DRIVERS!! Please have a candid discussion w/ a dispatcher who cares!

Go out on a ride along with one of the drivers if you can. We tried that not long after I started here, but never heard anything else again about it.

Maybe not enough interest from who knows.

Never hurts to see what the other side is going through. I did some dispatch at my other job and it has its own stresses especially if drivers are impatient, which I am fully aware of.

 

Not just in trucking but any transportation operation 9 out of 10 dispatchers only care about getting the work covered to cover their own rear. Even if that means running a driver into the ground. I like driving but generally loathe dealing with dispatchers. If I could dispatch myself I would be much better off and happier.

 

Me2..
Ive seen good drivers fired once at a company because the dispatchers tail was n trouble on a Monday morning when loads wernt covered..

 

i never have trouble with dispatchers cause with me they know right up front that im the captain of the ship and the ship only sails when i say its safe to do so ...end of story or as i like to say "this aint burger king ..ya get the sob my way or ya dont get it at all "

 

I figure my job as a driver is to get the freight delivered on time. If I can't do that, then I need to let someone know as soon as possible - so the customer can be notified, and the load can be rescheduled for delivery - or relayed. If I have a problem on the road - any problem - I expect to be able to reach someone that can help, and not be ignored - ever. As others have said - communication is key. I also believe that if I haven't worn your shoes, and you haven't worn mine - then 'we' don't know anything about what the other one is dealing with on a daily basis... and 'we' should respect each other and the job that each of us has to do - because in the end - it's the customer that matters.

 

Stop showing favoritism with loads based on age, experience, gender,friendship, or political leanings.

Edit: Stop giving the experienced driver every single problem load, because Jane or Shaun, the truckdriver wannabees, can't execute basic driver skills like scaling a load, sliding tandems, sliding a fifth wheel, or backing into a shipper's dock. Stop being "God" and deciding what is "fair" based on what your interpretation of what is "fair". What the fair thing to do is dispatch first in, first out without your bias.

How is Jane or Shaun going to learn the skills needed if you never give them the problem load?

I see now you are a tanker dispatcher, so my little rant applies to freight hauler dispatchers. lol But the bias statements still apply.

 

This thread has some great advice... I'll be trying my hand at dispatching come February while the boss is on vacation. Think I'll subscribe to this one

 

I really think the best thing any company can do is have the drivers sit with dispatch for a week to see how that side works and have dispatch ride along with drivers for a week so they can see that side of it. I understand why companies don't do this, however. The turnover for both parties is high. Thus, it's not really cost effective in the companies' eyes. That said, I believe they could potentially lower the turnover if they took more initiatives such as shadowing as this would show more transparency throughout the company and possibly eliminate some of the mistrust between drivers and office folks.

 

Also, respect home time. Any driver that's on the road, doesn't have the luxury of sleeping in their bed every night like you do. Get them work, but make sure they're home when they're supposed to be home. This is a big one with the mega-carriers. You have freight across the entire country, nobody believes that there isn't a single load to bring the driver anywhere near home.

And to add to that, depending on your company, don't make a driver leave home to go sit at your terminal for a few days with no work. If he's going to have downtime, and he's going to be paid for it, if he can stay home and get paid that time, let him stay home.

And last one, use common sense. I'm sure that in dispatch you have to know how driver's hours work. If he dropped his last load 18 hours ago, he only has 2 hours on his 70 hour clock, and you have a load that should only take an hour to do (just delivering an empty trailer or something)... Don't be surprised when he says no. Let him finish that reset if he wants, because otherwise, he has to take on extra downtime so that you can get a 1 hour load in.

be one the same page. Work TOGETHER.

 

After trying my hand at dispatching last week, for just the week, I can tell you I have a new respect for anyone who chooses to do this for a living. I work for a small company (19 trucks). Over winter, our work is usually pretty slow. I had the experience of piecing runs together in ways we normally wouldn't dream of. I had every driver upset with me a at one point or another (including my best friend).

Ultimately, all the loads got covered, and everyone made great money. At the end of the week, everyone was pretty happpy, including the boss.

As a driver, I learned that while your runs might not be the most desirable, there is a need to cover those runs. It's likely that your dispatcher is not trying to screw you, but rather just trying to cover all the work. I was usually the one who would complain, but would do it anyway. And truth be told, it worked well. I've made a great living.

But my outlook has changed somewhat..

Now, I realize what goes on behind the scenes, and instead of complaining, I feel I'd be better off quietly going about my job, and tucking away in my memory those scrappy runs for future leverage when speaking to my dispatcher.

In short, in my opinion, I think every driver should sit at the desk and try dispatching. It would go a long way in driver/dispatcher relations.