advice for dealing with FM, dispatch, planners

Tell them exactly what you expect and if they can't do that, then ask them where they want you to park the truck. They'll know what you mean.

Just kidding. Don't threaten to quit unless you really mean it and have something else lined up.

I believe the issues you described will always be a part of trucking to some degree.

Send in your request for information on your communication device so there is a written trail of you trying to get the right information. You can't be held accountable for information that you don't have if they choose to ignore your requests.

I frequently had these problems when I did refrigerated. Many of the customers are located in some cold storage facility with only the name of the cold storage facility on the sign.

It can be very frustrating. I generally recommend to new drivers to tough it out for a year with their first company. Focus on improving your driving skills, trip planning, and avoiding violations & property damage. Then you will be able to jump ship to about 80% of what's out there.

 

In years past 'Dispatchers' had a different job then they do today. Today we have cell phones, computer routing and planning, and Qualcom messaging. It is a whole different job if you take those tools out of the operation. So much so that the job is way different at a small company than it is a the type of company you apparently work at (with 80 drivers to a dispatcher). So I am concentrating my response on what is applicable to you situation not a small company dispatcher. OK?

Your dispatcher (in a big trucking company) is just a firewall. That is a barrier between those that can solve you issue and you. For the most part, they are there to take the call and that is it. If it doesn't involve a accident or direct customer service, the dispatcher is not that concerned with it. This is not totally insidious because many truck drivers have too many issues that take no time to solve themselves. Sorry but that is the way it is.

They don't want to talk to you anyway. Your dispatcher has 80 or so folks to answer to. That gets old real quick on a daily basis.

They don't care. Once the plan is off the planners desk and you approved it, they just made it your problem. Solve your problem. Do you due diligence and record the faults on the qualcom and go on with your job. They make money no matter how much hassle you go through so they don't care.

Some CSR has there ### in a ringer and the office staff is looking for someone that will take responsibility. Don't take the crap just give it back as it is deserved.

While there are occasional a--holes on night dispatch, most problems stem from the driver not understanding night dispatch. Night dispatch is not day shift. Different responsibilities. Nights job is to make sure the crap planned on days happens by morning. Nothing else. If you ask for more, you are the failure. If nights won't cooperate with their job ask "where do you what me to park the trailer." Get a name, get it over the qualcom, go to sleep and take care of it in the morning. Attitudes usually change long before that happens.

Unless you are the driver that reads the manual, no one else in the company knows company policies. They make them up as they go along, and most drivers never know the difference or call them out on it. So, what they say goes.

They don't want to pay you; get over it. Your dispatcher does not care if you get paid. In fact his job may be to make sure you don't get paid. Contact payroll, get satisfaction there or move on.

Yup. Just the crap companies, but there are a lot of them.

 

Try putting the address into Google (without the company name). The distributor name will probably appear in the search results.