IEEE Technology and Society Magazine - Summer 2014 - 52

of information to judicial institutions, then this opens the practice to a range of worksites. The
ever-increasing growth of control
and oversight as the dominant
management workplace approach
advances as human progress gains
momentum [6, p. 399].
In summary, employer implementation of new technologies is
rationalized as a managerial prerogative aimed at increasing efficiency, tracking employees, and
monitoring employer-owned property [5, p. 375]. Economic, social,
and individual factors have been
discussed as the development of
technology is now being widely
used in the interstate trucking
industry. Our aim is to give these
men a voice in the public arena so
they can convey to the reader what
is occurring in their workplace.
Electronic surveillance is not as
black and white as the dot that
appears on the screen that records
in real time the driver's location.
The realities of owner-operators
going bankrupt often appear as a
result of these regulatory practices.
Smaller owner-operated companies can go out of business as fines
accumulate. If we don't assume that
truck drivers are constantly conducting their driving behavior in an
illegal and risky fashion, then this
degree of oversight may be unnecessary. Certainly it is very difficult
for a "rogue operator" to remain in
business, as much of the work is
generated within the culture of the
industry and a reputation for reliability is required.
The culture of the drivers will
also change. Truck drivers will
learn how to utilize the technology in many different ways. These
changes in workplace practices are
very important for future research
projects. Workers will learn to
accommodate surveillance, resulting in both positive and negative outcomes. Senior executives,

regulators, and policy makers will
simply regard the change in workers' behaviors as a challenge to
develop further regulatory changes,
usually by increasing regulatory
avenues.
Weather and landscape features,
such as mountains, also affect GPS
systems. Mobile phone coverage is
not consistently available within the
Australian landscape, plus injured
drivers will not necessarily be able
to make phone calls. When a driver
turns the key on a truck fitted with
one of these systems, then the panel
board on the truck will immediately
start the GPS system and the recording commences. The drivers are
aware of the tracking devices and
they work with the constant feeling
of oversight. This level of oversight
is unusual compared to other occupations. Blue-collar workers might
commonly be tracked but academics, doctors, and police are yet to
accept satellite links that can put
their position on a screen, which is
monitored by an employer. unfortunately, two-way communication is
not possible if the driver finds him
or herself in an urgent or desperate situation. The GPS is recording
a truck stopped, however, fails to
relay why it has stopped. A driver
could be in the cabin down the side
of a cliff and they cannot contact the
logistics manager who may or may
not be observing the truck's movements on a screen.
If a humane approach is recommended then we do not need to
discover a new method to manage
issues in the workplace but, in fact,
"recover" what we already know
works, a human socially-progressive
approach [7, p. 194].
We are introducing GPS surveillance without information systems
governed by industry codes, standards, legal rules, administrative,
or corporate agreements. There is
also an increasing introduction and
application of the systems. The

state of affairs in Australia currently
appears to be "shaped by a myriad
of relatively informal customs" and
attitudes that prevail in an industry
which is already troubled by a lack
of regulatory uniformity [2, pp.
395-396].

Author Information
Jann Karp is an Australian researcher
and academic. She is the author of
Truckies: Life Behind The Wheel
(Wbook 2012) and can be reached
at j.karp@bigpond.com.

Acknowledgment
An earlier version of this article was
presented at "Sousveillance and the
Social Implications of Point of View
Technologies in the Law Enforcement Sector," Sixth Workshop on
the Social Implications of National
Security, Sydney university, NSW,
Australia, February 22, 2012.

References

[1] K. Ball, "Workplace surveillance: An overview,"
Labor History, vol. 51, no. 1, pp. 87-106, 2010.
[2] Canadian National research Council, 2007.
[3] M. Dodson, ABC National Radio, 2012;
www.abc.net.au/rn/, 21/2/2012.
[4] L. Dole, "On-board recorders: The 'black
boxes' of the trucking industry," in Proc. Int.
Symp. Transportation Recorders (Arlington,
VA), May 3-5, 1999, pp.121-124.
[5] W. Herbert and A. Tuminaro, "The impact
of emerging technologies in the workplace:
Who's watching the man (who's watching
me)?," Hofstra Labor and Employment Law
J., vol 25, pp. 355-99, 2009.
[6] National research Council, Engaging Privacy and Information Technology in a Digital Age.
Washington, DC: National Acad. Press, 2007.
[7] C. Neesham, Human and Social Progress.
Saarbrucken: Verglag VDM, 2008.
[8] L. Snider, "Crimes against capital: Discovering theft of time in social justice," Law, Order, and
Neoliberalism, vol 28, no. 3, pp. 105-120, 2011.
[9] L. Snider, "Criminalizing the algorithm?
Stock market crime in the 21st century," presented at ANZOC Conf. Criminology (Geelong,
Australia), Sept. 28, 2011.
[10] The Heavy Vehicle Driver Fatigue-Final
Regulatory Impact Statement. Canberra, Australia: Government Printers, 2007, p. 103.
[11] Department of Transport and Main
roads, Spokesperson, Big Rig, p. 40, July
20th, 2012.

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