Dealing with Dispatch

I have tried, being the GO TO guy for all scrapes in hopes of getting something good sooner or later, tried bribing them, tried asking nicely and going to management...at my last job.
I finally gave up being nice. Would tell them NO. Laugh at them and ask them if they been smoking dope. I would refuse and tell them if they want me to drop the trailer to let me know. I finally told them to not even call if they don't have anything worth a sht. All the sudden loads would pop up. All the sudden no more garbage loads.
I later found out after I quit that certain drivers were sleeping with the girls in the office. Some of them would smoke weed together. Then I found out that a oo who had 5 trucks would pay 500$ a week to a girl to make sure his trucks ran in the day time and were on good paying runs.
I finally had a bad day and told them to fug off Im tires of playing games and quit.

 

Me too. Push it beyond the limit and they'll expect you to go beyond the limit (legal or otherwise) every time. I'll push it a little bit for a nice high-mileage load that promises a fat paycheck, but not for those little short hops that pay less than the cost of pushing it, if y'knowhatimean.

I have learned not to trust the so-called "planners" where I work, though. I left a luxurious Petro truckstop only to end up overnighting on a side street in Chicago because a planner couldn't be bothered with making a phone call to the customer. The same thing happened in Miami - again simply because a "planner" said it would be okay to deliver early, but didn't bother to check with the customer. Now I don't ask the so-called "planners." I call the customer directly even though I'm "not supposed to" when I have any questions about appointments.

I don't "shine," I suppose, like I did when I first started. But when my trust is betrayed, especially more than once, I guess I don't need to shine so much. I still want to, but I'll find some other way to do it.

-Robin

 

If I get flack from my pencil pusher I first explain what's going on. If I get an idiot response I ignore it ,it's not worth talking to a fool , then I allow myself to imagine his face turning all red & his head popping off! Makes me laugh & I go on with what's needed.

Was assigned a load clearly stating I should take a 48', but load was put on a 53'. Informed dispatch of such & told to take it anyway. Tried calling the con/consignee, no answer. Since it wasn't very far away I took load. Upon arriving I parked the truck on the road before entering their driveway to scout out what it looked like. Sure enough it didn't look good so I informed dispatch but was told to unload it anyway! .I told the con the only way I would try to dock is if they gave me some spotters which after a lot of complaining they did. It took 35mins to back in with spotters on both sides! The con said they were never going to accept another 53' again as they had told my company too many times never to send 53'. My company lost the contract, oh well!

Dispatchers especially new ones can be completely clueless as to what we go through. Some of the crazy things I've actually been told are: to go down restricted roads; to just get a jumpstart & keep running with 4 dead batteries in the middle of winter; to go get an MT only to find out that the MT was given away yesterday wasting my precious drive hours; was told to drive a truck 3hrs away to a terminal with broken fan bearing; was told to drive 75mi on a blowout; have been told MANY times to take a load somewhere when it was clear I didn't have time on my clock; told to just shutdown at the place when it was clearly written they didn't have overnight parking....I could go on & on.

Absolutely! Out of 12 different dispatcher over the course of 8 yrs (I was a floater meaning they would switch me from account to account filling in for drivers who took time off) I only had 2dispatchers that had respected & listened to what I would tell them, one of them being a former driver. Those were the times I actually enjoyed driving.

You're right about that. I've come to believe since most people don't start jobs being hateful, yet they become hateful, it's from the pressures placed upon them in their job. In realizing that is a fact, while you're still with this company anyway, you've got to find a way to let it go for your own sanity. Become like a duck, just let the water roll off your back. It's not healthy for you to be stressed out all the time. Personally I took a month off every yr to recoup, tried to eat healthy, took extra vitamins for the stress, made sure I got plenty of sleep & refused to answer the phone from dispatch if I knew I was only going to be told something crazy. From the sounds of your post, it's time for you to put in some apps elsewhere. Good luck.

 

When the job starts affecting your health, it is time to move on. If you are having nightmares about your job, it is time to move on. If you get no respect on your job, but have never shown disrespect yourself, it's time to move on.
Life is just way too short to waste your time at a job that you are not happy with!

 

One of the problems in the business world in general is using email when a phone call should be made. I learned long ago that email should only be used to convey fact and figure based information or questions that can be answered yes/no. "What time will you be leaving your stop" can be done by email. "Why is it taking so long?" needs a phone call. People tend to read emotions into emails and a lot of times they read something completely different than what you meant to write. The best idea is to just pick up the phone when you can.