How do I become a dispatcher?

It all depends, most folks here are describing a company dispatcher, and what it takes. I am a 3rd party dispatcher helping out owner-operators who ask for it, essentially they give me the parameters of what they want and I go to work, the only stress I have felt is when something falls through, but that has been extremely rare, but with other guys, mainly LTL stuff, I felt the stress of not keeping them loaded, so I've limited myself in what I am willing to work with as I grow and it's been great, right now, I am averaging about 25% more than what the guys I've worked with need, and I definitely have room to learn and improve upon that.

I think being a company dispatch is completely different than what I do, not sure I would want to be a company dispatcher to be quite honest.

 

One of the best dispatchers I ever had was NOT an ex-driver. Did not hold a CDL.

I still think a specific type of person, not their previous experience or lack thereof as a driver, has more bearing on whether that person will be a good dispatcher. Certainly being an ex-driver will help that person understand what is going on "on the outside", but it doesn't necessarily lead to success at the desk.

 

The question I would ask myself is can I look my self in the mirror every morning being just another sucking on the drivers teet?

 

I'm not going to participate in the band-wagon mentality that dispatchers are this way. Yes, we've joked about it, but let's face it...how many scum-sucking drivers are just as bad as the dispatchers you disparage here?

It works both ways.

 

You don't ever want to be a company dispatcher. Having someone looking over your shoulder all the time blows. Continue working for yourself like we do and just stay motivated.

I have no CDL, I have no trucking experience. My father has been in the industry for 54 years and I've learned everything I know from him... including how to treat people. You develop relationships, you treat people fairly, and you treat them like you'd want to be treated. You can't fail if you follow those guidelines.

Thank you!

 

I would agree that there are some "scum-sucking drivers" out there, but the "works both ways" I will have to disagree. At most companys the dispatcher gets the title as "Boss" and more often than not they do not have the skills or understanding to deserve such a title. Most of the time just the title goes to thier head and truly destroys whatever people skills they might have had. If loads arrive on time consistantly it's due to a successful dispatcher, but if a load is late it's always the drivers fault, regardless of the dispatcher's understanding of hours of service and the ability to count to 10 or 14. It's the driver that takes on the larger responsblity and sacrifice. The dispatcher sleeps in his own bed, gets to shower every day, gets to eat breakfast, lunch, and dinner, and usually has a toilet 10 feet from his desk in a climate controlled atmosphere. When a dispatcher figures time vs distance on a load, he has software that tells him a " as the crow flys" miles distance that is vastly different than hub miles. They never figure time for fuel stops,road construction, rush hour, never mind the driver's needs of using the restroom or eating. Is it any wonder why drivers have such a dim view of dispatchers. They expect you to shove a cork up your ###, tie your pecker in a knot, don't eat, give up sleep all to make a fantasy delivery time that has no basis in reallity. They treat their dogs better than thier fellow human beings/coworkers. Don't get me started on the ones that want you to load or unload during your ten hour break, or move the truck around while in sleeper berth. Frankly most dispatchers I know can't find their ### with both hands!

 

You use the word "most". You say you have two years experience. Do you come from a trucking family? It just seems to me you have a lot of preconceived ideas that are vague at best.

Yes, being tied to "what the computer says" is one of my biggest pet peeves. It has gotten far worse in recent years, I completely agree with you. But your accusations are just as bad as someone saying "all drivers stink", or "all drivers have the IQ of a squash", or "all drivers with only two years experience have no clue as to what they're talking about".

It does work both ways.

 

Yes very perceptive of you. Dads Dad was a lifelong driver, Moms Dad was a lifelong driver, My brother is a lifelong driver and yes my close cousin Brian is a dispatcher who I respect very much. Got my CDL 2009 after the company I worked for for 30 years went under in the begining of the automotive crash, just started using that CDL the last couple years. At 50 years of age I have been around trucking all my life, hell I can even respect your opinion although it comes from 12 short years in the business. I'll have to agree to disagree with you. The driver by far is strapped with the greater responsibility and sacrifice.

 

Well, you can let all that stuff bother you, stress over it, cuss about it, swap sob stories with other drivers. Or you can rise above it and roll with it. Dispatchers are famous for their sometimes unrealistic expectations but the captain of the ship decides when yea or nay... I was never pushed around by any dispatcher the key thing to making life much easier is communication.... They can't read your mind... You can't always get things across that q-comm in quiet the same manner as picking up a phone and having a reasonable discussion... I always found if I was able to work with someone they never seemed to have any problem working with me... Way off topic but he's right, it does work both ways...

 

Absolutely works both ways, I've worked with drivers who simply refused everything I put in front of them for one reason or another, which is absolutely their right, but they ended up taking less money for more miles in the long run.

I've also had drivers who let me "run" their truck and they are satisfied. I expect the driver to communicate with me and tell me he can't do something due to HOS etc, I expect the driver to communicate about each run that I book for him. I generally overestimate on time so I rarely run up against HOS, but if I have any doubt, I don't book, contact the driver, ask him, and then go with what he says, I've done that a few times and found that the calculations I had were fantasy so we passed on loads, but that was because the driver was upfront and honest.

I've had drivers that love to drive during the day, drivers that love driving during the day, I am not going to babysit a driver and ask him each day how his HOS are, I expect them to communicate if they are running tight on it then I can build some breathing room back into his loads, other than that, they are grown men running their business, I expect them to act like that.

Again, probably different for company dispatchers.