ezydriver:
There’s been a bloke at our yard for a few weeks, every day, fitting something to our units. I struck up a conversation, and he’s retro fitting the direct vision gear so we can go into London. But he was also upgrading the inward facing cameras. I asked him why he was doing that, and he told me they’re no longer using SD cards, but linking them live to the office. I’ve not confirmed this with my manager, but another driver has. There’s been no word of this, we’ve not been told, God only knows what or where the official policy is.
That’s a definite line crossed for me. I just about tolerated the ‘incident cameras’ because the manager had to go to the trouble of taking the SD card out and downloading it, and would only do that if the Microlise threw up a harsh braking incident (one bloke got sacked for eating a yoghurt this way!). So in a way though we were being recorded, they turned out not to be too threatening or uncomfortable.
But now I spend 12-15 hours per night feeling very uncomfortable, as if at any moment somebody could be watching me. It’s really tapped into something deep in me that I can’t shake off. They got us semi comfortable with ‘incident cameras’, and are now introducing live cameras. I have no idea who can watch.
When I started driving artics in 2004 I had a waxy tachograph chart and a mobile phone surveying me, and that was it. Since then I’ve seen GPS trackers, remote digi tachos, live inward and outward facing cameras, extensive telematics, random drink and drug tests… I’m sure a Cat A prisoner on suicide watch in a supermax prison enjoys less surveillance.
What gets me, is that if say in 1975 all the UK’s drivers went into work Monday and their lorries had inexplicably been fitted with the surveillance tech we have today, whereas the week before all they had were paper log books, that leap would have led to pandemonium, and a lorry drivers’ strike called immediately, all for good reason. But I think of the boiling frog analogy, in that if you turn the heat up gradually, the frog in the water will gladly sit there and boil alive, seemingly oblivious to the heat.
It really is that bad.
Gonna start looking for a new job me thinks. Probably look for a shunting job somewhere, as at least I’ll have a definite finishing time and less surveillance. Either that or use my savings for a narrowboat and escape this mad society.
Just a rant. I know a couple of you will understand.
Excellent post. I drove with an inward facing camera in 2019 and was told the insurance companies required it. I was told it only switched on for excessive braking, but why it would need to view the driver for that was never explained. I do know that the office staff could also view anytime they wanted, but was told that they wouldn’t do so needlessly. Your comment of: ‘Since then I’ve seen GPS trackers, remote digi tachos, live inward and outward facing cameras, extensive telematics, random drink and drug tests… I’m sure a Cat A prisoner on suicide watch in a supermax prison enjoys less surveillance’, was spot on.
