Do dispatchers and load planners bully drivers?

At bad companies, or under a petty dispatcher? Sure.

 

There are good and bad dispatchers.

Sometimes drivers think a dispatcher is retaliating when they're not. If a driver only wants to work when the sun is up, has a laundry list of lanes they don't want to run, and doesn't want to run over 500 miles a day, they're going to end up with low miles and bad loads. I've always been under the mindset that taking loads without complaint and running hard will work out better in the long run. 1000 miles to New Jersey is better than some junk 200 mile load that doesn't deliver for 36 hours.

Sometimes it's just luck of the draw. A driver might get stuck on a multi stop, low mileage load sometimes. It's nothing personal, it's just a customer needing a load covered and a driver being in the wrong place at the wrong time. A good dispatcher will make a mental note and give a 'good run' when possible to offset it if a driver gets stuck with a few bad runs, but it's not an obligation by any means.

Some dispatchers are just bad, childish, and rude. Intentionally giving a driver bad loads, always being short and acting annoyed on the phone. The worst ones are the ones that act like it's the drivers fault that a truck broke down, the PU number was wrong, or any other thing that was at no fault of the driver. I'm sure dispatching is frustrating, but it's not a good feeling being a driver and feeling guilty every time you need to ask em something.

 

You’ll find some dispatchers have talent, some suck.
Developing a relationship with them helps in most cases, and you’ll find you get better loads.
I find that queen i take one for the team on one day, I’m almost guaranteed to get gravy loads the next day or two to make up for the rough day.
There’s always loads that gotta get covered yesterday, and by doing them the “favor” it lessens their headaches and benefits me in the long term.
Don’t be that guy that’s high maintenance and needy and overly restrictive on what you’ll do.
That gets you corn holed into crap loads every time.
I know we have a couple drivers that do that, and rarely get those gravy loads that pay exceptionally well, instead they consistently get those crap loads nobody wants.
The loads gotta get covered, somebody gotta do it, but whether you get gravy on the back side or more trash is totally dependent on the drivers attitude with dispatch.
I find that being the driver that’ll do whatever comes my way without fussing about it makes me more money and gets me better loads overall.
You don’t want to deal with people that whine about everything, what makes anyone think that they do?

 

Put the Dispatcher in their place and let them know immediately that you're not putting up with their b.s. Most think they can bully a driver however thats only if that driver allows it.

 

No, I doubt it. Dispatchers have been the focus of most jokes, but they have an incredibly difficult job, and the floor sweeper may make more. Dispatchers are usually overwhelmed and have no time for what you describe. They are all business. Tell you what, donuts or a lunch will do wonders for your paycheck, trust me.

 

“You either go get that load of 21 bundles of plywood from port of Blah blah, or bring your truck back to yard and take your signs off,”

You. “Call and see what it weighs, usually 16 bundles of plywood is max.”

“Go get load or just come home, clean your truck out.”

When you’re sitting in AR from port of NJ
the next day then they want to know what you’re doing there while talking through the office window behind a locked building.

While cleaning truck out, they’ll send a lady from office out to ask if you would move your truck around back of the yard be other drivers, which you’ve known for years, and they get upset when you tell their messenger, to send a message back, “that when you get your stuff, they can park that truck wherever they want.”


Personal Experience.

 

I was never bullied in 28 years but I also didn't work for whatever company would hire me. Make good choices. When you are assigned a load ALWAYS report what your ETA for pickup/delivery will be. Whenever you are asked "can you be in X by 6am?" Answer with "I'll have to let you know, I have to do some math first." The do the math with a generous fudge factor and add at least one hour and report that as "I think I can just barely make it by ...". As soon as you agree or don't reject their impossible appointment they will say "He agreed to be 3,000 miles away in 15 minutes." No matter what ETA you provide to your company, they will tell any shipper/receiver the load is late because you overslept, got lost, lost all your money overnight at a casino, etc. I've had a dispatcher tell a customer while I was standing beside her your freight should be there in 30 minutes and then hang up and ask If I could make he delivery she was talking about.

Confirm every appointment time and any important details directly with the customer and give them the ETA you calculated yourself. Just because someone types an appointment time on a form doesn't mean it's possible. If they really needed to know when it would be delivered they would have asked the driver BEFORE they set the appointment time. Anytime you feel the company might be bullying you, send them a text message or Qualcomm (not Quelcomm) message asking if "are you asking me to drive beyond my Hours of Service legal limits which only allow X or do I misunderstand?" or "As I stated in our phone call, due to the terrible weather conditions at X, my ETA will be1100 local time, which is 2 hours after the appointment time and includes the 3 hours of delay caused by the shipper." They will want to do all of the shady communication by voice. Also, put your phone on Do Not Disturb when you sleep. If the world will end at 2 am because you are asleep, better to sleep through it. It's not your job to make every impossible dream come true. It's your job to keep a spotless record. Nobody else on the planet has that job. If you don't do it, it won't get done. Don't work for bad companies, don't work for companies you don't know if they are bad or not. Never work for a company where you haven't talked to current working drivers doing the job you are considering taking. No Exception.

 

No, they do not bully drivers. They’re some of the most loving, caring people I’ve ever been around. I thought of my first dispatcher as my Mother figure.