New Company Vehicles

April 4, 2022

Brothers and Sisters,

It is the locals understanding that the new company vehicles are 2022 Ford Rangers and are equipped with GPS built in and cameras (one faces out in front of the truck; one faces the interior of the cab).  The cameras are mounted next to the rear-view mirror on the passenger side.  It is also the locals understanding that these new company vehicles are leased through Donlen not ARI, and it has been reported that Donlen sends a monthly email to the driver with an attached driver scorecard.  This scorecard includes acceleration, deceleration, speed limit, and idle time. 

On our last Presidents conference call with the CWA T&T Office on March 29th, this issue was discussed.  The Presidents were informed that AT&T’s new company vehicles were also equipped with the cameras.  The President, Mike Klein, of Local 4050/4090 (AT&T/Goodman) out of Detroit informed us that AT&T Local Management informed the techs the cameras were for safety and insurance reasons.  With that said Goodman did not inform the CWA T&T Office that the new company vehicles were equipped with these cameras.  It also appears that as companies from different industries are going with GPS/Cameras in new vehicles.  Some research has also been done by one of the Local 4050/4090 members that is with AT&T and has reported that the is recording when the vehicle is running, and that it transmits the last 30 seconds before an accident. The GPS transmits data on harsh/sudden braking and harsh acceleration, as well as the camera.  Once the vehicle is turned off all camera data is erased.   I do not know how accurate the research is.

Also, none of the Presidents or the CWA T&T Office were aware of any Goodman Company Vehicle Policy.  If Goodman had a Company Vehicle Policy, they probably would have made us sign off on a training course using Paychex, and I do not have any records of such policy/training course.  It is not the job of the union to develop policies for any company, the CWA T&T Office will not request any Company Vehicle Policy from Goodman unless needed for a grievance.  The position of the CWA Office and Presidents is that we will use the company policies for grievances in defense of members for any disciplinary actions against a member. If they have one and have not provided us with one, we can use it against them should they try and discipline a member.  Please keep in mind that it is every dirvers responsiblity to obey all traffic laws.

In Unity,

R.K. Ferdinandsen

President

CWA Local 7590