Cameras

How do guys feel about cameras being pointed towards the driver?

How do guys feel about cameras being pointed towards the driver?

"Third Rail" question!

About 4 months ago we had a huge debate here about driver cams. The thread started getting uh..., impolite.

Some people couldn't stand the idea, but I think most will live with the cameras. Do a search (search box is above) on driver cams.

What have you heard so far?

It makes most people uncomfortable but in today's world we all have cameras on us all the time. We're just not normally looking straight at them so we ignore them. But we're constantly on camera. So for me personally it doesn't really matter. Heck, we're all carrying cell phones with a camera, microphone, and GPS chip in our pockets anyhow. It's not like the Government isn't keeping tabs on us already. So what's one more camera, right? You'll be on 1,023 of them everyday instead of 1,022.

Yes, camera's are everywhere but there is a big difference from cameras catching a snippit of you from time to time vs cameras that are focused on the driver however many hours a day for all the weeks you are in their truck. OK,it is what it is, but whats up with the audio too? I never read the debates anywhere about the camera's b/c i just assumed it was video only. Audio? For real? Whoa! And I don't care why!

I'm a Company OTR driver, driving 560+ miles on a regular. That means I can only have private (from company)conversations with my family, doctor, lawyer, whomever outside of the truck or supposedly while the truck of off in the place I sleep for weeks at a time,wth?

Safety gets to look,listen blah,blah blah but, what stops them from telling everyone your business? When I decided to become a driver, I was like,"Wow, great for me"! ref the "shortage". Now, I just lol when I see all these articles about the trucking storage of "good" driver's when what they really mean is they want "good guinea pigs", or good reasons to push the autonomous truck agenda, or possibly increase subsidies from the gov't to "train" drivers. I'm so over it!

Now, I just lol when I see all these articles about the trucking storage of "good" driver's when what they really mean is they want "good guinea pigs", or good reasons to push the autonomous truck agenda, or possibly increase subsidies from the gov't to "train" drivers. I'm so over it!

Wow. You've really jumped head first into the deep end of the cynicism and conspiracy pool in short order my friend! You need a trip to Uganda or Costa Rica to see how the rest of the world lives if you think we have it so bad.

Geesh!

Not too up on it all, but as was mentioned somewhere in the first posting on this topic. Surely there will be ways around parts of it. Like sound? hmmm covered/plugged mic hole=no sound....Besides, not like they will have a bank of camera "watchers" scanning on every truck in their fleets! lol They'd need a huge office like a call center just to "watch" ALL the drivers. Ya really think they're gunna spend the money that entails?? Wages n bene's for the camera techs?? pffffft

ColeTrucker is worried about privacy:

I'm a Company OTR driver, driving 560+ miles on a regular. That means I can only have private (from company)conversations with my family, doctor, lawyer, whomever outside of the truck or supposedly while the truck of off in the place I sleep for weeks at a time,wth?

I only know about the ones at Swift. These cameras only hold onto the last ten seconds at any given moment. Then the scene is written over by the next ten seconds. Nothing is kept or peeped at unless it's within ten seconds of an "event".

So if you're on the phone while driving and a 4 wheeler pulls in front of you, you can try explaining that phone conversation. Otherwise it's gone into the bit bucket. If you're stopped, not driving and on the phone with your psychiatrist, chances are lighting will hit you before any of it gets recorded.

The company I work for has you choose between a red pill or a blue pill. Pick the right one and you're hired. Then on to the doctor for the obligatory GPS chip implant, immunization and reNeducation. My advice? Let the hooks do their work.

Wow. You've really jumped head first into the deep end of the cynicism and conspiracy pool in short order my friend! You need a trip to Uganda or Costa Rica to see how the rest of the world lives if you think we have it so bad.

Geesh!

Sometimes I have to laugh at myself too! Maybe I should be a storyteller?

Anyhoo, I am first generation American with parents from Panama and my husband is Jamaican. To me, you are comparing apples to oranges because American truckers started out they way things are there now.

As I mentioned, I've never looked into how things worked with the cameras (thank you Errol for giving an example). The time before and after an "event" recording makes sense to me. I'm sure the definition of "event" will trigger another story from me but, I wont go there just now,lol. The camera thing don't bother me. Its the audio that have me looking sideways.

reNeducation. My advice? Let the hooks do their work.

Awesome reference!!!!