dispatcher horror stories...let's hear 'em!

lol. posted something and couldn't figure out how to remove it so put that in. Post disappeared but the random comment remained.

 

The laws on recording conversations without the knowledge of both parties involved vary from state to state but you might want to be very careful doing this.

 

didn't know there were recipes for those....

 

1 lot lizard
1/2 Benjamin

Time to completion may vary.

 

I'm sorry i didn't mean to debate with you in public using political correctdness.

 

I had a JBH dispatcher, intentionally send me to Houston,TX, in 2008, during the time when the two hurricanes( they were about 2-3 weeks apart) went through there. Fortunately, I was able to drop both loads on the yard in Houston, and bobtail to Dallas. I had to fight tooth and nail, in order to T-call the loads. Traffic was horrendous, and all of the truck stops in the immediate vicinity were out of fuel.

 

^ That is just horrible. Why would he intentionally send you through a hurricane zone?


One Friday morning, when I worked for PAM, my dispatcher gave me a load by Chicago going to Tucson, AZ. When I hooked up to the trailer and looked at the BOL, I noticed it had been loaded in NY, sent by rail to Chicago, to be trucked to Tucson. No idea why, didn't ask, didn't care. The BOL was correct in that the final destination was, indeed, in Tucson, AZ.

The problem was that my dispatcher or the load planner had put the info into the system incorrectly.

By Saturday evening, I had made it close to Albuquerque, NM, ate, and went to bed.

02:00 or so, the Qual-comm beeps. And for those of you who work with Qual-comms, you know that horrendous beeping noise, and how it won't quit until you read the message, or shut the volume off - but you don't dare shut the volume off, because an "urgent message" might come across that needs to be read immediately.

So I finally wake up and read the Qual-comm messages (3 of them) that was sent by night dispatch in the middle of the night.

"Brandon, why are you in New Mexico?"

hehehehehehehehehehehehe

Next one read "Brandon, please call dispatch ASAP."

The last one - "Brandon, please give us a call at xxx-xxx-xxxx. Why aren't you answering your phone? You are 1,300 miles out of route."

Oh boy, I knew I was going to have fun with them


So I called them, sounding all worried. I'm sure they were thinking "OMG this noob is 1,300 miles out of route."

I think they thought the load was supposed to be going TO New York state, not FROM NY to AZ.

To make a long story short, I feigned ignorance, let them believe I was going back to the shipper, got them getting all their panties in a bunch, LMAO it was probably the funnest thing I ever did to dispatch. After a couple minutes, I let them in on what had happened, and that my load was indeed going to Tucson, and that the BOL did confirm that.

I had to feel sorry for them, though, when dispatching for PAM, realizing that probably a good 50% of their drivers haven't even had their CDL for a full year. I would hate to have had their job, and would have hated to hear the computer system beeping that one of their trucks is 1,300 miles out of route.

I wonder, though, if they had ever actually found someone that far out of route that wasn't actually supposed to be where they were?

 

Well I can understand not wanting to run with faulty malfunctioning equipment. They just don't get it and it's nice to see you put that dirt bag in his place! It's a good thing you were able to move on to another job without the incident being put on your DAC as an abandonment of load and truck. 58mm? Got it!!!

 

When I start to believe all is well and will run smooth I get reminded it's an illusion, so, I tend to expect problems, sometimes predictable, with every load. Last assignment, a 15/20 minute live load took 3 hours because a person(s) loading at the shipper failed to mention he/they were finished, I was told someone would let me know at the window of the truck when complete. shipping is behind a door where they buzz one in, a bathroom visit behind that door then slipping by the shipping office settled that one. of course who knew a driver would run out of fuel in front of me while backed into the dock. squeaked on by that one, According to dispatch, (planners) This same load was suppose to be a drop n hook which turned into a 4 hour live unload. As this assignment progressed at the shipper I thought it best to allow time for more of the probable unseen problems, One more to add to the possibles.

Sometimes I think those involved like to test your breaking point and play games. How bout those loads that add drive time or simply hours to a day with out pay all in the name of zip code to zip code, I can go on There's a lot of them... Oh the joys

 

Because he was a JBH dispatcher, and I was a newbie at the time. They would not let me switch dispatchers. I had no problems with my previous dispatcher. His boss kept defending his actions, and said he was a wonderful guy. I told both of them (the dispatcher and his boss) that I was not having any problem, until I got on Roy's board. I was told never to mention anything about my previous dispatcher again. I ran across four other drivers that were on his board, and guess what?... WE WERE ALL HAVING THE SAME PROBLEMS. Imagine that. I was blessed to be able to stick it out, and get my year in. Once I got my year in, I went somewhere else.
I will say that JBH hired me with only three months experience. But then again I had a week that I only made $13.64. And that was for taking a safety class that paid $30. I thought that was bad, until I talked to another JBH driver in Jacksonville,FL. We were both unloading,at a place that recycles cardboard off the 295; and I told him about my $13.64 check, then he told me his check was $11.42. And that was from taking the safety class. And here is on for the road... I picked a load up from the yard in Forest Park, it delivered at the Atlas Warehouse 10 miles away. I was told I would get short haul pay, which was a lie. Long story short, I was at Atlas for 8.5 hours and (drum roll please)...............I ONLY GOT PAID $3.30.