Who Is In Charge

This is the type of thing that really gets me going. A dispatcher is a load planner and that is it. Ever heard the term "No forced Dispatch". That term is used because the driver is free to do whatever he or she wants to do. Can a dispatcher fire you? Up to the company. But the dispatcher does not bring in revenue. The driver does.

A company that is well organized will understand the importance of team work and a good Dispatcher will do everything they can to keep the drivers happy. Because drivers happiness equals company success.

Any proper ###-kissing should require the driver to stand up.

 

You should be a team, and thus on the same level. They are also told to enforce rules though. If you have a safety violation, or do something wrong, they are the person that talks to you about it.

As an O/O, i feel my disbatcher works for me. Its his job to keep my truck moving, and if he cant do that, i don't need him or the company. He is also the office staff that works as a intermidary between me and customers. He solves ishues for me like appointment times and such

He also is the one that is in charge when it comes to paper work. If safty, or any to her department have a problem with me, he is the one that talkes to me. So in that way, he is in charge. Really, a good dispatcher is your bridge to the company. They need to work for you and make you happy...making sure you get good freght and your needs are taken care of, but they also need to do the same for the other department in the company. Really, its a true team. They sometimes are your boss and sometimes you are there's.

 

I like to say the squeaky wheel gets the grease, but the one that's squeaks to much gets replaced. Stand up for yourself, but dont piss him off. You are a team and if your not his "GOTO" driver because you complain to much, you wont get his best fright.

 

At Watkins Shepard, dispatch and OOs are a team. Anything goes wrong you go tot the OOs Supervisor or Safety and tell them you ahve a problem and give them a solution. It helps to say, "Hey, they just cost you $2500.00 by not loading me in Rockwell for somewhere like Atlanta and I only had 1 sheet of Aluminum which could have gone on top for Southern Indiana. It never happens twice and no one gets mad. I loved all those people, everyone in WS was workign on your side.

 

As long as they don't send me to NYC or anywhere that requires travel on I95 I am happy.

 

A good driver manager is essential to your success in this industry. I have been very lucky on that in that Ive had some of the best. They are considered your supervisor by the company but you do a good job for them, they will make sure you make money and will also stand with you if others in the company want to hassle you. That's been my experience anyway.

 

Pretty good for a starter company. Wish the pay was there.

 

Well said. I believe only bosses with frail egos feel the need to constantly remind the underlings that they are in charge.

 

Husband started in 2008 at USX. He had some terrible DM's and some great ones. This was in the day when one DM would try to get you to swap a load for one of his drivers where that driver would get more miles, some of them were really bad about this esp on the weekend.

He has been at CR England, L/O and did well when they wanted to give you the miles, otherwise they would starve you out. He didn't turn down loads unless there was no way he could deliver it legally.

He is at Prime now, was company and had a great DM, there have been a couple of times there was no way to pu and deliver the load legally. DM took care of it and reassigned another load.

He is now lease again and has a different DM. There have been some loads that have had to have a lot of thought behind to get delivered, and some there was no way. Once again, let DM know if there is a problem. He is still working on the relationship with his now that he has since he went lease. His old DM sometimes got to hear an earful, they are like someone to go to to complain too that just listen, but that may take a few months to build up to.

I agree that certain shifts have no clue and are just there in case something happens. I know DM's though have their work cut out for them. And for either side company or lease, they pretty much leave you alone. They assign the load, you do your thing and get the next load. They do not sit over your shoulder hawking. Of course if it maybe someone they have problems with, that maybe another story. Company you are supposed to drive the route given, sometimes the fuel stop may change that. As lease you go whatever way you want as long as it is legal, you are paying for the fuel.

I hope your husband does ok, but ultimately if he is a company driver, he needs to stick to whatever they dictate within reason. Keep the line of communication open. I know at USX a lot of times the loads would be cutting it close to being late when they were assigned, he got to where he would send them ETA as to what time he could make it there, it may not have been what they actually had on the order. And he needs to remember he is captain of his ship, no matter what they pull, if he is on elogs it keeps them more compliant with keeping him legal, even on paper logs if he can't do it legal he needs to let them know and not move, it is not worth the risk of his CDL