Protecting your self from dispatch

Any tips for a new driver on how to work with dispatch, and Not get ran over?

 

New driver= prioritises first and sonority second. Meaning run your ### off and don't be picky.

I hate new York but when someone offers me 9k to take a load to new York here I am second trip in 3 weeks going to NYC. With that being said it's still summer get your miles in and by winter time youll have choices

 

I've found that the golden rule goes a long way.

 

Does this say "don't go to New York City for less than $9,000 per trip" ?

 

You simply talk to them. Let them know that if they ever need someone to help them out in a pinch you will be there for them. Most company drivers are needing miles. Make sure you keep your clocks with plenty of time on them. The 70 hour clock is the one that is the most important. You have to show on duty time for refueling and doing the once daily inspection but when you get to a shipper or receiver you have a choice between on duty and sleeper. Taking your paper work into the office is on duty time. Once that has happened you have a choice of sitting in the drivers side of the tractor (on duty) or crawling into the sleeper. Crawling into the sleeper protects your 70 hour clock. Your driver managers hate it when you are out of hours. Use your clocks wisely.

Now the other part of not letting them push you around, learn the phrase "I am not sure that I can safely do what you are asking." Once you save that, they are required to spot trying to get you to do it. If you have lots of hours left in the day but can stay awake, let them know and record everything.

Ask them for more miles but do it in a manner that makes them think you are doing a favor for them. For instance. I always let my dispatcher know that I will deliver the load at a certain time and at that point I will have so many hours left on my clock. Ask them for a pre plan based on that information.

And always be where you are suppose to be when you are suppose to be there. And document everything. Use the messaging thing on the Qualcomm or Peoplenet whatever you have. They tell you something that is illegal, put it in writing. For example. K and B has a lot of their dispatcher who will say to you to "creep over to " someplace. This is telling you they want you to move but not to trip your elogs to the on duty driving side. Or they will call you during your 8 hour bunk time. Write back, " I have only had 5 hours of sleep. You woke me up. Now I have to restart my 10 hours again." As long as you put it in writing you are covered.

 

Hope for the best, expect the worst.

Dispatchers are definitely not all created equal. Some are very good, some are gimps, some are company monkeys that believe they will run the company some day.

Being new, just do what your told. Do not lose your temper or be snippy with them, they have 100's even 1000's of wanna be's do that all day. Some of them more than deserve it too, but I recommend you just be polite, it will go a long way. And there's not a thing you can do about it anyway, it's trucking, your a 1000 miles away, don't let it ruin your day.

New guy your gonna get a lot of the grunt work, cause your the new guy. If you were a 10 year driver at that company, and they gave your gravy run to a greenhorn, how would you feel?

Just do what they ask in a safe & timely manner. Get a year under your belt, and life will be good.
Good luck.

 

What's the golden rule and does it have anything to do with golden showers? If so I don't want to know.

 

Tip: bring your swimming goggles

 

The golden rule of dealing with trucking companies: Screw unto them before they have a chance to screw unto you.

That's from Leviticus, I think.

 

Im the last person you need to be asking about dispatch. A bad dispatcher and I are not going to be around with the company long, one of us will be moving on. Usually it's me if the boss man does not find another dispatcher. Remember in my time PC stuff like safe spaces, personality understanding etc did not exist. You run what you are told and #### if you are late because you will not be around long enough to endanger the account again.

With that said, if you find a good dispatcher who listens to your hours and when you say you dont got the hours to do the trip you don't have the hours. You better have it on paper when the Officers get involved writing a report against you. You better not have the hours. And dig in. Eventually you would be looking for work, teaming up or discover that the dispatcher will work you out and then settle down after a time for a happy relationship. Like love and marriage.

Ive fired dispatchers before I remember one in EcK Miller in Rockport Indiana who would run people into the ground. 15000 miles a month three log books, a load, reload a day sometimes TWO in 24 hours and hours be ######. I stopped in the phone and told his boss to find me another dispatcher or I will take the truck home. I had enough of being run into the ground. That truck was absolutely beginning to cost company money for hunting shop time to replace big stuff like burned out AC (1500) Burned up ECM, three days lost, thousands of dollars, alternators by the pile and so on. I actually suffered my first and only engine oil failure on the M11 when it finally escaped a bad oil cap imagine that on a heavy pull up one of my usual mountains in PA. I lost 3 gallons that night and come morning a lady driver pulled up, put 4 gallons on the ground and took off no thanks wanted or needed. Ever since that day I carried no less than 5 gallons in the side box and helped others.

Finally I dug in, had savings of a couple thousand. They shorted my miles for punishment. I decided to simply behave and take the 300 miles a week and say thank you and not complain for a couple months. I finally won my case against them via the state for their deliberate shorting the miles. It is actually case law in Maryland now. You don't short employees because then it will be automatic unemployment against your company regardless of the firing or quit.

One thing to remember. If you are having a bad day... find yourself a tree somewhere deep in a forest and tell that tree what for. Do not. whatever. you do. Tell off a dispatcher what for. You would make a enemy for life.

I had a chance to interview and hire on as a dispatcher not long ago after I settled in Arkansas and chose not to take it because I saw too much of a dark future with schnapps 24/7, smoking and what have you dealing with 100 cats every day and night. I wont do it. They do a wonderful job what they do. But Dispatchers and I do not get along.

With that said. There are a small number of dispatchers who kept that truck loaded and rolling, me in the money and oodles of revenue for the company all legal within hours. I will run hell and war for them and have when they asked for help on a hero load or something.

I imagine if a dispatcher forum sit down and asked how to deal with drivers on the other side of the coin, they will point at me specifically as a example of who not to run. Heh.

One thing with leaders. I always lead by example and do not ask anyone to do something I wont do. With that said, telling dispatcher "No" pretty much ensures a trip to the unemployment line as far as Im concerned. And that's a shame.

The more the Government and People crack down on tired driving, the more they #### it up with the electronic logs and so forth creating even more problems. It's a shame.