So how does one deal with dispatch that only give good runs to those who pay him?

if he has a smart phone. there are apps that work as voice recorders. maybe he can get it on tape. (electronically speaking)

 

I work for what amounts to a reformed out law company , and I've never heard of drivers paying dispatchers oddly enough.

If it bugged me bad enough I'd bail , but each company has its quirks where ever you go .

 

I grew up in northern NJ. We used to 'tip' everybody. The mailman got an envelope at Christmas, the garbage man got one too. If you wanted to throw out something prohibited, you left a 6pack on top of it. Someone helped you load something in the car, Tip. Tow truck driver towed your broke down car to the garage, Tip. Mechanic that fixed it, Tip. It was just the way it was. You wanted to stay off the 'lay off list' in the carpenters union you made sure to buy the shop stewert lunch or breakfast or crap his kids were selling for school or a few raffle tickets to some Italian American club thing.... I say that to say I understand WHY people pay a dispatcher if that's the 'way it is'
Do you happen to live in a city where the 'mob' is still around? Lol....

 

Truck driver story 101.. driver doesn't make the millions of dollars he thought he would.. tells wife story of wizards and evil doers.. repeat...

 

I did see a wizard once at a truck stop walking across the lot. One of my most memorable trucking moments. He had a purple gown with stars and stuff on it, a pointed hat and even a wand. I think it was a trucker living out a fantasy because it wasn't even near Halloween. All I said was Hi, I didn't want to piss him off because I was scared he'd turn me into a goat or something.

 

I once sent my dispatcher a gift card and he was really touched.... It's extremely rare for dispatchers to get treated well by drivers

 

Sent voluntarily it is a nice gesture and as long as there is no suggestion of quid pro quo then it is one person being nice to another person they work with. Sending a gift basket at Christmas or to celebrate a birth is just one of the nice social considerations that caring people do. If this person feels the same way about their friend and then maybe gives them a sweeter arrangement it is just one of the perks one gets when they make friends and treat people with kindness.
Paying Tony Soprano is done because you feel obligated. Buying GS cookies from your neighbors kid is done because you want to help out a friend.

Like being friendly and respectful to a police officer...it pays dividends and helps to smooth the way forward.

Little Eddy

 

It's absolutely trivial to send money to someone even if you never see them. PayPal being the prime example, but there are a host of others.

I'd vote with my feet, in a similar situation. I have a pretty significant objection to investing sweat equity into a job, only to have some chump upstage me by paying off someone.

 

Born and raised in the big bad city. This was/is the way business was conducted. Right? Wrong? Not for me to say, You do what you need to do. I'm quite sure it happens at every company. It might not be money exchanging hands, but it could be buying lunch, boxes upon boxes of Girls Scout cookies being sold by the daughter of the head of operations, giving a bottle of your dispatchers favorite scotch at Christmas, and any other type of graft you can come up with. Some see the world as a wanna be utopia where it's all on the up and up, others see the world in a different light. You heed the suggestions of some and switch jobs, I'm pretty sure you'll be changing jobs quite a bit.

 

It seems to be a cost of doing business at that particular company. Likening it to setting a bill on fire is stupid. Lighting a bill on fire wouldn't get you better loads. Greasing a palm would. Whether or not it is against some weird moral code you have set up for yourself is another thing entirely.