Tanker Drivers... Have a conversation w/ a dispatcher (agghh... Don't cuss me yet!).

Like others have said honesty .......

If your sending a driver into a meat grinder..... Loading rack is having vapor issues, customer out of allocation .... Whatever, tell the driver ahead of time.


Also spread out the crap stops.... Everyone within a company knows the good and bad stops.

 

I'm driving local now for my outfit and have yet to run into this issue. I get treated the same now as I did when I was running regional with this company, and I never had any complaints then or now.

Mack, you gotta get away from those 'meat in the seat' BS companies. I know its hard to find a good outfit, but trust me they still exist. I'm living proof if that!

 

My company is a great one. I'm very happy. Good money, off weekends, if I need a day off all I do is ask, hardly work a holiday, major holidays off.

 

I work for the largest Chemical distribution company in the world but, they still do it lol. Good company otherwise.

 

Dispatch can make everything work if they want and if there's enough drivers to work with.
The calendar from my wall is filled with the drivers time off requests and to make sure I don't forget about one my guys appointments I've set up a reminder . When I open my email it pops up and tells me that in 4 days X driver needs to be off.
It's not that hard to make it work if you care about your drivers .

 

When I used to dispatch I asked my boss if I could do a ride along with one of the contractors. He obliged and I learned so much, just in that one day, I wondered why it wasn't a mandatory training requirement when I first started. I also quickly figured out how the drivers were kinda screwing me over and I was able to relate with the drivers better.

go for a ride along. Even if it's on your day off. It'll pay off.

 

If you're dispatching loads for local work they are a few things you might want to do. First establish yourself with the terminal boss. Ask him or her how they want their loads run. If it's in conflict with the company then discuss it. If you're running 24 hours 7 days a week like we do then you should have a senior or someone in charge of that shift you could work through. We went to a complete computer operated dispatch system that pretty much took the dispatcher out of the loop. But you will have changes during the shift that might need you talking with a driver. Be sure you document every thing you tell that driver to do. If you have to divert a load ask him if it's going to jeopardies the rest of his or her shift. If loads are thrown back to dispatch after a shift I would suggest talking with the terminal boss. Our loads were timed and the dispatcher made up the shift accordingly. However, all the dispatchers must know those times are set on a perfect load and delivery. There are many times were a truck could get held up. So again have someone you can talk to. If you have the power to change any item on the board like ours did then just beware of the times the drivers shift runs. Hope it helps. You can PM me anytime and I'll try to answer. Just know I worked for a major oil company and we haul for no one except us. But I was the contact at the terminal for awhile so I dealt with many issues from run out to retains. We had 4 trucks that ran around the clock with 12 loads a day on a truck. We sold the most gasoline in Las Vegas so we had to hire common carriers to haul the stuff that was extra or long. The seasons in LV are much different than anywhere else. The busiest weekend is Thanksgiving Weekend. It's a four day weekend and the town is packed. Come Monday morning some of our stations are taking two loads a day. That's something because our trucks held 12,450 gallons each load. Plus there's run out all over. It's a nightmare sometimes to dispatch but I had great relations with them.

 

easy fuel requires multiple loads in a shift to make any $ on already slanted margins(for the drivers) think of it this way your best load i.e. best drop goes to who each day ? then examine the whiners what do they run? Do they drop halfway through the shift or are they onto something when it comes to the loads they pull not being very good(time consuming/little Pay/extra work on what is expected of drop) this should help atleast build a good relationship with most.

 

And you drive a TRUCK?

 

This driver wants communication. Information is everything in this business and if dispatch has knowledge of a potential situation or problem, then let the driver know in advance. If there is a potential backup at either shipper or receiver that is sort of thing the driver needs to know about.

Not all of us have GPS, Qualcomms and Smartphones. Some of us are still out here doing it old school so if dispatch knows of a traffic situation (we run the same routes all the time so it's not hard to check), again let the driver know.

Dispatch should avoid the temptation to book multiple loads days or even weeks in advance so they can have a short week. Any driver will tell you that there are far too many variables in this business to allow that to happen. If a single thing goes sideways it will mess up the entire plan.

Lastly- and to echo many other posters- don't BS us. We're adults and we can handle the truth.