Who Is In Charge

Lots of good info above... The dispatcher position sure does have numerous names/titles, but it seems very common that whatever they're called many of those folks have a major ego/attitude to feel superior over us drivers. Needless to say, it sucks to be in that type of a working situation as nobody deserves to be treated like a doormat.

 

Everyone within your company should be part of the driver's support team. If I were to fail the company I would expect to catch heat. If my support staff fails me, the driver, they will feel the heat. Everyone should be held accountable for their failures.

 

Where I am, we have a symbiotic relationship. I don't have a dispatcher assigned to me. We have regional dispatchers, meaning when I unload what I have, the dispatcher for that region is then responsible for getting my next load, and covers any issues for that load till its received.

I keep a very good line of communication with them, so if there is an issue, they know as soon as I do. Because of that, I've had zero issues with dispatch. That being said, if I did something wrong, I would fully expect to hear from.. someone. Not sure if it would be dispatch though.

They are as responsible for my load as I am. I am responsible for my truck, trailer and freight I am carrying, so any safety issue is on me.

Love where I work, my Qualcomm is sooo quiet!

 

DM's are the 1st line of defense in a company, they should have the heart of the matter in hand as to if a load can or cannot be delivered safely by a driver before the load is assigned, but in a lot of cases a computer is generating a load and does not see the human side of the equation. Having a company who uses macro's of time availability is one good way to keep the DM on track with what you can or cannot do, but I think some companies have no clue what this is, or they do not utilize the concept. One bad scenario is where a trucker has unloaded a load the night before, sits and waits all day for a new load, it gets close to bedtime and voila they send you a new load; you are ready to go to sleep because you have been up most of the day waiting, they don't see it that way they want you to run. It is a hard act to balance sometimes. In a case like this a DM may have a fit if you turn the load down.

All companies have their good and bad days, and DM's that can seem to make the job go easier or some that may be the DM from hell. And sometimes you might have to get logs or safety involved if there is a major problem. Time management is a game, and the driver needs to do the best they can do and still be safe. Proving to a DM that you can handle the loads without too many hitches may take a couple of months, but well worth the investment.