Chapter
6: Dispatchers and Bennies
(pp. 1-4)
In Chapter
6, Rothe jumps in for a ride with Danny to travel from Portland to Los
Angeles. Allow me to
introduce you to Danny. Danny
is 25-years old. He is a
part of Simonâs company (M Transport).
He has been driving with this company for two years.
The company truck he drives may be considered as unsafe:
tachograph and speedometer do not work, there are cracks in the
windshield, and the passenger seat is broken.
Does Danny care? Nope!
Danny likes it this way. The
company cannot keep close tabs on him.
I
do not know how Danny manages to pass inspection, but my guess is that
he tries to avoid the scales whenever possible.
His truck will definitely not win any awards for a sparkly
appearance.
Danny
on Dispatchers
Danny
ãdislikes dispatchers immensely.ä
In his view they are considered as overly bossy people who think
they are gods. They do not give a rip about truckers.
Dispatchers only care about getting their goods to a certain
place at a certain time. Itâs
do this, or lose your job for truckers.
They do not care if truckers must break all the trucking rules
in the regulation book. Sure,
ãdrivers [have] the ãofficial rightä to refuse,ä but this comes
at a cost to the driver. The driver will be stuck with ãless financially
lucrativeä loads.
Now
why doesnât Danny complain? He feels that if he ãratsä on the dispatchers it ãis
like turning your back on truckingä (p. 71).
This is quite hard to do if one sees trucking a their livelihood.
Some may go downhill because they do not know if they can do any
other type of work. Danny
made me feel like dispatchers are on power trips as some weigh station
inspectors. What can be
done about them?
Enter
Drugs
Drugs.
Consider this as a dark side to truckers.
This
is Danny: he passes on the
alcohol, but he will smoke about two packs a day, and he will take illicit
drugs to keep him awake as he drives.
He gets away with this because M Transport does not have a drug
detection program. Urine
screening is costly. They
do screen ãon the basis of driver volunteers or company policies, not
federal regulationsä (p. 72).
Danny
Takes Pink Hearts And . . .
Drugs
Danny takes: ãPink
Heartsä ö heavy caffeine pills that may have speed in it (these make
his ãhair tingle and make his head stretch like elastic, and causes him
to urinate. Then, it makes
his heart pound. . .); Cross Topsä ö pills with little crosses to
ãget him homeä; and ãBlack Beautiesä ö pills that ãput a
bounceä in his step.
Danny
has never been caught on the job. Guess
how many truckers use drugs? Danny's
guess is at least 70% of truckers.
Drugs are easily attainable, and costly.
Truckerâs do not mind about the price because the drugs ãhelpä
them get their jobs done.
Truckers
have a big responsibility on their shoulders.
Perhaps the non-truckers should speak out and have some
compassion for these people on rigs. Lets speak out so that truckers can have a better, drug free
life if that will help them to drive without stress. I do not need to be followed by a trucker loaded with a
drugged system. Drugs cause
the people to have accidents. Now,
I think police are tracking down people who take prescription medication
and are driving ãunder the influence of meds and alcohol.
Both are serious offenses.
Enter
The Dispatcher
From
time to time, a trucker must call their dispatcher.
Danny calls his dispatcher in LA, notifies the dispatcher the
approximate time of arrival, and inquires if he will be having a load to
take somewhere when he gets there.
The dispatcher assigns him to a load that will cause havoc in
Dannyâs logbook. Danny
will have driven over the regulated amount, not to mention the fact that
Danny needs some sleep. He
is furious! Danny canât
complain though. He does
not want the junk loads.
How
safe do you feel driving on the road with a trucker now?
Some truckers drive tiredly, with drugs in their system, and they
are not happy. Danny must
be thinking of ways to stay awake and push himself to get his load to its
destination on time instead of the safety of himself and others.
Pass a truck with caution, and give them space.
Leon
James
How
do you interpret Danny's way of thinking, his philosophy?
Danny
believes that drugs are necessary for him and other truckers to enhance
their driving ability as they make the long hauls. He has this
"I could care less" attitude about his job. I think the
shape his truck is in reflects upon himself.
Leena-Rose
Dwiggins Do
you ever feel it is appropriate for a trucker to disobey commands from
his or her company's dispatcher? Why or why not? It
may be appropriate for a trucker to disobey commands from a dispatcher
because dispatchers often give out ridiculous orders. For example,
if a dispatcher wants a trucker to haul another load when the trucker is
dead tired and has already exceeded his maximum driving time, then it is
up to the driver to put his foot down and say, "no, I cannot make
the run." Sometimes a dispatcher will encourage their
drivers to take drugs to help them stay awake, and that is not right. What
would you do to, or how do you think dispatchers God-like position
should be changed? Or do you think they have the right to
'command' their drivers? I
think that dispatchers have a right to 'command' their drivers to a
certain extent. I feel that dispatchers should abide by the
regulation book and be mindful about their truckers' well-being. A
dispatcher who thinks "safety first" will encourage their
truckers' to be safer drivers, and that could boost morale and make
trucking a happy place to be. Do
you feel drug(s) use is ever appropriate for truckers? Why or why
not? I
feel that drugs is not appropriate for truckers. If a trucker must
take drugs to stay awake, then they are doing too much driving.
Dispatchers should make the runs shorter, and driving as a team should
be encouraged. Shaunna
Mazza Can
drugs be taken to benefit the driver's performance? Drugs
can be taken to benefit the driver's performance, but I do not feel that
drugs are necessary. Repeated use of drugs may lead to misuse and
cause damage to the human body. Why
do the truckers have to take the drugs? Could they drive along
without it? Truckers
take the drugs to help keep them awake during their long hauls across
country. Some of these drugs keep their adrenaline pumping.
They could drive along without it. Robby
Solmssen Do
you think there should be a committee to oversee the dispatchers'
treatment of their drivers? Some sort of third party? No.
I do not think think there should be a committee or some sort of third
party. I feel that dispatchers could be better trained to handle
the responsibilities of their job. A third party should step in
only if the dispatchers cannot do their job properly and humanely
(truckers are not machines).
An increase use
of drugs is hitting the trucking community. What can the community
do to stop truckers from hauling over their regulated hours? We
must put our foot down and get down to where the problem lies. Is
it with the dispatchers or the truckers themselves?
|
send me email