How are dispatchers paid?

Most are hourly. Some are salary.

 

It truly depends on the company.

But where I work, we are paid salary.

 

As Cybergal said it all depends on the company..
I like to focus in on the things that mostly effect drivers that dispatchers are paid for.. The so called performance bonuses that can and do lead to driver harassment (sometimes)..

Total mileage
Total idle time
Low out pay for items such as detention, layover ext..
on time pickup/delivery

And a few other items they get rated on as well.. if they rip drivers off by not paying layover ext.. yell at them about idle time ext.. they will get a performance bonus..

Again this would depend on the company..

 

I swear some of the dispatchers I had must have been paid by commision or performance. They pushed for running illegal.

 

My wife dispatched at 4 different companies and she was always paid salery. Now 3 of the four were for small companies(50 trucks or less) and one was for the old Burlington Motor Carriers. For her at least it was"nt a 9-5 job. We got phone calls at all hours of the night. Some justified(breakdowns,ect.)and some were not(how do I slide my tandems,please route me,and all kinds of other things a driver should know).

 

An old saying at Burlington Motor Carriers: "The better you know your driver, the better utilization you will get from your drivers" If you know what your driver is / isn't capable of then you can't very well dispatch a driver not knowing them. I'd love to know the name of a company that does this for dispatchers, the only bonus I have ever seen or heard of is "Service / Routine and Safety" I'm sure there may be other bonuses for dispatchers, but as a dispatcher, I'm not going to harass a driver over idle time when it's 30 degree's outside and have them shut there truck off! I don't go home and turn me heat off! Delivery times... as a rule of thumb always be honest with your drivers / give them the delivery/pickup time you are given, but I always like to personally check the times for my drivers. I never want my drivers to get there with no place to park, eat, use the restroom, and etc... Neither do I want him/her to be late and have to go to the back of the line or wait another day! KNOW YOUR DISPATCHER... TAKE A FEW MINUTES. WHEN YOU START OUT TRYING TO KNOW THEM, THEM KNOWING YOU... YOU WILL GET THE MILES YOU NEED, THE TIME AT HOME YOU NEED AND IF THEY KNOW YOU REAL WELL, YOU WON'T SEE A LAYOVER....

THANKS FOR LISTENING.... HOPE THIS HELPS EVERYONE...

CHESTNUT67 BETTER HALF.... (will have a login soon)

 

Ours seem to get paid on getting 14 hrs out of ya even is there is nothing to do.If it was clock time that would be different---they claim salary though---I think they get bonuses also.

 

Are you talking about the burlington that had blue COE's back in the 80's? They used to haul carpet.

 

Many give bonuses,
"you" would not say anything about fuel, just take a look around on the forum and you will find many post about dispatch saying something to them.. Heck I had sombody say something to me once and I was getting 6.3Mph at the time.. The key words I think you are not seeing are "YOU" and "Again this would depend on the company.."

Just cause "you" work well with "YOUR" drivers does not mean every dispatcher does as you did..
Or since your company didnt pay bonuses to dispatchers doesnt mean other will..

I would think that most drivers do thier best and try and get to know thier dispatcher's.. And I do agree with trying to get to know them but that in noway assures that they are going to care of you.. I have had some awful dispatchers as you probaly had a few awful drivers..