Does it do any good to tell the DM or Load planner what you want?

HAHAHAHA.

Now that I stopped laughing let me say this.

You take what you are assigned. Unless you are legitimately sick or out of hours.

Once you prove yourself over time, as in a year or more, MAYBE you get a dispatch into a general area maybe Jersey maybe Connecticut. But it's not going to be exactly where you want. It usually avoids areas you find home and family. Once a company discovers your hotspots for family etc you are dispatched AWAY from those cities because they know how to keep you moving.

 

Depends on the company and how they do things. Lots of places are very "political", and in lots of places it may only help for several days until you again fall off the radar.

But the bottom line is, you can't keep everybody happy, all the time, and it's always a give and take relationship.

 

Sure, you can tell them and most will try to accommodate your requests. You have to realize though that there will be times you have to go where you don't want because you're the driver the load fits best for due to hours, home dates, equipment requirements etc.

As a general rule, if you take the crap when you have to and get the reputation of being a team player, people will be much more willing to work with you.

 

If you are nice and help dispatch when they ask for it, the day you ask them for help is a easier day for you. That usually works out this way.

If you tell dispatch ## on a load into somewhere you don't wanna go, those elephants have VERY long memories. And #### you the day you dare ask them to go somewhere particular. Right?

 

Yep, its a give an take deal. If you get the loads delivered on time and have a decent attitude its gonna work in your favor.

 

I scratch your back, you scratch my back.

DM's are rated on a lot more than delivery times. Their fleet's mpg, CSA, idle time, etc is also measured. Make them look good and you'll be more likely to get the favors like a week at home when you've got 2 days of hometime lol
I don't know anyone who hasn't tried that one and gotten it at some point.

 

No matter what the carrier, once you empty release and your fleet manager puts you on the board as empty and available you belong to the load planner that controls the area you are in. Some times a load planner will look at your delivery time and your GPS location and pre plan you. There may be restrictions on you as far as things like hazmat goes or safety wanting your butt in a terminal so they can chew on you. However in general once that load planner puts you on a load there is not much you can do.

 

OP you will take what you are given and will like it. Don't like it, get your truck back to the terminal and clean it out.

Now the dispatcher may humor you by telling what you want to hear. Give you some corn-pone folksy reply like, "we know how you like to run." "Your time is valuable to the company." "Our drivers are our greatest asset." "If you do us this little favor we stack you." Or my favorite, "Once you prove your self we will be able to trust you with better loads." All that crap is a load. Just a little sweat nothing before bending you over. Dispatchers, planners work for themselves first, the company second, their co-workers third, the broker forth, the customer fifth.... You as a driver is not even in the top ten of their concerns.

 

The first paragraph I quoted is what I call the back end of a sentence. The first part of the sentence is #####ing about how they aren't making money. If you listen REAL close they won't even take a breath before they tell you WHY they aren't making money.

"... I don't run at night."

"... I don't go West of the Rockies".

"... I don't go East of the Mississippi."

The list is endless.

Bottom line: you want to make money in this business as a company driver? Then be willing to take ANY load ANYWHERE at ANY TIME. THAT gets noticed.

Stuck at a company terminal with a bunch of other drivers? Here's a thought: go in and ASK if they have any local deliveries they need covered. Once they have recovered from their "vapors" they might put you to work. I remember sitting at a Swift terminal with dozens of drivers sitting around #####ing and moaning about no loads. I covered four local deliveries and made $250 that day and came back to the SAME group of #####ers.

The next day like magic the planner gave me a nice long haul, ahead of drivers that had been there for days.

I'm no longer with Swift. I run to the oil fields. I'm paid on a percentage of what the truck makes. I still go by the code that you run ANY load at ANYTIME to ANYWHERE. Now I get the long haul loads, when other drivers in my terminal don't want to be gone a week. I make almost 50% of my money on weekends, when other drivers park their truck.

As a new company driver on a mega fleet I would encourage new drivers to take the load. Run with it. Service the hell out of the customer. TALK ("Gasp") to the planners. Figure out what THEY are up against. Help THEM.

Look, if you ever plan to have your own truck and your own customers OR relationship with brokers, start building a reputation as the driver that can get #### DONE.