Do dispatchers make good money?

Training for Dispatchers?

You should be a comedian

 

It varies from company to company. WHen I was with Knight, My Dispatcher with several years experience made around 40k with 50-60 hours per week M-F and every other Saturday. My Current guy with a different company get salary, but also gets a bonus based on his performance(how his drivers do) and I think some other things. No of the our guys drive super nice cars or anything, except the Terminal Manager.

 

I dispatched for a bakery in Canada. Fleet of 120 trucks and about 200 trailers. Starting pay was 21,13, +2$ per hour after 3 months + benifits...
It was good money but my wife told my I was pretty agitated while sleeping! It was an 8 hour shift and I only 1 dispatch per shift for the whole fleet. Never had time to take 5 minutes off. I was always on the phone or writing e-mails. Planning all the loads, schedeling appointments, booking loads, road service call, trailer maintenance.

For the training part, I didnt get any. I was thrown there! Maybe not the best way to learn but I already knew a lot. I worked as a broker for them for 4 years and still did while dispatching. ( never took advantage of my position)

 

Depends on where you go, I started around 32, currently doing a job around 45, had offers as high as 75K.

 

Depending on experience it starts in the mid 30,s and goes up.
Depending on the company, you either come in green and learn, often the first job out of college or you are a former driver (as I am) and come in and learn.
As a driver, you have a heads up obviously. The company I am with starts former drivers at a higher rate than someone straight out of school.
It all depends on where you are based. I am in Texas. Wages here are significantly lower than SoCal where I had my company.
But then the cost of living is significantly lower as well.
Dispatchers are trained on the job.
Depending on how well that company trains will determine if you turn over as fast as drivers.
Once you get to the inside, you see a whole different light on drivers that will shock you.
Usually good companies with low driver turnover will hire experienced dispatchers only...just like drivers.
Training companies train drivers, dispatchers, office personnel, safety persons, janitors, parking lot sweepers....
Shifts and benefits vary. I am happy with my package, but it took me a couple years to get there.

 

I worked dispatch briefly for a local propane hauler with 133 drivers.

It really wasn't my thing, so now I'm in school to drive.

My start salary was 45k/yr with a transportation and logistics background.

Training was OJT.

 

Dispatchers do especially well with owner-operator focused companies. The #1 fear of these managements is that a dispatcher will leave and take 5 or 6 Rigs with him (as many as he can before he's caught)....and then broker them for maybe Landstar or some other. So these outfits understandably pay their Dispatch crew pretty nicely, an incentive to stay loyal and resist the temptation to jump ship.

 

I would imagine satan would reward those who eat babies and perform satanic rituals.

But is it worth it?

 

There was a thread on this subject yesterday. The basic answer is "NO" dispatchers don't make good money;the drivers make more. Sure, there are exceptions to any rule, but the most fair answer is "NO."