Excerpt from this post:
"...please do your best to get "clean" roadside inspections and avoid moving violations. That is the best thing you can do to help your company at this time. Take time to research CSA - it will make you a better driver. We all want to be better at our jobs."
It is a noble sentiment, but the frustrating reality is that the CSA system is a deck stacked against the drivers who the carriers rely upon to produce good scores. The deck could be made more fair if carriers and shippers fully supported drivers in complying, but they do not.
Example: You are under an expedited load, 400 miles from your delivery, and return to your truck after stopping at a rest area to take a stretch break and use the facilities. There is a truck stop with a shop at the next exit. As you approach your truck, you notice a CSA violation that developed since your last stop. It did not exist when you did your pretrip. It is not an out of service item. It might be something like a pressure loss coming from an air bag, or a burned out lamp that you cannot reach and repair (you have a ladder on board but it is sealed in back with the load), or a new oil drip just discovered coming from the oil filter that was replaced at a recent oil change.
Whatchyougonnado, driver?
Wanting to be good at your job, which includes CSA compliance, whatchyougonnado?
The right thing to do is to notify your carrier and shipper that a CSA issue exists, right? Enjoying their full support, you call the truck stop for road service and wait (can't chance getting pulled over for an inspection while driving there, that might earn you and your carrier evil points), right?
Because your carrier is fully supportive of you being good at your job, it pays for the service call and pays you detention time while the repair is being made, right? They do so because they are on the hook for violations too, right? They do so because they do not want you to be penalized for doing the right thing, right?
You acted in good faith with ongoing truck maintenance and diligent pretrips, right? The carrier knows and trusts you with such things, right? That's why they hired a true professional like you in the first place and that is why they pay you as well as they do, right? Your carrier knows that good pay attracts good people and good people are willing to avoid shortcuts and uphold standards, right?
And because shippers fully support drivers in their compliance efforts, the shipper cheerfully bumps the delivery time and agrees to pay the road service portion of the repair when the costs are passed through to him (driver pays for the repair itself, it is his truck), right? And that same shipper will be inclined to call that carrier again because the shipper loves it that this carrier has drivers that fully support CSA, right?
Drivers are in a no-win situation under CSA. If a violation develops while you are under load, there is nothing you can do to rectify it without running illegal or paying a price. And there is nothing in the system that gives shippers a reason to care about that at all.
Yes, we all want to be better at our jobs. If the CSA rules, carriers and shippers actually supported drivers in being better at their jobs, it might actually happen.
Sadly, the system does not support compliance, it demands compliance, and it is the drivers who suffer the most.
"...please do your best to get "clean" roadside inspections and avoid moving violations. That is the best thing you can do to help your company at this time. Take time to research CSA - it will make you a better driver. We all want to be better at our jobs."
It is a noble sentiment, but the frustrating reality is that the CSA system is a deck stacked against the drivers who the carriers rely upon to produce good scores. The deck could be made more fair if carriers and shippers fully supported drivers in complying, but they do not.
Example: You are under an expedited load, 400 miles from your delivery, and return to your truck after stopping at a rest area to take a stretch break and use the facilities. There is a truck stop with a shop at the next exit. As you approach your truck, you notice a CSA violation that developed since your last stop. It did not exist when you did your pretrip. It is not an out of service item. It might be something like a pressure loss coming from an air bag, or a burned out lamp that you cannot reach and repair (you have a ladder on board but it is sealed in back with the load), or a new oil drip just discovered coming from the oil filter that was replaced at a recent oil change.
Whatchyougonnado, driver?
Wanting to be good at your job, which includes CSA compliance, whatchyougonnado?
The right thing to do is to notify your carrier and shipper that a CSA issue exists, right? Enjoying their full support, you call the truck stop for road service and wait (can't chance getting pulled over for an inspection while driving there, that might earn you and your carrier evil points), right?
Because your carrier is fully supportive of you being good at your job, it pays for the service call and pays you detention time while the repair is being made, right? They do so because they are on the hook for violations too, right? They do so because they do not want you to be penalized for doing the right thing, right?
You acted in good faith with ongoing truck maintenance and diligent pretrips, right? The carrier knows and trusts you with such things, right? That's why they hired a true professional like you in the first place and that is why they pay you as well as they do, right? Your carrier knows that good pay attracts good people and good people are willing to avoid shortcuts and uphold standards, right?
And because shippers fully support drivers in their compliance efforts, the shipper cheerfully bumps the delivery time and agrees to pay the road service portion of the repair when the costs are passed through to him (driver pays for the repair itself, it is his truck), right? And that same shipper will be inclined to call that carrier again because the shipper loves it that this carrier has drivers that fully support CSA, right?
Drivers are in a no-win situation under CSA. If a violation develops while you are under load, there is nothing you can do to rectify it without running illegal or paying a price. And there is nothing in the system that gives shippers a reason to care about that at all.
Yes, we all want to be better at our jobs. If the CSA rules, carriers and shippers actually supported drivers in being better at their jobs, it might actually happen.
Sadly, the system does not support compliance, it demands compliance, and it is the drivers who suffer the most.
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