IEEE Technology and Society Magazine - Summer 2014 - 49

to transport industries advertise
GPS as "powerful fleet visualization and intelligence tools which
provide real-time decision making
to any Internet-connected device."

GPS Development Industry
The role of companies involved
in developing GPS technology is
another important issue to address
because these companies market the
tool as having the ability to solve
industry logistical problems. rarely
is the driver mentioned when discussing surveillance technology. Only
when the technology is used as a
disciplinary intervention or oversight
mechanism is the role of the truck
driver discussed. The driver becomes
the focus of the next step in the process through the regulatory bodies,
the institutions, and the courts.
The people designing technological advances for worksites may
have very creative ideas. However
the motivations behind those ideas
needs to include the relationship
between the technological advance
and the workplace. The lack of any
built-in flexibility in the technology
generates black and white results.
This makes the data generated of
limited use.

Third-Party Use of GPS
Data Logs: The Use and
Misuse of Statistics
As politicians work to improve the
transport industry, public services
have been required to acquire and
utilize private enterprise trucking
data on a national level for the purposes of intelligence analysis. The
data is used to generate measures
such as tax levies for national roaddevelopment, as well as other predictors concerning the comparison of
road versus rail transport options.
Companies, unions, associations, and other truck driver welfare agencies generally do not have
the capacity or capability to talk to
drivers in the industry. The Australia National Transport Commission
Heavy Vehicle Driver FatigueFinal regulatory Impact Statement

estimated that there were approximately 203 800 drivers in 107 800
fleets [10, p. 103]. This excluded
fleets in Western Australia and the
Northern Territory.
Technological GPS devices,
in particular units with electronic
tacho graph capability, graphically
show simultaneous engine and vehicle speed, and indicate how a vehicle is driven for a twenty-four hour
period. If the graph shows that the
vehicle's speed decreased suddenly

by perceived safety benefits), and
law enforcement.
However, at this time there are
no external restrictions that may, if
introduced, protect workers' individual rights related to the use of GPS.
Herbert and Tuminaro [5] comment
on unionism and legislation concerning emerging technologies:
At the same time, the confluence of diminished union density in the united States, the

There are no external restrictions
protecting workers' individual rights
related to the use of GPS.
but the engine speed did not, the
driver may have been tailgating and
had to slam on the brakes to avoid an
accident [4]. This statement reflects
assumptions that can be made looking at statistical data. As a former
police officer with high-speed driving training, I can think of several
other possible scenarios that could
explain such records.

growth of decentralized workplaces, and the development
of sophisticated trackingtechnology have accentuated
the importance of individual
worker privacy, and the need
for examining additional
regulatory protections in the
workplace (p. 359).

Observing the Worker
and Unions

Challenging the Use
of GPS Tracking

The Australian union movement has
not gained any momentum in questioning the use of GPS technology
in the trucking industry. This raises
the question of whether workers
care that they are being watched and
recorded by machines. At the same
time, union membership is declining,
perhaps because the union represents
the area of workplace conditions
involving perceived logistical efficiency. Efficiency is also linked to
safety issues. If the GPS is controlling truck-driving behavior, then the
argument provided is that "safety is
increased."
This results in acceptance and/
or promotion of the use of GPS systems from a variety of directions -
from GPS technology developers,
from the companies using the GPS,
in the area of civil rights (mitigated

In the united States, The Tenth
Circuit Court of Appeals affirmed
the grant of Summary Judgment
against a truck driver in his GPSrelated Duty of Fair representation claim against the International
Brotherhood of Teamsters (IBT).
In Hinkley v. Roadway Express,
Inc., the IBT had negotiated a collective bargaining agreement with
the trucking company containing
a provision that prohibited the use
of computer tracking devices for
disciplinary purposes. Nevertheless, the company, after comparing the driver's recording of his
deliveries and pick-ups with computerized location information
emanating from the GPS device in
the truck, fired the driver for making an unauthorized personal stop
at a store. In support of the driver's

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