The problem started with electronic logs that are accurate to the....second.
If you guys remember correctly,.....when paper logs were used, the smallest time increment was 7.5 minutes.....half of a 15 minute loggable line in the book.
There was no question if you stopped for ......less than 15 minutes, as long as you made it official and drew a straight line down from the log.
In my Opinion,....this is a Maintenance of Standards issue,....and a Past Practice issue.......
The company never asked to negotiate log notations when they switched to electronic logs.....They just....did it.
Prior to electronic logs,....you stopped for a bathroom/safety break,.....hopped out, fixed whatever needed fixing,...drained whatever needed draining,.....and went on your ( comfortable..) merry way. The company NEVER disciplined you for that,....never asked, as long as it was LESS than a loggable increment.
Now,....they can micro-manage (harass...) you to the second. And,....as I was told by a company official at a grievance hearing: "There is no quantifiable level for theft. Theft is Theft..."
The Union let electronic logs kind of "float" past them,.....probably...naively.. not thinking that companies would be so petty as to ....document and harass,....their employees for literally a minute or two.
We know better now, don't we?
Anyone that gets a warning letter for this should re-but it by saying this issue is "past practice",...because they DID NOT have the ability to micro-manage your time PRIOR to the institution of electronic logs,......and NO ONE from the company OR the IBT has negotiated any sort of changes to disciplinary rules BASED on electronic logging.
Frankly,.......I'd like to see Office People Facing Cameras..........We can watch the coffee-swilling, magazine-reading, nose-picking, feet-propping, paperclip-stealing, unauthorized website-viewing in real time......
Maybe even capture a few deliberate discriminatory acts against drivers,...........even though Official Company Policy says these Things Do Not Happen.........
We can compare these videos to the Driver-Facing ones,......and have a Competition as to who actually steals more company time.
Don't include any CEO-Facing camera videos,......They'd win every time.....Hands down..........Wouldn't be Fair.........