Surveillance Video in Commercial Trucks

With the changing times and the beginning of the surveillance age, Commercial Trucking has a new twist. It is the practice of installing video cameras and audio recorders in company trucks.

The questions that arise:

1) Are cameras permissible by law, or are they infringing on the legal rights of individual drivers?

2) Do they make driving safer in any way, or do they cause drivers to ultimately be less safe than they would be without them?

3) What can drivers do that are in this predicament?

This is what I have on the subject at present. There are links that I intend to post for further research. I just feel as a career and employment blog writer, that I must write something on this subject.

---What Can I Do if I am a Commercial Driver and Face this Situation?

Whereas Truck Drivers have rights as well, so letters of opposition can and should be submitted to your representatives and senators, who are required by law to read every single written conveyance and send a reply.
In the meantime, it is appropriate to write or preferably type out and sign a self written form that states ” I do not consent to being videotaped or audibly recorded inside my truck.” and sign it and turn it in to your truck company. What they will see is that many of their drivers are opposed to this practice. Further yet, Driver safety CAN be compromised by this practice. It will surely make otherwise safe drivers perform differently, knowing they are being taped. There is no situation that is made safer in any way by there being camera’s inside the commercial truck. If this was a spaceship and we were astronauts, I might say it would be different, but in that case as well, you would have to give your consent to be videotaped. I propose that your rights are violated and the law broken by you being videotaped without your consent. Just be careful what you sign if you are opposed to this practice.

TRUST IS BROKEN, TRUST IS BROKEN, TRUST IS BROKEN

On a personal level, I cannot imagine what sort of individual would WANT to sit around and watch me pick my nose inside my truck all day long.

This video-taping/recording INSIDE the cab is an insult to every career driver and it automatically puts him on the same level as a criminal, whose actions have to be watched. the "bars" that hold him are his need to work and produce a living for his family. The employer is essentially his "warden". The motivation to be professional and expert as a Commercial Driver goes by the wayside. The American dream to be successful and independent is stifled. No longer am I trusted to perform my duties with a spirit of pride and achievement.

Points to ponder:

1) If I am being watched, will I drive more safely? Or will I hesitate from using my years of experience and skill; knowing that this Drive Smart technology and the human watching the video will not see it the same way, but will grade my actions with a different set of eyes.

2) Can I be myself? Or will I be pointed if I glance out the window and they perceive it was unnecessary, and contribute it to "distracted driving". Or If I stop more quickly than they think is safe, or cross the traffic lines in a normal avoidance of debris, or whatever, and they contribute it to reckless or unsafe driving.

3) Are my rights as a driver being violated by the imposing threat of filming and recording and in general being exploited in the name of big business and government control?

The Human Factor of Driving is being threatened, and each time a smart-drive advisory is sent to dispatch and to safety, it will be used as a violation tool and stacked up in an electronic file with negative impact on the driver and his driving record with that company. Government agencies will eventually want access to all of this "data". and to kick the garbage can a little more, you will have to pass an in-cab sobriety and alertness test each time you enter the cab, How much time will that detract from your day, your job and your income? What about fines associated with violations that the company will charge you? Where is this going for the truck driver?

I am waiting for a government contact to respond on the federal and state side of this question and will post as soon as it arrives.