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SAIA | Driver facing cameras

bigbuck said:
My guess would be to create separation between the driver and the company. Saia (or any company) is banking on their reputation. In the event of something catastrpohic (Tracy Morgan), the company immediately terminates and then goes to the public showing how the driver, not the equipment (company), is at fault and they have taken appropriate steps to get rid of the "problem" driver. It's a classic defensive and save face move that companies make everyday. That's your "why".
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EXACTLY!!
 
othertrucker2001 said:
EXACTLY!!
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Either way you choose to view it I can only see positive. The cameras help the company do what is right with real time information. Facts. Not conjecture. Get rid of the bad apples and keep the good. As an example, if a driver is tired because he didn't get proper rest and nods off at the wheel that's on him. I would just call off and take a point. That's a good driver. A money driven driver would push himself. That's a bad driver. It's not always easy to distinguish the difference. A camera will catch you nodding off. Case closed.
 
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runawaytrain said:
Either way you choose to view it I can only see positive. The cameras help the company do what is right with real time information. Facts. Not conjecture. Get rid of the bad apples and keep the good. As an example, if a driver is tired because he didn't get a good nights sleep and nods off at the wheel that's on him. I would just call off and take a point. That's a good driver. A money driven driver would push himself. That's a bad driver. It's not always easy to distinguish the difference. A camera will catch you nodding off. Case closed.
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All true. But if that camera catches you, talking on the phone, cb, tuning your fm, ac, removing your wallet from your rear pocket for comfort, blowing your nose, something in your eye, scratching a itch, sipping your coffee, and the list goes on and on, they WILL make it known...the driver was at fault for.... .It will not change anything. Just shifts the blame. Every company other does it. Friend of mine, not even a driver, fell at work, 1-1/2 stories inside the building. He was in his safety harness, strapped in..correctly. They fought the insurance tooth and nail, claiming he didn't have a backup strap holding him. His lawyer took the training videos to court. Not once did they ever mention TWO straps. The company refused to pay. Long story short. They are still paying 15 years later....And still fighting.
 
bigbuck said:
The only thing I am suggesting, and this is a very broad generalization that I'm sure will be taken out of context, is that Saia tends to be its own worst enemy time and again. Too often, practices, procedures, rules, etc...are followed on a "when convenient" basis. Then when the time is right, a new procedure (in this case the cameras) is implemented as a means to "catch people in the act." Now, if I'm a driver taking a sip off of my company provided coffee, and I get into an accident, wouldn't the company at the very least be somewhat responsible? That's all I'm saying. I'm sure I will be vilified and many (if not all) will be totally on defense and attack my statements. Oh well.
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You are a crazy liberal! Blame and responsibility falls on the individual for stupidity in this case. The driver would've had coffee in hand whether company provided or not
 
othertrucker2001 said:
You missed it. Never said the driver was liable. The company will use the video to give the percieved image of the driver being responsible, only to give them the "clean" image. The company will undoubtedly pay, but will do everything possible to make the real world understand that THE DRIVER DID IT....no excuses....BAR NONE.
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I didn't miss anything, The company, any company has zero upside to outing a driver, if nobody knows it happens then why would you give some defense lawyer ammunition? About the only time they make a big deal out of it is when it is public knowledge, then they go into survival mode, zero upside to outing a driver.
 
Life is about choices and living with the consequences. I've made many mistakes in my youth. Mistakes I would never make as an older man. Isn't it a pity that experience comes with such a high price. Having to sell your youth.
 
Personal responsibility people...

Call me a crazy liberal, or whatever makes you feel good. I'm safe, and I'm guessing some of you, well...
 
All of you should have been lawyers.....
What about this theory. The cameras only activate during hard braking, hard cornering, impacts, lane drifting, etc... like they do now, and they can see if the driver could have been doing something better, like not being distracted or following to close or maybe just maybe he did everything right??? Hmmmm, don't you think coaching a driver to improve them is how the company really benefits?

BTW train, Texas is down 25%, worse revenue drop in company with the Oklahoma terminals in the region at over 30% down. You all need to pick it up, California and Washington is tired of carrying the weight for you guys. Everyone else is holding their own. You guys are dragging....
 
MachOne said:
BTW train, Texas is down 25%,
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We may be down but more freight comes out of D-FW than any other terminals. Garland has 80 P&D drivers .... Dallas is probably close to 100. The oil business has hurt us but we still rule. I would be willing to bet your terminal doesn't even generate half the volume we have in Garland. I will check into getting the numbers. In the mean time we will try to step it up. We wouldn't want you guys to have a layoff. :17142:
 
The oil industry is down, but how does that equate to the drivers?

Also, the cameras are constantly on. In the event of an incident, the previous 10 seconds and the following 10 seconds are downloaded to an on board memory card. Do yourselves a favor and educate yourselves, instead of following some non-driver manager's rhetoric. Think. Question. Ask. You owe it to yourselves
 
bigbuck said:
The oil industry is down, but how does that equate to the drivers?
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I'm just trying to show MachOne that when you have two terminals about 20 miles apart like GRL and DLS that have almost 200 P&D drivers you are moving a lot of freight. I'm not even counting the dock and linehaul employees. We are big in the South. You don't have that many workers unless you are generating the revenue to justify it. We carry this company. Without the D-FW market this company wouldn't be doing as well. LTL companies understand that D-FW is one of the biggest markets in the U.S. And staff it accordingly.
 
bigbuck said:
The oil industry is down, but how does that equate to the drivers?

Also, the cameras are constantly on. In the event of an incident, the previous 10 seconds and the following 10 seconds are downloaded to an on board memory card. Do yourselves a favor and educate yourselves, instead of following some non-driver manager's rhetoric. Think. Question. Ask. You owe it to yourselves
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You would have to be pretty naïve to think that these cameras couldn't be turned on with a click of a mouse and watch you anytime. The technology that exist today is futuristic. Not just braking, hard cornering, impacts, lane drifting. They can be turned on anytime. Just do your job safely and don't be doing anything you shouldn't be and you will be fine. The cameras don't bother me at all. I do my job safely and have nothing to hide. I live and breath the SMITH SYSTEM.
 
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Welcome to the red version of Con-Way. This place is going south fast with all the BS and micromanagement that has popped up the last few months. These tattle-tale cameras are just yet another way for them to micromanage the hell out of you.

Pretty tired of hearing the stupid line about "why worry if you have nothing to hide" as well. Guess I just see things differently than the average sheep.
 
Been with Saia 10 + years every time it slows down they start micromanaging the company. Every manager and supervisor has to justify their position (Numbers) including safety. But then again I'm just a truck driver...
 
It's all good train, we don't mind propping you all up. We just need a bigger crutch for you all. We got this. Eventually you all will pick back up.
 
runawaytrain said:
I'm just trying to show MachOne that when you have two terminals about 20 miles apart like GRL and DLS that have almost 200 P&D drivers you are moving a lot of freight. I'm not even counting the dock and linehaul employees. We are big in the South. You don't have that many workers unless you are generating the revenue to justify it. We carry this company. Without the D-FW market this company wouldn't be doing as well. LTL companies understand that D-FW is one of the biggest markets in the U.S. And staff it accordingly.
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We have 24 drivers at my barn....lol
 
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