how long should I give dispatch to find my next load after I notify them Im empty

The answer use to be about 2 hours. But that was before the hours of service change, because you could log the 2 hours in the bunk. And yes I would go to the truck and go to sleep for those two hours. But today I have them call me one way or the other.

 

If they're good, you should have a preplan before you even get to your final. That being said....2 hrs is plenty of time. just watch if you get a phone call from a planner asking for a 'big favor for a hot account'. Usually ends up asking you to run illegal, but wont tell ya. NEVER EVER EVER EVER EVER EVER EVER accept, EVER EVER EVER, loads over the phone. More often than not, they know you're running low on hrs, and dont want you to really look at your logbook to see if you've got the time.........EVER

 

And it would depend on the time of day at the Dispatchers office on when to call them back. If you know that they break for lunch, or have a thinner crew then, you might want to wait a bit longer. At my company the loads seem to become available at certain times of day, after 9:30AM and mid to late afternoon.

 

If its daytime dispatch then about 2-3 hours. Weekend or nights forget about it make your self comfortable your going to be waiting.

Welcome to trucking

HURRY UP!!!
and wait...

 

If they've got loads to dispatch. And aren't overworked. And aren't putting out a fire or two. And don't have other drivers to dispatch (if, again, they've got loads to dispatch) who may have been waiting longer than you. You never know.

Depends on your company. Maybe they dispatch a load as soon as they get the order from a customer; the carrier I used to drive for dispatched 85% of its loads the same day they got them. That was during an economic downturn. If things are tight, drivers sit. It sucks. Still, I'd be nice if they'd let drivers know what's going on. Hang in there.

 

FWIW, when I was OTR, I used to pester the craapp out of dispatch as soon as I was assigned a load, especially if it was a 2-3 day run. I would call in everyday and remind them what time I expected to be empty and how many hours I had available. I kept very detailed records of every load I picked up and delivered including what time of day i delivered and was re-dispatched. So if I had made a delivery in that city before, I would have knowledge of at least one load that got me out of that area and back making money. After a short time I knew which loads to ask for and sometimes I could time my phone calls right that I would get the primo load and not the garbage left over. Some markets it was better to wait till the end of the day and call in while otherness you wanted to call in first thing in the morning.
I guess what I am saying in a nutshell is YOU NEED TO COMMUNICATE! Tell dispatch your expected availability time, your available hours, and your desires. The more they know, the better they can do their job and keep you busy and happy. They will not babysit you or try to read your mind. They simply don't have the time or inclination to do that. It is up to YOU!

 

I am going to do this. Great advice!