5/45?

[ProfessionalLocator]

I just heard that Utiliquest, sounds like Virginia, initiated a 5 in 45 mandatory termination.

I was told that if the proximity alarm (they have those?) goes off saying your following too closely five times in a 45 day period the locator is fired.

With traffic in Northern Virginia that would be five times in an hour.

Another locator told me they heard from a Utiliquest buddy in Maryland where there is a 25 in 90. If the SpyCam in the cab of the truck goes off 25 times in any 90 day period the locator is fired. The real name is a DriveCam. These come from the factory to go off in an crash level impact and store a recording of the view out the windshield, the inside of the cab and audio recording the drivers voice. Once installed the factory settings are changed so almost any bump sets them off creating the SpyCam. Lord knows we don't drive over curbs, speed bumps or across construction sites or have to break suddenly in the heavy traffic in the DC area.

I have not heard this directly but my source on the 25 in 90 is very good.

If true sounds like they are tired of being shown up by the USIC management.

When you are in an impossible situation the only thing to do is to get out.

[Bad Robot]

That is indeed true Pro, but if we all followed that advice every single contract locator in a 500 mile arc from me would be gone tomorrow. Just my 2 cents for what that is worth these days.

[utiliquesternomo]

The problem with drivecam is that the area that you work in can decide how many times the camera goes off.For example, locating in some parts of Baton Rouge, you'd have to intentionally drive onto a curb to get the camera to go off.You could be the worst driver in the company and the camera would never go off. Put that same truck with that same driver in New Orleans and he's doomed. The potholes are legendary.Fail to come to an ABSOLUTE dead stop even though there is not a car for blocks and he's unemployed in a month.I've always said it's an unfair waste of money and I'll never be convinced that it's not. 15 years in this bizzness and there's never been anything worse for a locator than drivecam. "Drivecams will never be used as a diciplinary tool" was the very 1st thing we were told about them. Needless to say,......

[TheCableVine]

If you don't trust the people you hire to drive your vehicles then why are you hiring these people? Hire people and let them do their jobs. How much time, money, and energy is spent spying on employees? If you can't trust a person then you shouldn't hire them.

I'll never understand it. Adults hiring adults and then treating them like children and then the employer gets offended when the employee doesn't like being treated like a child. WHO is the child in this case?

Another thing... you demand higher production than you are getting and then you want to fire those who are trying to get that production by maybe driving a little faster or following a little too close to make that next light.

Sorry for the kinda off topic rant.

[NASCARFAN1981]

Another locator told me they heard from a Utiliquest buddy in Maryland where there is a 25 in 90. If the SpyCam in the cab of the truck goes off 25 times in any 90 day period the locator is fired.

I am a UQ locator in Maryland and your "Reliable Source" gave you bad information. There are steps for each event from coaching to termination but if you ask me, I control my own destiny as far as that is consurned. It just changed reciently but not 25 in 90! I work in a city like area and yes the camera goes off more in those areas. Mainly when your making a turn too fast. The key is making sure your doing the right things in those situations. The "SpyCam" has made me a better driver at work and home. Even thought about getting one for my wife's car! LOL. Although I am not real worried about it as my drivecam typicly does not go off and when it does my supervisor does not come to me with an event that I have to sign (I must be doing something right). I have had a few over the years that my sup had to coach with me. They were all legit. Following too close, Looking at my phone and having to hit the brakes to avoid rear ending someone. If you ask me we all need reminders of how we drive. It has to have an impact on the companies overall risk for at fault accidents if their drivers are paying more attenton because of the drive cam dont you think.

[Wingfoot]

I am a UQ locator. The "SpyCam" has made me a better driver at work and home. My supervisor does not come to me with an event that I have to sign (I must be doing something right). I have had a few over the years that my sup had to coach with me.

Hey 1981 - Welcome to theVine! Congratulations on making your first post! I'm glad you decided to join us on this forum!

"SpyCams?" Jeezus! If/when USIC buys Utiliquest, these privacy invading pieces o' shit will be the first thing that gets implemented into our fleet! I dread the day........... My driving ain't THAT bad; but it ain't that good either.... Just sayin'.

I checked out your profile here on theVine and we both share common interests - NASCAR, fishing & work. I use virtually all my vacation time to travel to all but one of the mid-west and west coast NASCAR events each year as a worker mounting tires on the team's supplied wheels. I'll be one of a group of +/- 40 guys that show up at a NASCAR track on the Wednesday before race day. As a group, we will deliver 4,200 to 5,000 Goodyear race tires that need to be sorted-scanned-mounted-balanced-stacked in sets of four (2 left side tires and 2 right side tires) by noon Saturday. Here is a picture of a typical Friday's production:

Racing is a world that is not reality but entertainment. I work part-time for 3 Goodyear race tire distributors (Oklahoma City, Las Vegas and Denver) and for many years I've worked various track sites as a salesperson or contract labor. I have seen huge chunks of America west of the Mississippi, enjoyed the comradeship of many characters that are now my extended family, can bullshit for hours on end about my experiences in racing, can bench race with authority, have seen a couple of my ideas used in the Goodyear product line-up, have broken bread with many movers & shakers in the sanctioning bodies of NASCAR, NHRA, USAC, UDRA, SCCA, IMSA and the winged World of Outlaws dirt series. I have "lived the dream" on some one else's dime and I have enjoyed every second of it!

Talk about dreaming, someday, when I retire, I'm gonna catch that 14 pound, pot-belly, large mouth bass at Lake Okeechobee, Florida..... Just sayin'.

Anyway 1981, sorry about meandering so far off the topic, but I welcome your membership to The Cable Vine and please post often.

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