Overdrive Magazine | Trucking Business News & Owner Operator Info
Issue link: https://read.dmtmag.com/i/114712
Voices More than smiling for that in-cab video monitor An FMCSA test involved video monitoring of drivers in the cab. Readers responded in outsized fashion following a news item about video monitoring of drivers. The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration continued its waiver of some regulations in order that a test of a road- and drivermonitoring device could continue at a few fleets. The device, made by Transecurity, needs a clear sightline of the road and – the kicker – the driver's' face so it can read signs of "impaired driving." Overdrive's Facebook page asked readers: Would you drive if your carrier had a camera pointed at your face or the road? Cathy Guignet responded that a dash cam would be handy in the case of an accident: "I would have proof that it wasn't my fault. But I don't want it pointed at me." "I would have to hang it up if someone is going to watch me all day," wrote Daniel Snyder. "Whatever happened to being your own boss on the wide-open road?" Les Rush referenced a carrier that had cameras in its trucks and had "a hard time keeping drivers." He added, "There are too many cameras in the world. Soon, the only jobs left will be to watch the cameras." Ann Burt was an early adapter to in-cab video. She's known for her and owner-operator Randy Moyano's own dash cam that caught a tornado during April 2011. "We even broadcast to the public! Everyone can see what we do, and there is even a chat so you can ask questions." Daycab operator Jeremy Hollander's company has had "cameras in our trucks for almost a year... I don't mind it. If you aren't doing anything wrong, what do you have to worry about?" And there were a few quips like these: "They would have to have a bleep button – I'd play the rudest music I could find," wrote Tim Dent. And Jim Copeland: "I'd drive naked!" Tell us your craziest road stories A thread on Reddit.com asking for trucker stories yielded no shortage of odd on-highway accidents. There's the owner-operator who pulled an alternate route over the Rockies – only to find the high altitude had a surprising effect on the canisters of whipped cream he was hauling. Not to mention tales of tornadoes, tarantulas and, well, a horror story from "Digyo," awoken by a barking dog that turned out to be something else. Find out what in the Feb. 12 post to the Channel 19 blog, and share your own story there. We'll run the best tales under "Voices" at OverdriveOnline.com. Or e-mail them to Todd Dills: tdills@randallreilly.com. Visit Senior Editor Todd Dills' Channel 19 blog at OverdriveOnline.com/channel19. Write him at tdills@randallreilly.com. 10 | Overdrive | March 2013 Voices_0313.indd 10 2/28/13 2:07 PM