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sysco cameras

One of our drivers claims to hang his hat on it. I've just noticed if I hit a bump on my way to the first stop, then if I'm at my first stop and the trailer lights run the battery down, I try to start the truck and the battery fails, the xata reboots and so does the camera, as they've lost power. I either pop start it, or I jump it from the reefer. (some drivers will wait for the mechanic... several times in a day on occasion.) Once I'm going, the xata is back up, the camera light is green. I would guess that it uploads the recorded video during the boot process. It has to be flash memory, the video is not gonna disappear because of a power loss so put your tools away. Having a green light is only useful to me to know that nothing has been recorded. When it's already red, and I hit another bump it flashes again, but don't know if it recorded a second time. I finish the day and get in my pickup truck, head home, stop at the gas station, take the turn too fast and feel the truck bump, I instinctively look at the rear view mirror to see if it is flashing.
 
I'm not trying to get rid of the video, just when the camera activates, to shut it off, kill the battery, let XATA re-boot and carry on with my day, we have 2 sets of cables in the yard, I guess I could carry my own, that camera must pull alot of juice, none of our trucks, even our old cornbinders, drain the battery with the trailer lights on, even during a 2 hr stop, the STS battery will die before our trucks will.
 
After the xatas were installed we had so many batteries die that they put jumper cables in every cab. The camera itself shouldn't draw so much juice, only when it's using the satellite. The xata uses the satellite all the time, and if the satellite fails it uses the cell phone network. We could just be buying crappy batteries.
 
So not unlike the 1-800 numbers on my trailers - if someone decides that I have done something that they don't like then I get called in to the office.

Something to get used to I guess. Maybe it will get me to quit smoking while I drive...

Even so, sound like if we are doing our jobs as we should it shouldn't pose much of a problem. At least we can tell when it starts taping.

Thanks for the link, Ted.
 
You're welcome. I can't wait until I quit for good (again). Meanwhile I chew tobacco while driving, smoke on way to back of the trailer
 
Hmmm. Yeah, I'm not chewing tobacco, but don't see myself giving up the smokes yet. Did once for 5 1/2 years while pregnant with the triplets and for a few years after they were born. Was way to easy to start again, but right now I am the only driver of my truck (for the next two weeks) so I can smoke in it. Don't need to cause trouble at a new job...
 
Wait... the refers are going to be a new thing for me... You can jump from the refer? Trying to wrap my mind around this.

And why wait for a mech if you can jump from there?
 
Yeah you can jump from a reefer. done it many times myself. I love having a reefer in the summer. Air conditioning. Welcome to the boards wiggletrain
 
Thanks Moneyman!

Wow. The link shows a best-case scenario for Sysco. A school bus accident. Something you never want to see.

Lots to learn in the new job. I understand small engines and diesel engines, but the refers are something to get used to. Now I know why my Dad had such a hard time switching from log trucking to refer 35 years ago. Woohoo! Something to learn... :/
 
wiggletrain said:
Thanks Moneyman!

Wow. The link shows a best-case scenario for Sysco. A school bus accident. Something you never want to see.

Lots to learn in the new job. I understand small engines and diesel engines, but the refers are something to get used to. Now I know why my Dad had such a hard time switching from log trucking to refer 35 years ago. Woohoo! Something to learn... :/
Click to expand...

Its nothing, you will get it way quicker than getting product recognition, reefers are way easy, they hold their own battery so if its strong, you can jump the truck off the reefer if the truck quits, you have an awesome attitude, thats whats needed for this work.

Ted may back me up on this, when it gets slow at sysco, mgmt tends to nit pick, lots of letters that aren't worth the paper they are printed on, if your union, thats whats happening to us now, when we lose the schools this summer it will get really slow for us, then its on, us against them, this new 212 program has lost us alot of business, I say what sysco can't F up can't be F'ed up, step over a 5 to pick up a penny, I swear, I want this company to succeed, but I just wonder sometimes about their business practices, thank God for brand recognition.
 
Make sure you dot your i(s) and cross your t(s), do all your paperwork right and complete. e-mail in the stuff they want e-mailed. Do correctly anything that is under your control and you should be okay. At our house, a lot of stuff is out of our control, which is largely due to poor management. Yet when things go bad, they try to nail the driver for it, but almost all of it can be traced back to them. There may be a few drivers who aren't working as hard as they could. But hey, I show up every day, they give me a route every day, I must be doing something right.

I've never seen so much animosity between the management and the workers before I came here. If they call you in, keep your cool obviously (they may be trying to provoke you). If it's disciplinary, don't settle for another driver being present, insist that the shop steward be present, it's your right. Make notes during the day if you are falling behind, they might ask you why later, and you might not remember every 5 or 10 minute thing that happened, but they add up, waiting for an open dock, waiting for the customer to check in the order, waiting for them to write a check. I would have notes, and would account for 85-90% of the time lost, his fault, and the supervisor would still be shaking his head saying "I just don't see it, how could you be so far behind?". And he's just trying to cover his butt, because it probably just got reamed by a customer or a sales rep. I hear that some Sysco houses are run right, so you might get lucky and not have any problems.

I just got "coached" today for having only a 2.7 second following distance during rush hour traffic! But the file was several weeks old, so I didn't have to refuse to sign it.

Don't pick up a box with one hand, and get your fingers under the case before you lift it. Picking up a box with a one handed pinch grip or by pressing on the sides with both hands will cause repetitive stress injuries around the elbows, and it may take several years before you start feeling the pain. I had some stomach troubles a while back and I was retaining water, and for a while I just couldn't bend over anymore, so I started squatting down to get the cases, and oh my gosh, my back feels so much better now.

Some drivers are so gung ho union, that they refuse to jump the truck from the reefer, because that's the mechanic's work, plus they get paid per minute while they wait for the mechanic. One of the drivers had an uncle who was severely burned when the battery blew up while attempting a jump start, so that's why he doesn't do it. I e-mail it in, charge delay time while I'm jumping it. I want to get done and go home. I came across one reefer that I couldn't see the battery's polarity markings, so I called the shop and they tried to tell me which one is which, and I said to hell with it, I'll just hook up the cables and see which end sparks when I touch them to the frame.
 
Hi Ted,

IDK if you read my thread about average pay, thats what we are on now till dip kicks in, if it ever does, Sysco AR has been on average for over a year I think, we have been on it for 8 weeks, I had a bad holliday run, so my average is low, they are working the crap out of me, they are finding stuff for us to do, the only exceptions are the non-union suck asses that won't join because we are a right to work state, there are a few of them that never have to do anything extra.

This is going to become an issue with us pretty quick, well, it already has, I am the middle of the board, when we were on ABC I worked 3 days a week because my Wed route always cancels, now that we are on this pissy salary I work 5 days, funny how that happens.

I met a US Foods driver today and they have the cameras now, he said they are busting guys right and left.
 
Finsished my drive test and pat today... Start the 23rd. Here we go!!

Oh!! No cameras at my shop yet! And haven't heard about the ABC pay yet either..

Tester did tell me, when I asked, about the hard-brake-applications. Ha - not used to an automatic, he told me I have probably had 4 since I started my drive. Holy crap. Gonna miss my clutch for quite a while!
 
BUt he also said they haven't gotten their program for the hard brakes set up right yet, and they aren't paying much attention to them yet...
 
If you all have the 2012 cascadia autos, your gonna get spoiled! You probably won't get one of those being at the bottom, if you get an auto it might be one of the 8600's that you have to feather the fuel and brakes to back up or your gonna beat the hell out of the dock, you could get a cool straight 10, who knows, I just want to say congrats and welcome aboard, oh, and respond to my friend request, after all we are family now!
 
Friend request taken care of, thanks Gt.

I did beat the hell out of the dock yesterday on my drive. I pulled a 48 with the axles slid a ways up for my test, that paired with no clutch and I hit harder than I wanted to. Throttle control in an auto is something else! Funny, never thought about two footing it. Not in my nature, ya know?

Won't get my own rig at all, so have to get used to hot seatin it and getting to understand each rig. Not my favorite prospect.

Few sore muscles this morning from the PAT... yep, gonna be working a lot harder than I'm used to hauling wood. It'll be good for me, I'll sleep hard!

Thanks for the welcome! Funny to get in there and see how much a girl showing up causes a stir of whispers and looks. Been a long time since I started over in that sense, time to show them I can do it!
 
:) tomorrow is my last day haulin' wood. Monday I start watching videos at Sysco, they said by Wednesday I'll be in a truck.

Nervous. This is a huge change to my world. Gonna be a million new things... product recognition and all. Ahh! Looking forward to it, but not looking forward to being the only girl AND the new guy again. (used to being the only girl, but haven't been the new guy in a lot of years!)

Ready to jump in, hopefully feet first!

For tomorrow I'm gonna enjoy every gear I grab, every load I can pull, and hope to drop my tag axle one-more-time...
 
wiggletrain said:
:) tomorrow is my last day haulin' wood. Monday I start watching videos at Sysco, they said by Wednesday I'll be in a truck.

Nervous. This is a huge change to my world. Gonna be a million new things... product recognition and all. Ahh! Looking forward to it, but not looking forward to being the only girl AND the new guy again. (used to being the only girl, but haven't been the new guy in a lot of years!)

Ready to jump in, hopefully feet first!

For tomorrow I'm gonna enjoy every gear I grab, every load I can pull, and hope to drop my tag axle one-more-time...
Click to expand...

I have no doubt in my mind that you will do great! You seem to be an outstanding person with a wonderful attitude!! Thats what you need in groceries to succeed in my opinion, you got what it takes, don't forget that, when you get frustrated, just take a step back and tell yourself, "in 2 or 3 months, it will all be different", by then you will be getting faster!

Enjoy your day tomorrow, get on in the PM and tell us how your last day went!

You have alot of support here, remember that!

GT
 
Wiggletrain,
First off, congrats and BOL.
And now a few things to keep in mind:
1)Speed comes with experience and time. Never worry how fast other drivers do their routes. You will get faster as time goes on, just be safe.
2)It will take time to learn the products and you will never learn them all.
3)YOU WILL HATE DRIVING AN AUTO AT FIRST They take time to get use to. After driving in the city all day and running up and down the ramp, you will be glad you have on, lol
 
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