads through the new postings here on Trucking Truth.

His compensation is the satisfaction that his project here, promoting a lifestyle that he loves, is helping many hundreds of people make a balanced, informed decision about a future career. (Yes, I'm compensated this way, too.) I'd add more, but I'm not Brett's propaganda machine.

Permit me to say that I believe Mr. Aquila is compensated very well, thank you.

Man, I can't believe I've taken a complete hour off of my 10 hour break to catch up on this thread.

This is probably one of the worst discussions I've ever seen. I'm probably more than half the age of most of you (23) yet it seems like my maturity level is higher. Let's act our age pretty please. If I wanted to see E-Wars and strangers insulting one another I could simply go on Facebook for that.

Remember that we're all big boys capable of having a friendly debate.

Bottom line for me, if you hate it that much then just quit. There's a dozen other companies that will hire you. However, there's always going to be something about your company that you'll hate. No company is perfect.

I dont know about any one driving a truck but when im driving my pickup down the road and I want a drink or a snack I clear my mirrors and access the traffic around me take a good look at whats in front and try to give myself a bit of room in front so if someone brakes hard I got a bit more time and a camera will see that. All you have to do is watch around you while you're running down the road and that glance at the qc or the gauges wont cost you your job with a camera. Like I said before a camera pointing at you should do nothing more then to make you think of becoming a safer driver thats it in the end. Im not in your trucks but there is some reason you all are afraid of these things.