Ask a dispatcher...anything you want to know?

Why is it so hard to get complete information?
We used to carry little books at USA that had about 20 questions on it (shipper, consignee, addys, p/u numbers, seal numbers, phone numbers, etc.) Still dispatchers send us out to the customer with little more than, "I'm here, now what do you want?" when we get to the shipper.

Also how hard is it to book a load of a DAT Board? My company has let me sit for days but I see listings on those boards that are going my way and pay better than just sitting burning fuel in a truck stop. Outbound, I could understand but backhaul? It's gotta be better taking cheap freight than just deadheading home.

 

It's not that hard.

Sometimes there just isn't any freight, like non at all. Even the bottom feeders have sucked it all up, or it ends up paying 100 dollars for a 1k mile load. But if that's the case it's not hard to tell the driver what's going on and what to expect.

As far as incomplete load info, you my friend have a lousy dispatcher and need to move on.

Most of the time my guys know how they're getting back before they leave. If they don't and they're sitting for 2 days I'm not doing my job.

 

How does a company not know where their trailers are? Every time we drop or pick up a trailer we have to qualcomm it and the location where the trailer was dropped.

Along with this, do load planners actually get all the information they need and understand it to plan us a load? Here's an example...

I was dispatched to deliver a load to a wal mart dc. It was a drop requiring me to pick up an empty trailer. Now with just this information the load planner should make sure before giving me a tight pre plan that an empty trailer is available. In addition the preplan I was given was a hot automotive load bound for detroit meaning it can not be late, and the trailer has to be less than 10 years old. Well I drop my trailer and the only empty available is a 12 yo Mcneil trailer, every driver knows you cannot pick up an automotive load with a Mcneil trailer. So now dispatch is scrambling asking me to make an assessment on the trailer to say wether the shipper will accept it for the load meanwhile time is being wasted and I'm coming close to being late for pickup which with my 14 burning faster than my 11 will put the load 10 hours late for delivery.

And shippers and receivers blame the person they see for this, which is the driver.

 

If there's no freight, how is that not doing the job? You can't make the stuff, you can't dispatch loads you don't have, and you shouldn't get yelled at by drivers who don't understand. Now, if recruiters told new-hires that sometimes there's no freight and that it's nobody's fault, customers only ship what they can sell, etc., etc. It sucks, sure, but sometimes, there's just no freight.

 

My dispatcher recently told me that I had made it to the top of her board. When she said this, I assumed it meant that if a load was available, and three drivers were sitting in an area, that whoever was higher on the board would get the load, and the other 2 would sit until more loads were available. Is this true or false?

Also, I know my dispatcher works with a planner. How much control does my dispatcher have in where i go, miles, ect. versus the planner? Or, does the planner give the dispatcher the load, then the dispatcher assigns the load to the driver?

What are dispatchers biggest pet peeves?

 

You guys didn't notice this thread was started over 7 months ago?

I don't think "miami" is still waiting for Q&A!

 

No, he's not. Jeeze ... where's that blushing smilie? Or the one with the black eye? Too late to delete now.

 

Unless the trailers have the tracking system (QuallComm or the likes) they can only go with what drivers say are being left there. If the shipper/receiver has a minimum number of trailers (by their contract) with the carrier on site, they might not be releasing any MT's to trucks...even if the driver is delivering a load.

Some shipper/receiver won't have the other trailers unloaded, using them as storage (say like around inventory time)....

Your dispatch can only work with what limited information is showing on the computer screen. And they might not have phone contact with that specific location. You know a regional planning center doing the logistics for multiple warehouses.

For your future needs...keep a notebook/journal of close locations...(all locations you deliver)... for trailers...makes it easier when you need to find one quick time!

 

Not so much as you describe...but close. If you "made it to the top"...it could mean she looks at you as a dependable, "go to" driver...so if she has a "hot load" that needs someone dependable...you are her first choice.

I don't think you would get any "special preference" in a regular load scenario though.

The "common" scenario is that your dispatcher lets the planner know she has "x" driver(s) in that particular zone, and needs that many loads for her drivers. She has the (or should have) the knowledge about her drivers where they "prefer" to run. Some like the NE, some hate the NE...some want to run West, others not....so she might have the final decision on which driver the specific loads get assigned going by the drivers preferences.

Drivers that don't p/u and deliver on time, drivers that complain about the sun coming up in the east instead of the west, drivers that don't "keep in touch" yet blame her/him for anything and everything that goes wrong!

Hope this helps...at least a little!