I think big companies and associations who are in favor of EOBRs think this will cull the competition due to the prohibitive costs; and force drivers to submit to greater control due to a lack of options. They're probably banking on a global supply of drivers that they can import if necessary; something they've been experimenting with for a few years now. That's why some of the drivers who pull up to a warehouse can't understand the English language or be understood when they try to speak it. But those who are pulling for EOBRs are probably considering EOBRs their "one, two" punch.
What they don't realize is just how negatively this will affect their recruiting and retention efforts. I believe the opposite effect will be achieved. The whims of those CSRs, planners, shop managers, fleet managers and safety officers who are afflicted with a dictator complex; and use the data generated by EOBRs to "browbeat" drivers, will result in more and greater dissatisfaction among drivers in general. It will be the equivalent of "walking on eggshells" lest the machine say that the brake was applied too suddenly or the fuel feed was not applied gently enough. Even though a driver's time is cheaply bought under the pay-per-mile system; questions will arise as to stopping too often, etc. Under the guise of accountability, every driver will become a prisoner in his or her own truck.
Disengagement will occur much sooner in new recruits. Service records will suffer and accounts will be lost as loads are habitually late at pickup and delivery due to drivers adhering to the "letter of the law" in retaliation for the disrespect they feel subjected to. "Freedom of the road" will be a thing of history as every driver comes under the watchful eye of "big brother" back at headquarters who thinks he or she knows how to drive that truck better than the driver. Armchair drivers will be calling the shots!
Because drivers are by nature independent minded, retaliation will occur that creates more turnover and greater unrest among the company as a whole because a company is not the sum of its trucks, computers, or other assets. A company is the sum of its people; and people who are continually pissed off make terrible workers!
Anytime opression is used to control people, the results are always negative. Just ask King Louis XVI how the French Revolution turned out. Think I'm stretching it a bit? Take a ride across this country and take time to assess the overall spirit among drivers out there. I have; and it's a far cry from even just a decade ago. Some very good productive people are running around angry all the time because they sense the loss of their due liberties and the low value the industry places upon their contribution when it compensates them for just a portion of the time it requires of them and tries to make robots out of them.
The late and great Sam Walton said, "We are all working together; that's the secret." Think it's just "touchy feely"? Ask about driver turnover at his organization. Tudaloo and Happy Trails!
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