Stressful loads

In addition to all of the great advice given so far, remember this. if a dispatcher or your driver manager ever says:

"Take this hot load and I'll make it worth your while""

Turn them down. The load will suck big time, and they will never make it worth your while. More than likely they will know that they have a sucker, and will pile more crappy loads on you.

 

times like that you got to gps drive

 

thats why i set low standards. then not much is a problem

 

It has?

 

it was 68 and sunny coming from va to nc

 

Yea, but Ridgeline is about an hour south of me. It is currently 34, with a high of 37. If we were in mountains sure, but we are in Michigan.

 

My son got into trucking about 5 trs ago. He had a hard time dealing with the stress of the job and couldn't understand why the dispatchers continually ask him to do things that just were not possible. He was trying his best to do what they wanted, but wasn't always successful ...and they were always pushing him to do more...and more...and more. They just became unreasonable and he was being taken advantage of.


This is how I explained it to him.

...Dispatchers have different goals than drivers.

A- Dispatchers are rewarded/paid based on their ability to clear the load board. Their entire world is just numbers on a chart. They are focused on clearing the load board ...not getting the freight there (that's the drivers responsibility). Dispatchers rely on drivers to provide information about equipment and road conditions so they can relay the information to people who have a need to know.

.......everybody in the business knows that stuff happens ...all the time.

B- Drivers get rewarded /paid for keeping the equipment maintained and making a safe delivery. Understanding the different roles will help you be a better driver and give you confidence to speak up and keep dispatchers informed. It's a team effort.

 

Likely that's not really the issue. When did you notify dispatch of a problem? If you shutdown for weather you should notify dispatch. Once you came to a complete stop on the interstate due to an accident you should have notified dispatch. What you shouldn't do is notify dispatch you're 500 miles away with 5 hours left on the clock. Not the first notice of a problem.

 

tell you waht too, if any store runs out of my Devil Dogs, all hell is gonna break loose.

just use the shipping bills......they clean you up real good.....(just fold the corners in)

 

lesson #1....all loads are considered hot loads

lesson #2.....drive safely and with-in your allotted time, all the time, always communicate to dispatch any and all problems, let them smart people in that office work on it..

lesson #3.....there are no smart people in dispatch, or load planning, or sales.

lesson #4.....refer to lesson # 2