Your views on Dispatchers

Best dispatcher I ever worked with was in the 80's when I drove with Machinery Hauling. Her name was Sharon, the owners daughter. She was on tap every time, and kept the trucks moving. Good family environment to work in. She gave me the news in 1988 that my daughter was already born and had a name, I called in from a Truckstop in PA to get that news, roll on in here Jim, just be careful she said.
Jim Landis was good at H&W trucking in Ona, WV, he had his moments but was good for the most part. They now are Best Specialized in South Point, OH.
Dispatcher at Powers Enterprise was a prick, no knowledge and no people skills.

 

A driver manager is different from a dispatcher.

 

Actually that's not true.

In many companies, they're one in the same.

 

There is a chain of command in the office, tricklenomics. A piece of software can act as a dispatcher automically.

 

When I was at Stevens they were separate. Here at Muñoz, they are the same.

 

My current DM is the VP of Operations. Dispatch is separate.

 

At the 1st company I was at many many years ago, I had many dispatchers the best were 2 different female dispatchers...both were the greatest. In fact, the 1st one treated me so good, I (jokingly) told her that if she ever needed someone bumped off...let me know...she was so good at her job, she moved up the ladder quickly...in between I had dispatchers that I had religious differences with (they thought they were God, and I didn't agree), the 2nd lady and I had an agreement...NEVER LIE TO EACH OTHER. I told her that I know sometimes freight sucks or a load is going to a lousy freight area that is tough to get freight out of...but I'm a big boy, if you have to put me on a suckey load...don't sugar coat it or beat around the bush, just tell me, I'll take my fair share of the crappy loads as long as I get my share of the decent runs...the only reason I lost her as a dispatcher was because I opened my mouth via the Q/comm telling her how happy and satisfied I was working for her...in fact it was the happiest I had been since I started with them...2 weeks later they moved me to a new dispatcher who had just moved over from being a CSR to dispatch...2 months later I quit because they refused to move me off his board, and he was driving me bankrupt. Years after I left, I would still pop by their office and chat or buy her lunch (and no, it wasn't "that" kind of relationship...she had moved to that location because her girlfriend was promoted and moved to that office 1st)

My current company only has 2 Outbound dispatchers...1 who dispatches loads for our biggest plant, whom I get along with fine. And the other, who dispatches loads for the other 2 smaller plants, and I get along with sometimes... and other times our religious differences get in the way (same differences as above). Our backhauls are thru brokers...'nuf said there.

 

I just called the office and the Vice President answered, he sometimes takes calls in the AM. He called me Art, which is my father in laws name. Talking smack about each other is a running gag between the three of us.

Gotta love a small company.