UPS Ban on Deaf Drivers Is Rejected

PC is not 4 me wrote:

what about when you're rear tire is about to crush someone's 6 year old and they're yelling STOP,STOP,STOP! and you can't hear them because your DEAF!!!!!!!!!! What now?

Uh oh..... Stop stop stop? How the heck would I hear if the child was standing outside and I was inside driving with the window closed? Tell me how??? Also the motor could be loud.. What now??

The only real issue I have is a safety issue...if you can't hear. then how are you going to know if your about to back in to someone or something...if a person is yelling to try to warn you and you can't hear the warning then its highly unsafe..and what are they going to do when you get to a large distrabution warehouse and get to the call box. how are you going to be able to hear what door you are going to back into. most large distribution warehouses you get your dock assignment through the gate phone ,dock the door then see the clerk. noones going to put tty phones at thier gates to suit 1/10TH of 1% of all truck drivers.

Long Haul Driver wrote:

The only real issue I have is a safety issue...if you can't hear. then how are you going to know if your about to back in to someone or something...if a person is yelling to try to warn you and you can't hear the warning then its highly unsafe..and what are they going to do when you get to a large distrabution warehouse and get to the call box. how are you going to be able to hear what door you are going to back into. most large distribution warehouses you get your dock assignment through the gate phone ,dock the door then see the clerk. noones going to put tty phones at thier gates to suit 1/10TH of 1% of all truck drivers.

How many times do I have to tell you to look in rear BEFORE you back your rig into the dock. If you're not sure then get ur rear out and inspect your path. Why does all heavy equipment have those annoy backup alarms wired on. I would assume it distract you from talking to your cell phones at work. We use eyes at 99.99 percent of time and while you guys use at .01 percent of time. Use your common-sense! When truckers get involved in accident and they can hear. I couldn't believe when tankers overturned because they can hear. Arithmetic doesn't add up right here when we have accidents, accidents, and all of them caused by hearing drivers. Can you explain why?

Where is my rights when you guys get vision waived and where is my right when you guys get the sugar count waived in order to get DOT medical card? That hearing test regulation is grossly out-of-date! I used to run solo for 2.5 years, hauling with 53' vans. Short or long wheel base tractors doesn't matter to me. and I find it extremely difficult to get back into trucking now.

The Pros wrote:

<quoted text> How many times do I have to tell you to look in rear BEFORE you back your rig into the dock. If you're not sure then get ur rear out and inspect your path. Why does all heavy equipment have those annoy backup alarms wired on. I would assume it distract you from talking to your cell phones at work. We use eyes at 99.99 percent of time and while you guys use at .01 percent of time. Use your common-sense! When truckers get involved in accident and they can hear. I couldn't believe when tankers overturned because they can hear. Arithmetic doesn't add up right here when we have accidents, accidents, and all of them caused by hearing drivers. Can you explain why?

First I just want to say that when tankers overturn it is usually from the inexperience of driving with liquids. My husband did this for ten years and never overturned. I takes a certain type of person to haul fuel. Next I was just wondering about the UPS issue. My husband is a feeder driver for UPS and what happens when one has to be in the yard doing shift work. He does a 12 hour day and can move anywhere from 75-100 trailers in a shift so that means dispatch is calling him 75-100 times to tell him what to do and where to put trailers so how is dispatch suppose to communicate with a deaf driver? It would be unfair to say that they didn't have to do that job because everyone has to do it at some point in their career there. Also what if there is a problem on the road with a pick up or delivery how does dispatch communicate? I am just trying to figure this situation out to see if it is possible in this instance.

The Pros wrote:

<quoted text> How many times do I have to tell you to look in rear BEFORE you back your rig into the dock. If you're not sure then get ur rear out and inspect your path. Why does all heavy equipment have those annoy backup alarms wired on. I would assume it distract you from talking to your cell phones at work. We use eyes at 99.99 percent of time and while you guys use at .01 percent of time. Use your common-sense! When truckers get involved in accident and they can hear. I couldn't believe when tankers overturned because they can hear. Arithmetic doesn't add up right here when we have accidents, accidents, and all of them caused by hearing drivers. Can you explain why?

Clearly You have never been in a UPS terminal or other large trucking terminal. when you have worked in places like this after a long while you learn to tone out those annoying little backup signals, also those things do not always work. when you have a fleet of 500 trucks backup alarms and the bottom of the wrung on a repair list. also you never know when your backing up to a dock and some dock worker drops a trash can, or a pallet off the dock and needs to get it picked up if he is yelling for you to stop, your not going to hear him. especially if it is dark out you may not see that person waving his arms trying to get you to stop.

also you need to take in consideration making deliveries, the average person walking down the street in a busy city, will try to run behind the truck to get by instead of waiting for the truck to back into the dock. if you can't hear you will have no clue if you hit a person.

to try to compare tanker drivers wrecking and deaf drivers is a lame stretch of a comparison.

How do you know if I ever been in a large terminal? That is what I am trying to educate you guys that I am just like you fellas. Read your regulation bible, the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Regulation and one quota, it say drivers shall have the last call if the dock is dark and dangerous and nobody is there. I would wait until daytime. Still missing my point about tankers and high loads trailers?

The Pros wrote:

How do you know if I ever been in a large terminal? That is what I am trying to educate you guys that I am just like you fellas. Read your regulation bible, the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Regulation and one quota, it say drivers shall have the last call if the dock is dark and dangerous and nobody is there. I would wait until daytime. Still missing my point about tankers and high loads trailers?

As a driver, you better have a good, legitimate reason to hold up a load. I have held up loads as a company driver for such things as lights don't work,(wait until daylight), windshield wipers stop working,(pull over until rain stops), trailer being picked up had inoperative brakes,(insisted railroad repair which they did). Split on inside of front tire,(wait for tire service). LEGITIMATE SAFETY REASONS! If you get to a terminal that is waiting for the freight and you hold it up 8 hours because it is dark out, you won't have a job the next day.

The Pros wrote:

Where is my rights when you guys get vision waived and where is my right when you guys get the sugar count waived in order to get DOT medical card? That hearing test regulation is grossly out-of-date! I used to run solo for 2.5 years, hauling with 53' vans. Short or long wheel base tractors doesn't matter to me. and I find it extremely difficult to get back into trucking now.

Could your hearing be corrected by one of those new hearing aids?

fcon wrote:

This is a case of a judge over-ruling previous laws. "Hey what's the harm? Everybody should be allowed to do whatever feels good right?"

Let's get this same judge to throw out other CDL regulations that we don't like!

Midnightrider wrote:

<quoted text>As a driver, you better have a good, legitimate reason to hold up a load. I have held up loads as a company driver for such things as lights don't work,(wait until daylight), windshield wipers stop working,(pull over until rain stops), trailer being picked up had inoperative brakes,(insisted railroad repair which they did). Split on inside of front tire,(wait for tire service). LEGITIMATE SAFETY REASONS! If you get to a terminal that is waiting for the freight and you hold it up 8 hours because it is dark out, you won't have a job the next day.

I have never seen a waiting terminal that is completely dark, have you? Remember if anything that is not safe, you, the driver have the last call per FMCSR manual and FMCSR also regulate shippers, recievers, and trucking companies.

Except for "drop-n-hook" operations, some yards are completely dark and I have done that before. Fancy drop-n-hook terminals are well lighted and I have done that as well.

Eric wrote:

<quoted text> Could your hearing be corrected by one of those new hearing aids?

All I need is to increase from 40dB to 50dB (average of 500HZ, 1000HZ and 2000HZ) I failed because my average is approx 48dB with today's hearing aids.

I am hearing and depend entirely on my VISION to drive, back up the car, etc. Even if I hear an ambulance, most of the time, I have a hard time locating its position based solely on hearing. I have to visually locate it to know where to move my car and deaf people can do that with their eyes. How much more would a trucker depend on SIGHT to locate objects in his/her way when a truck is larger (and therefore objects further away)?!

I am horrified at the insensitivity of the posters to the deaf. Those nasty remarks are not based on information about how drivers primarily use their SIGHT to drive.

Be glad you do not drive for Swift.

Read my posts on the Truckers Forum "Memphis driving school raided by federal, state agencies"
and find out why Swift Transportation Inc. Schools, Terminals and Offices are being RAIDED.

I am the VICTIM that Swift should have never have done WRONG.

Read.

The Pros wrote:

<quoted text>All I need is to increase from 40dB to 50dB (average of 500HZ, 1000HZ and 2000HZ) I failed because my average is approx 48dB with today's hearing aids.

Just 2db low? That would be just slightly hard of hearing. That probably wouldn't be a big problem. I thought they were talking about almost total deafness. I used to get physicals from a drunk doctor in Chicago. He would have you look at an eye chart and while you were doing that he would drop an empty tin can on the hard tile floor about 10 feet to one side, just out of sight. If you turned to see what the noise was, he knew you could hear. I keep reading about people being flunked for snoring and now 2db hearing loss, I think they might be going too far. I think they could just have a restriction "must have hearing aid while driving" similar to the existing "must wear glasses while driving".