Comments By Farmerbob1

Friends, this is Brett's sand box and he can determine who gets to play in it, and whose comments get deleted. Sometimes he may "feel" you guys are invading his privacy.

You have absolutely no say in this matter.

Nobody but me has any say in what I believe. Anyone that is willing to have an intelligent conversation with me can feel free to try to change my mind, but you won't do that with insults.

If you feel differently, great. I respect your opinion, even if you don't respect mine.

It's not that. The problem is that everything you said is either unfounded rumors or has already been debunked a hundred times, like the 'invasion of privacy' thing. I can understand if people don't want cameras or aren't comfortable with them. But all of your statements have "that's only vague scuttlebutt", "I've heard they may", or "It is my understanding".

Are you familiar with the name of our website? Been around 10 years now. It's not TruckingRumors, TruckingBaloney, TruckingAssumptions .......stick with sharing the facts you know.

If you do not agree to read this entire post before responding, don't bother reading it.

First, anything that violates personal privacy is an invasion of privacy. By definition. Period.

Second, your rights to personal privacy are limited, in many cases, by the rights of others to monitor their property or person, whether by waiver or law.

Third, even if others are legally allowed to violate your privacy, it doesn't change the fact that violating your privacy is STILL an invasion of privacy.

Fourth, when you acquire a CDL, you legally give up a great deal of privacy rights via implied consent. Even if the truck is your home, proper authorities of the government have a right to search it at any time, without a warrant. If you drive a company truck, the company will certainly require you to sign waivers limiting your privacy so they can monitor their equipment.

Fifth, again, the fact that you have given up the right to privacy does not mean that your privacy is not being violated when the government searches your truck, or your company mounts a driver-facing camera.

Do not confuse invasion of privacy with waived privacy rights. I get to chose what I consider to be an invasion of my privacy. Nobody else does. Period. The government, my employer, banks, ATMs, the internet, etc., can force me to waive some aspects of my privacy rights in order for me to go places, be employed, use services, or whatever. This is legal fact. Period.

However, even when I waive my privacy rights, it does not change the fact that my privacy can be and is violated. If, in my personal opinion, I am being required by my company to waive too much of my personal privacy, then I can act to address my loss of privacy. You have absolutely no say in this matter.

At this point in time, driver-facing cameras have insufficient benefits (for drivers) for me to consider them worth the invasion of privacy that they represent for me. This may change in time as camera technology improves, but it is my opinion, at this time. You have absolutely no say in this matter.

As for your concerns about the name of the website, I would like to draw your attention to the title of the thread. "How do you feel about driver facing cameras." What I have said about how I feel about driver facing cameras is both a fact and the truth. You have absolutely no say in tis matter.

Sounds like lawyer time to me, for a possible libel case. Your lawyer asks for discovery in preparation for the case. If Swift somehow provides proof you were wearing headphones and acting unsafe in the truck, and you cannot prove your last delivery date is after their fire date, then you're likely screwed. If they cannot provide proof of that safety violation, or you can provide proof of driving for them after they say you were fired, then I'd think a small claims court could force them to correct the record to at least improve your chances of rehire by another company. If you can address BOTH issues and have them removed, then you should not have any issues getting a rehire.

In my personal opinion, in no case should you personally try to force the issue again. It's time to let the guys and gals in suits win this one with smiles, words, and implied threats of a libel case.

Wow, Farmerbob. That might be a new record for the most rumor, heresy, and false science I've read in such a short comment. You didn't waste a word. I'm not even going to bother to quote any of it or respond to any of it other than to say it mostly belongs in the trash bin. None of it was fact, none of it can be counted on, none of it was factual, and the one thing you did state as being a fact is clearly your opinion, and it's already been debunked a hundred times.

But this thread was almost doomed to the trash bin the moment I read the subject line. I knew we'd get all kinds of baloney.

If driver-facing cameras actually start implement eye-tracking, and active safety features, rather than simply being a way for companies to bash drivers, I might reconsider their utility. That doesn't stop them from being an invasion of privacy, but they could become an invasion of privacy that is worth accepting. Maybe. Right now, they are not, IMHO.

If you feel differently, great. I respect your opinion, even if you don't respect mine.

Hey all I have started training for my company I have had around 6 or 7 students all caught on and have upgraded to first seat drivers. A week ago I got a student that just doesn't seem to catch anything. I have tried to show him things like backing. He can do a straight back just fine however when I have him try to setup for a 45 or a 90 he has no concept of what the trailer is doing or which way to turn the wheel over a week practice for 7 hours one day and then a minimum of at least an hour a day and still just as bad as day 1. I hate to say it but I have no idea how to handle this student any thoughts anyone

Honestly, I'd send him back to the yard and tell the training team he needs backing training. There's only so much you can do. If you don't hve that option, or if you like them and hate to give up, it won't hurt to keep trying different things.

Remember, you have been a good enough instructor that 6 or 7 other students learned.

Some people just can't get it. As an example, I had a fellow trainee in Basic Training who was so spectacularly unaware of his own feet that he couldn't stay in step with the rest of the platoon during marching drills in formation.

Your current student might have a similar issue. They might simply not be able to properly connect their physical actions to the world around them in an orderly fashion. Sure, they can probably explain it, what they should be doing, if they think about it, but when it comes time to DO it, all the understanding in the world fails them.

If he ends up truly being hopeless, and never gets it, think of it as something like dyslexia, except interfering with coordination, not reading.

Driver-facing cameras are definitely invasions of privacy, however, they seem to becoming more popular. It is my understanding that Stevens Transport has stopped installing driver-facing cameras because they were losing a lot more experienced drivers than normal. I've heard they may begin installing traffic-facing cameras soon, but that's only vague scuttlebutt.

Traffic facing cameras can benefit the driver and the company, driver-facing cameras, in most cases, can only hurt the driver and benefit the company - possibly at the expense of the driver.

If I have a driver-facing camera installed by Stevens, I have tape, and I will use it. Probably won't happen though, since my plan is to leave Stevens in the next couple months, and the camera install program as been stopped, at least temporarily.

I feel let down more people haven't chimed in on this... I was hoping to find new things to do and also wanted to hear about some of those redneck engineering things with duct tape that make you cringe.

Oh, you want redneck engineering?

I have used an entire roll of duct tape to hold the cowling together on a reefer unit.

I have used rope to tie up the exhaust pipe of an APU so it wouldn't drag the road.

I have used Romex wire to build replacement trailer door retention chains.

I have used a load lock bar and some rope to bend a trailer mud flap holder back into shape, so it would be legal after a new mud flap was put on.

Regional or local driving work is possible for a new driver, but uncommon. Most training companies want 6 months OTR, post-training experience before they take you off OTR driving. Most non-training companies want six months or even a year experience driving before they even hire you.

There are exceptions, but if you do decide to take the plunge, go in with your eyes open. Expect up to two or even three months straight away from home before your first home time (initial training.) After that, expect one weekend per month for six months to a year.

Once you get a year into the business, the opportunities really start to open up. If you learn quickly, work hard, and get recognized by your DM as a go-getter, you could be offered regional or local work faster with the training company. I was offered a position on the Perdue account at Stevens at six months. I turned it down because I like OTR. I, however, do not have a wife and child.

I used bungee cords and a CB radio mount to make an internal mounting place for my satellite radio antenna, so I didn't have to run the wire out of my cab.

I also mounted deer whistlers on the truck. They apparently bother cows at least a bit, as I have noticed that calves tend to move away from fences at a trot when I drive by, near them. That's something I rarely saw before unless I could also see farmers putting out food. Now I see it al the time. Older cows and bulls rarely react to it visibly, but I imagine they have heard whistlers, a lot.

Reading your original post made my head spin. I hope timekeeping when you're in a truck is easier than when you're just reading about it.

If you learn the 8/11/14/70 hour clocks and live with them a while, it gets easier. Until recently I didn't understand the 8-2 split completely. Now I do, and I'll be using it more often.

The first post example was a more annoying than usual week. Just like every job, all weeks are not equal.