Driver Told He Is Stealing If Drives 54 MPH in A 55 MPH Zone

A

anonymous6

Guest
If you buy the premise of this thread as an accurate presentation of what actually happened and why.
My wife likes to argue and talk about these hypothetical type of arguments.
I almost never engage.


this is not a hypothetical. I expect an apology or we're done.
 
A

anonymous6

Guest
1. 4 drivers fired for stealing time were for other reasons. such as sleeping at a TA or sleeping while IVIS showing on road. stuff like that. should of been more specific.

2. years ago I took a driving safety course from a retired CHP officer. he told us that they gave out many tickets for speeding for conditions such as fog, snow, blackice, etc etc. you could be going 30 in a 55 and still be cited due to conditions.


maybe someone from sacramento feeders can back me up on this. several years ago a feeder hit a stopped 4 wheeler in the slow lane during heavy fog and killed the driver. the first thing they looked at was his speed. I was told if he had been going too fast for conditions or speeding , he was all done. apparently he was OK but I heard he was off work for mental stress and hasn't been the same since.

the DOT states that the driver is ultimately responsible for the SAFE operation of a commercial vehicle. if that means going 10 mph in storm conditions, then that's it. no argument. the co. can go pound sand. we are regulated by DOT. they supersede everything that the company says. when you screw up the first thing they do is look at the computer record and go thru it with a fine toothed comb to hang you.
 

upsgrunt

Well-Known Member
On the same lines as stealing time, maybe someone can explain this to me. If 20 minutes is .33, 40 minutes is .66, and 60 minutes is .99, how is that you work a full hour and get paid .99? What happens to the .01 of an hour times however many employees per hour, per day?
 

pretender

Well-Known Member
You gotta be doing something pretty egregious to get fired for stealing time and have it stick. I'm guessing these guys were doing a little more than just driving 1 mph under the posted speed limit.

There is usually more to the story...
 

104Feeder

Phoenix Feeder
Point taken; however, if this guy is driving the same speed for an extended period of time it doesn't sound like there was much acceleration, handling or stopping going on. Just sayin'.

Plenty of times on I-10 we will get stuck behind "Mexican Mayflowers", usually Toyota pickup trucks piled 13 feet high with all sorts of junk strapped together, towing another Toyota pickup piled high with similar crap. These drivers do 54 at best all the way from California to Mexico or somewhere, driver staring straight ahead, flashers on, not passing, not caring. Usually they travel in groups of 3. You get stuck behind one of those on (mostly) 2 lane I-10 and you aren't going to be able to pass for more than 45-50 minutes unless you want to risk trying to cut into the line of cars to your left doing 75-85 mph. We can't accelerate from 55-68 to pass all that quickly so you need a good 2 or 3 tractor trailer lengths to pull out safely unless one of our brothers lets us in (and even then you better watch out for the Prius that is trying to cut through).

It's a whole different world driving a tractor trailer vs. your package car or personal car. So much more going on.
 

Catatonic

Nine Lives
driver told he is "stealing from company" if he continues to drive 54 in a 55 zone in a feeder truck.

we have had four drivers fired for stealing time. 2 got their jobs back but 2 did not.

but if you use one of those brown UPS pens off duty you are "stealing" too. if you pick up a screw off the company grounds you are stealing. if you talk to a buddy about the NBA finals on company time. supervisors watch you-tube videos on company time. there are hundreds of examples.

the hypocrisy makes me sick.
this is not a hypothetical. I expect an apology or we're done.

1. 4 drivers fired for stealing time were for other reasons. such as sleeping at a TA or sleeping while IVIS showing on road. stuff like that. should of been more specific.

2. years ago I took a driving safety course from a retired CHP officer. he told us that they gave out many tickets for speeding for conditions such as fog, snow, blackice, etc etc. you could be going 30 in a 55 and still be cited due to conditions.


maybe someone from sacramento feeders can back me up on this. several years ago a feeder hit a stopped 4 wheeler in the slow lane during heavy fog and killed the driver. the first thing they looked at was his speed. I was told if he had been going too fast for conditions or speeding , he was all done. apparently he was OK but I heard he was off work for mental stress and hasn't been the same since.

the DOT states that the driver is ultimately responsible for the SAFE operation of a commercial vehicle. if that means going 10 mph in storm conditions, then that's it. no argument. the co. can go pound sand. we are regulated by DOT. they supersede everything that the company says. when you screw up the first thing they do is look at the computer record and go thru it with a fine toothed comb to hang you.

I apologize for not knowing you were talking about "1. 4 drivers fired for stealing time were for other reasons. such as sleeping at a TA or sleeping while IVIS showing on road. stuff like that." when you posted "we have had four drivers fired for stealing time. 2 got their jobs back but 2 did not." in a thread titled "Driver Told He Is Stealing If Drives 54 MPH in A 55 MPH Zone".

I'll take my aluminum foil hat in to get adjustments so I can be more attuned to what you meant rather than what you posted.
:wink2:


Please refer to this state as Double Standards.
 

Dracula

Package Car is cake compared to this...
1. 4 drivers fired for stealing time were for other reasons. such as sleeping at a TA or sleeping while IVIS showing on road. stuff like that. should of been more specific.

2. years ago I took a driving safety course from a retired CHP officer. he told us that they gave out many tickets for speeding for conditions such as fog, snow, blackice, etc etc. you could be going 30 in a 55 and still be cited due to conditions.


maybe someone from sacramento feeders can back me up on this. several years ago a feeder hit a stopped 4 wheeler in the slow lane during heavy fog and killed the driver. the first thing they looked at was his speed. I was told if he had been going too fast for conditions or speeding , he was all done. apparently he was OK but I heard he was off work for mental stress and hasn't been the same since.

the DOT states that the driver is ultimately responsible for the SAFE operation of a commercial vehicle. if that means going 10 mph in storm conditions, then that's it. no argument. the co. can go pound sand. we are regulated by DOT. they supersede everything that the company says. when you screw up the first thing they do is look at the computer record and go thru it with a fine toothed comb to hang you.

Yeah, I can't imagine anyone get fired for driving reasonably under the speed limit. As we all know, they will say ANYTHING to make their numbers look better. Unfortunately, many of our drivers buckle under the false pressure.

You younger drivers, just remember, try standing up for yourselves. It is amazing how quick some of these sups will back down when you stand up to them, especially when you have the facts on your side. Always bring up safety in any conversation with a sup when they start pushing production issues. I always ask if they are instructing me to work unsafe. That usually puts them in neutral.

A while back, my sups were saying that I was taking too long to pre-trip my tractor. SO he said he was going to watch me do it. But before I even got there, he went out and pre-tripped my tractor, AND signed off my DVIR. Since that is the first thing I check, I told him that me, being the driver, was the ONLY one who was supposed to sign off the DVIR. "No," he said, "that doesn't matter." Yes, I told him, being a federal law, it does matter. We argued for a few minutes, before he realized my pre-trip was going to be much longer than any of my other days. He dropped it and left me alone. I've also gone round and round with these guys about having my loads secured with straps or a load bar. No, it's not necessary, they would say. Ok, I would tell them, lets call the DOT, because my Federal handbook does say it's necessary. It's a law. They left me alone and got those loads secured.

What matters is the law. By law, I mean DOT law, and UPS law. If they train you to do something, then do it. Follow the methods. Yeah, when the pressure comes down from above about on-property times, and finish work times and turn around times, safety--in their eyes--goes out the door. That doesn't matter. If you screw up, you can be sure any and all laws will be the first thing they look at.

Put it to you this way: I've never heard of a driver getting fired for going under the speed limit, but I've seen plenty of guys get fired for going over the speed limit. I guess it's your choice.
 

1BROWNWRENCH

Amatuer Malthusian
Plenty of times on I-10 we will get stuck behind "Mexican Mayflowers", usually Toyota pickup trucks piled 13 feet high with all sorts of junk strapped together, towing another Toyota pickup piled high with similar crap. These drivers do 54 at best all the way from California to Mexico or somewhere, driver staring straight ahead, flashers on, not passing, not caring. Usually they travel in groups of 3. You get stuck behind one of those on (mostly) 2 lane I-10 and you aren't going to be able to pass for more than 45-50 minutes unless you want to risk trying to cut into the line of cars to your left doing 75-85 mph. We can't accelerate from 55-68 to pass all that quickly so you need a good 2 or 3 tractor trailer lengths to pull out safely unless one of our brothers lets us in (and even then you better watch out for the Prius that is trying to cut through).

It's a whole different world driving a tractor trailer vs. your package car or personal car. So much more going on.

Germany has this same feature on some autobahns, except they are being driven by Turks on the way home.
 

bluehdmc

Well-Known Member
...yet the speedometer may be inaccurate.....?

The old IVIS would show your speed and RPM on the screen, often it was 1 or 2 mph different than the speedo in the truck.
Often when I hit the cruise at 65 it might settle on 64 or 66, I don't try to adjust it. I think if they called me in the office over something like that I'd just laugh.
 

'Lord Brown's bidding'

Well-Known Member
I am not sure in other states, but the law in Pa is on highways (and that isn't just limited access highways) you are to be travelling ay a speed consistent with the flow of traffic, which generally will not be the speed limit. Travelling just five miles-an-hour slower than everyone else is presenting a serious danger to the travelling public around you. In addition, 83% of people generally travel at least 5 mph faster than the limit. For those who spend a large portion of their time on the roads, this is self-evident.

For that reason, cops generally don't pull someone over just for "going over the speed limit"; he'd have to ignore the other 40 vehicles traveling at the same or greater speeds. If a cop does pull someone over for "doing 45 in a 35"-especially when said vehicle was in a large flow of vehicles and was traveling with with them, his motive is rightfully questioned, and if the person would simply challenge it in court, they would get it overturned, but who wants to do that, especially with an out-of-state ticket (which they generally are counting on when they present bogus tickets like that.)

Please keep in mind, the speed limit on the highway has nothing to do with safety; that speed is a relic from efforts to curb fuel xonsumption during the oil crisis from the 70's-a mission, it should be noted, that it failed miserably at, just as it fails miserably at preventing accidents and fatalities today; the only thing it succeeds at is generating revenue for the township/county.
 

stink219

Well-Known Member
On the same lines as stealing time, maybe someone can explain this to me. If 20 minutes is .33, 40 minutes is .66, and 60 minutes is .99, how is that you work a full hour and get paid .99? What happens to the .01 of an hour times however many employees per hour, per day?
60 minutes is not .99. Your basing it on the 20 minute rule. Look at the top chart. It will break down the minutes. http://www.branch38nalc.com/sitebuildercontent/sitebuilderfiles/MINUTE_DECIMAL_CONVERSION_TABLE.pdf
 

'Lord Brown's bidding'

Well-Known Member
In regards to the 5 keys, which many seem to think contradict urging a driver to go faster than speed limit, note that neither the 5 keys/10 pt commentary nor original Smith's Driving System says anything about speed. If everyone is going 80 mph you will find it quite simple to maintain a 6-8 sec cushion, provided you are close to 80. Actually experienced something like this outside Toronto once; scared my pop, who while he drives fast, wasn't used to driving that fast.

Having said all this, of course I can't speak directly to the driver-in-question's motive, however I can look at the evidence. Without going all into detail, would I be far off in saying this driver, while at times encounters traffic conditions that require a reduction in speed, the route he generally takes has a traffic flow that is greater than 5mph faster than his limit? Has he been repeatedly urged to increase his speed (and again, if the flow of traffic is 65, you may need to increase your following distance, but not decrease your speed to a point dangerous to the other vehicles traveling with the flow)? Was he actually discharged for driving too slow, or "failure to follow directions"?
 
In regards to the 5 keys, which many seem to think contradict urging a driver to go faster than speed limit, note that neither the 5 keys/10 pt commentary nor original Smith's Driving System says anything about speed. If everyone is going 80 mph you will find it quite simple to maintain a 6-8 sec cushion, provided you are close to 80. Actually experienced something like this outside Toronto once; scared my pop, who while he drives fast, wasn't used to driving that fast.

Having said all this, of course I can't speak directly to the driver-in-question's motive, however I can look at the evidence. Without going all into detail, would I be far off in saying this driver, while at times encounters traffic conditions that require a reduction in speed, the route he generally takes has a traffic flow that is greater than 5mph faster than his limit? Has he been repeatedly urged to increase his speed (and again, if the flow of traffic is 65, you may need to increase your following distance, but not decrease your speed to a point dangerous to the other vehicles traveling with the flow)? Was he actually discharged for driving too slow, or "failure to follow directions"?

We're talking UPS vehicles not personal cars. The speed limt for a comercial vehicle is the MAX limit. Let the lemmings go they're own speed, we'll sit tight in the apropriate lane driving the correct speed for conditions.
 
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