Dealing with Dispatch

Friday afternoon I figured I was done as it was 3 pm, I was about 40 min from the barn and I finished my run..nope. I see "1 new stop assignment" and when I clicked on it, it was a good 40 min away and I know they were close to closing. I said "Cedar Knolls?" and got back "yeah..hurry" So I sent back "Good thing I'm close by"..got back "Your sarcasm is ugly and undesirable"...so I just said the hell with it and went for broke with "So is your face" and got back "My office when you come in"--Of course I did a 12 hr shift and she left at 4 on the button, so there was no meeting.

Basically, I get a crap ton of cynicism, sarcasm, ridiculous ridiculous..RIDICULOUS expectations. I work in East Orange and the surrounding area most of the time, given to me because the other driver hit every bridge there and all the other drivers are afraid of the area. So, as you know a tough area makes P&D work that much harder. Back to what I was saying...aside from driving that rig to the best of my ability and putting my skill set to work everyday, because I do personally believe that is IS a skill set and you sign your name on everything you do..I drive that rig right for ME..but aside from that? My goal is to make every single hair on my dispatcher's head to turn gray and fall out.

To quote John Rambo "I'm your worst nightmare."

Time to give it right back...also my PT job said if I get a TWIC card I'd have a pretty nice local gig in the future, so mouthing off never seemed like a better idea

 

Yeah man you hit the nail on the head here. I personally feel that anyone in a dispatch or supervisor position should have a mandatory min of 2 years wheel time. If for whatever reason they're in that position without that time, then they have to do ride a longs with the P&D guys at least once a month.

My terminal manager isn't a "bad" guy but he is a great BS'er and has to have his hand in everything which usually makes matters worse. He drove a little bit so he understands to a point..but he also likes to tell people he was a "seasoned" driver before getting the position. All of the senior guys laugh at that. He drove here and there. Line haul a few times, P&D a handful of times and that's about it. Still something is better than nothing.

The flip side to that is the last dispatcher we had who was only in there because of back problems, which led to pill problems, was a decent driver BUT he had the "I woulda been able to do that" syndrome. Everything you did he could have done in it a 53, blind backing through an intersection during a snow storm while drinking coffee and rescuing a cat out of a tree. I think that's why he get's a long with the manager so much.

They were the kids in school that had the hottest girlfriends...at summer camp of course. Also caught record breaking big mouth bass...but it slipped out of their hands right back in the water before they could take a pic. Good times...jackwagons.

 

I seriously might print this out and hand it in with my paperwork!