Good Day Big Strappers. Well, where do YOU stand with your current dispatcher? Is he/she the greatest EVER? Or is it time to run and find another company with a better dispatch team? Love to hear what the dispatch scoop is with you!
My dispatchers are former drivers themselves and they're great, they know that some things take time and that everything dosen't go as planned from time to time. I pull a stepdeck trailer, so that's why it might be different.
Mr. FRIDGGY Here from the great white northern wisconsin. I'm going to relate as usual what my father went through. He worked for a company called Halvor Lines for quite a few years. He had a dispatcher that was a former driver for many years. This old guy knew what he was doing. Usually only the vets, such as my father got the privilege of having this guy as their main dispatcher. He was the greatest, always got my dad loads and I always remember him encouraging my father to take us with him on trips. He'd purposely sometimes send my father through some beautiful places with a lenient time schedule when us kids went with. Once the dispatcher retired my father had some 23 year old "driver manager." My dad quite 6months later. Unfortunately Big Jim,(the old dispatcher) passed away. Your right in alot of ways. Dispatcher can make or break good drivers.
My dispatcher was a driver for probably longer than I've been alive. He lied to me at first because that's just how it is, with so many unreasonable drivers out there I understand why dispatchers default to manipulating them. Now he knows that I can be reasonable and he doesn't have to lie to me and it's great. Some dispatchers are just assholes but don't expect anyone to treat you well when you're constantly treating them like shit yourself. I'm sure plenty of drivers have worked with great dispatchers but never knew it because of their own attitude.
Called into my dispatch. While I was on the phone, not on hold, he told another dispatcher to not give another driver a load. Dispatch said that driver can wait for a few days and just sit until dispatch was good and ready. I hung up, called HR, drove back to terminal and quit. Dispatchers are not and have never been a driver.
i found the perfect dispatcher. he was like an angel, no joke. he was patient, attentive to my needs (which weren’t much), polite, looked out for me. it was the best company i’d ever worked for BECAUSE of my dispatcher. i didn’t realize that until he quit. As soon as i was put into someone else’s hands they started showing their asses. It was less than a month after my dispatcher quit that i quit too.
The best dispatcher I’ve ever worked with was a 23 year old young lady named Edna. She could solve any problem quickly, had excellent people skills, and the paperwork was immaculate. Her position was considered “clerical” and her boss was the actual dispatcher. She ran circles around that guy!
My driver manager must get paid partially by how many miles I make. Constantly pushing and nagging. My thought is I am not even dating you why would I listen to her nagging?
Never had agood dispatcher in 7 years and multiple companies. Getting the hell out of truck driving, I can't stand it anymore. The wages suck, so does the work, the hours, and the employers.
I remember the days when you could ask your dispatcher how to get to a customer and he'd give you the name of the guy on the dock, directions, places to sleep, and where a good spot to eat was. Now your on your own.
At CFI, I have a dispatcher, a Fleet Supervisor, a Fleet Manager, a Planner, and then a Customer Service Rep, all telling me what to do . Good times.... And they just pushed my minimum time out from 7-10 days to 14 days,woohoo. That's why I'm leaving next week.
My dispatcher has been with the company 16 years and knows the game. He runs me hard and I’ve made money that I’m very happy with. He’s always been cool with me, never questions if conditions are unsafe and I need to shut down, and had never given me a load I couldn’t deliver even if it was by a few minutes on my 70. Due to his seniority he can also pull strings at the company’s repair shop and has gotten me to the front of the line for repairs. I feel that I lucked out, especially as a rookie working for a mega.
dispatchers are not supervisors they don't tell you what to do their job is to move the freight and if my dispatcher gets brave enough to yell at me on the phone I will politely turn right around take my truck back to the terminal park it go in there handing the keys and say I quit. I won't even let safety do that either because once again 3/4 of them never drove.
Spot On They DO NOT Have People Skills, You Would Think That A 100 Year Old Trucking Company Would Have This Corrected And Run Like A Well Oiled Machine Guess What? They Don’t . Really Pathetic To Say The Least.
I quit a company just a few days ago because in Orientation they told me I would be paid for detention. I had about 5 different places that they never paid me on and I emailed the terminal manager and my driver manager .nothing happen. So it happen again 7 hours one place and 5 hours at another ..So I quit . Now they want me back and said they would pay me.. I am sick this crap. I have found a new place.
What about transitioning drivers to dispatching? Nearer to retirement but have the people skills, computer savvy and obviously the experience of what it's like to be on the road. Maybe ones that are having medical issues that need attention at home.
hell I'm disgusted by the dispatcher & brokers lies, I mean they straight up go to work to lie then go home and sit at the dinner table with their families like as if they did top notch work that day lol
Dispatch is were everyone starts, there are some good and some bad. Just like every job. When i started as dispatch i had some lazy stupid drivers. Taking 13 hour breaks, mis using their clock and failing loads ect. Course i screwed up too when i was learning. But i alway tried to keep my guys moving and get them home when they wanted. And thats why they loved me. And i always treated them like people, asked about their families and their hobbies, ANYTHING to get their mind off trucking, even for 5 mins. Now i train market planners and dispatchers. A lot of it will depend on the company and who trains them
I love the “driver manager” it’s like Amazon now calls their warehouses “fulfillment centers” or my favorite, you ever realize how your bank no longer has a branch manager? Everyone is a “Vice President” or “assistant Vice President” yet they never seem to have authority to do anything. The thing with creating elaborate titles is a sign of a decadent late stage society I believe
My favorite dispatcher story took place in early 90's when I was leased to a major moving and storage van line. I was loading a HHG shipment in Dallas on a Friday morning. My new "GREEN" dispatcher wanted me to also load another HHG shipment in EL Paso the same day. My reply was to ask if he had looked at the map. His reply was that it was only a few inches on the map. Never forgot that one !!!!!
@@SmartTrucking Really enjoy watching your channel. You remind me of a long time family bed bug friend of my father who was from Manitoulin Island (Jim Monkhouse). He passed 1994 at 68. Lots of Canadian trucking stories from the 1950's and 60s.
I used to work in the reefer repair field. I was in KC at the time elbow deep in a repair and got dispatched to Denver the same day. I asked the same question. I was given the same stupid answer. What followed was not a conversation for tender ears.....
I've had 2 good... no, great dispatchers so far. One of them was okay, while the rest were constantly on my back and didn't care about their drivers in the least.
I have to walk my dispatchers through the moronically basic “trucker math” every other load. Gets old. Best one yet: “I’m on a dock in Denver for my 7am pickup so I can’t be in SLC for a 11am pickup on another load. OK? Great. Thanks”
When I drove my dispatcher was always sick or something as she would always be leaving early as a result, I was assigned to somebody else that would make me wait all day to get a load and lo and behold he would wait until rush hour traffic and give me a load across where I had been sitting all day. I no longer work for them as I quit. I have no idea if that clown works there but they probably promoted him.
I was reminded by your story of a friend driving for a courier company I will not say the name of incase someone working there reads this, My friend drove 6 hours to pick up a trailer and drive the load to its warehouse 6 hours further...18 hours total, 6 hours back to where his town and another 6 hours, he called dispatch to tell them the load was wrong, the dispatcher was new to the job and looked for loopholes he used to blast drivers, This dispatcher screwed up but not one to admit it tried to blame the driver, but my friend was not green he had a digital camera and took photos of the trailer number and load and the camera automatically had a time stamp so there was no way for the dispatcher to argue it was a old picture and my friend emailed them to the manager who wanted to see the both of us in his office and asked dispatch why he lost it on my friend, and was told to pick up his last and final check !! and if there was a way he would tell other carriers about him and what he did.
"driver managers" I just about choked & spit my sweet tea out in my food lol, we could probably get more respect and work ethic out of a inmate than the "driver managers" lol
I drive for an LTL company and have had the same dispatcher for 17 years. We had a rough start, but now over time we have a great working relationship. Teamwork is paramount in the LTL industry.
You should. Be on the fmcsa board cause you know what youre talking about and have true experience and are a true professional and responsible human being!
I also had the same problem with the GPS and my dispatcher. I was at dock and almost 3/4 empty when my "buddy" called and wanted to know why I wasn't heading to the final destination!
I love the story about sat-tracking. As mechanic w/driving experience, I have worked on the sat-communication units in the trucks. Even though they have improved their still far from accurate. Your story is simply a driver unfamiliar w/the technology and a green dispatcher (or one also unfamiliar w/ the technology.) One way to try and fix the dispatcher problem is an award to the best dispatchers (voted on by drivers. With questions detailing: driver confidence, load availability and least dead-head milage) This ???MIGHT??? improved the driver to dispatcher relationship. It could be a company award or could lead to a national recognized award sponsored by a industry recognized supplier. One thing is true to improve any driver shortage your going to have to address the driver to dispatcher relationship.!!!!!!!
Depends. My usual dispatcher's were/are great. No arguments, ask what I think, and great to work with. The fill in's generally mean I take time off till the regulars came back. Less problems I think.
I was sceptic about joining a large carrier after working 16 months with England 2 years ago. After 3 months with Crete running dry van and 90 percent of drop and hooks, I'm very pleased with them. Pay could be a little bit better, but getting good miles, awesome dispatch lady, and never on my back about anything.
Do like we did in the Army back in the day: Form your own unofficial team and make it invaluable.. Then the brass if it has any brains will bend heaven and earth to keep that team as functional as possible, and that team can ask for and get perks as success keeps everyone looking good. So a dispatcher that knows the business and thinks fast on their feet, drivers who know their business and can clearly communicate what's happening out there to the dispatcher.. Team members selected on merit. Be true mercenaries, it's the ONLY way to negotiate ANYTHING in business. Not a union so trying to black X the team could easily backfire on the company so the lawyer weenies in the office will flag that off. Besides, if the office is scared of a team of competence, you want NOTHING to do with such losers. A business can only pay you money if they're making money. A company not interested in effective money making isn't where you want to be.
I drove and was also a dispatcher. I loved both but really enjoyed being a dispatcher. I got along with everybody on the Dedicated fleet. The drivers would even just call me and see whats going on if they were sitting at the customer. The drivers knew if they had an issue the could call me and it would be fixed simple as that.
The only reason I watch this guy’s videos is to hear him say 1 word. “About”. He always says “uh-boot”. Let’s face it. Canadians talk funny. 🤣😂😅. I shouldn’t make fun of him though. The guy tells it like it is. I’m a 38 year driver and I’ve experienced every situation he talks about. He really knows his stuff! 👍
I watch a TH-cam channel called Tula's Endless Summer. I think the fellow named Billy who I believe is from New York state, says ABOUT funny! Must be a regional accent thing, I don't know.
Company i recently left had a great dispatcher team. Yeah there's off days but they compensated me for anything that happened out of my control. Before i left, i picked up a load that picked up in the city i live in (they let me clean out my truck) and take it to one of their terminals at the KY/IN border and promised they'd get me home. I was expecting them to put me on the bus. They booked me a next day flight, paid for a $120 uber ride to get to the closest hotel to the airport in Indiana from Kentucky, and booked a hotel for the night. They told me that I'm still one of their drivers until I get home and they'll do what they can to get me home
I really like the autonomous dispatch idea. That being said I work for a small company and I consider myself lucky. I run pretty hard, I report equipment problems (obviously no on else does), I handle problems myself as best I can and I get treated pretty well.
Being full independent it’s fine when a broker cancels a load last minute after I drove three hours to get there but if I cancel because of breakdown or emergency then they get all pissy and threaten to put you on no haul list. They have no real understanding what it takes to perform my job.
When I did OTR with Rocor, my dispatcher was awesome,, got me home on time 99% of the time, kept me moving, I was able to run 6.5 days a week. I always planned to only have to drive under 4hrs on Sundays.
I don't really have a dispatcher any more. I drive now for an OEM. I run out of a very small shop, although we are a global company. My "dispatcher " is a buddy of mine and my wife whom we both worked with for years before. But, the last place I was at when I doing Chicago every day had very good dispatchers. They where all ex drivers, so they actually understood how the job worked.
I can’t complain really. Right now as a company driver I have two dispatchers one is the fleet manager (CDL-A driver for almost 7yrs) for all the dispatchers because I’m on a couple different lanes he over sees and the other does line haul lanes I run power only for sometimes. They both are great to talk to and get me what I need out here on the road. It’s kinda like a family here with this company. We have about 150 power units. Sometimes but not often communication can break down but I think that goes for all companies. I guess I’m trying to say that there can be a good balance and understanding between driver and dispatcher especially if they can get used to how each other operates and what is needed. A real two way street that you have to paint the lines on yourself sometimes but it’s out there! I have had my share of real bad dispatchers with a certain major carrier though as well... Love the channel, the live streams and videos. Keep it up! 🚚💨
My friend graduated from a fly by night trucking school and a flatbed company hired him with only 30 days of training him. He went on his first solo trip and quit he also got a ticket for improperly tarping his load. The company promised him that they would only give him easy tarp loads considering he had such a short training period. BEWARE; Their are some horrible companies in New Jersey.
I had an incident with satellite tracking myself. I was in Pennsylvania when my fleet manager called me and asked me where I was and I said I was in Pennsylvania. He told me that satellite was showing that I was in New Jersey. My dispatcher is okay. I just sometimes wish the pay and home time was better.
One night some 20 plus years ago I'm at the place our drivers used to stop for coffee in Salisbury Mass. An o/o comes in gets a coffee and asks how far it is to the Maine Border. Roughly 17 miles I answer. Oh good I almost there he exclaims. Maybe being able to help him find his pickup I ask him where his appointment is. Fraser Paper he replies, his dispatcher told him it is right on the border. Well the dispatcher told him correct to a point. The only problem is Fraser Paper is on the Saint Johns River in Madawaska Maine on the Canadian border some 400 miles from the Maine New Hampshire border. This guy had been dead heading from So Jersey. He was not impressed with dispatch at the moment.
They should offer dispatchers a incentive to run us efficiently and within our hos and realistic windows and no major gaps btw recievers and new shipper
I've had amazing dispatchers and terrible dispatchers. I've had a dispatcher tell me to run with 10k over weight of steel, and I've had a dispatcher get me an overweight permit within 10 minutes for a 3k overfill on a tanker. It all comes down to the company and how they value the driver. P.S- I quit that steel job that night.
thank you for sharing this, liked the whole thing, especially the computer dispatcher idea, not that I'm a driver but I can kind of imagine what it's like, KIND OF
I have drove for 20 years now and happy to say I only had a dispatcher for a few months when I first started in the industry always hauled dedicated runs and loved it. For the the last 3 years I've plowed and run equipment for the province of New Brunswicks and love it plowing is a great challenge and I was ready for it.
My "dispatcher" at my job now is my dad and the owner of the truck and trailer I drive lol he drives the truck running our local work. He's been driving 20 plus years
I appreciate your input. I just got my two year experience and still learning. This past Friday I sent a message to let my dispatcher know that the shipper won't be able to load me until Monday. I sent two messages. One message to let them know the shopper can't load me until Monday. Then they left me a message to send a form with an ETA I sent that form in and under the comments I put shipper won't be able to take me until Monday. Saturday morning one dispatcher asked me have I been loaded yet, if so please send your loaded call. 🤦♂️
I had a pretty good regular dispatcher (AKA fleet manager) during the week, but the evening and weekend people were awful. I got sick of the company not honoring the agreement under which I signed on-home weekends. Kept getting screwed by the weekend fleet managers. One Saturday I finally had enough and bobtailed home 400 miles so I could make it before my 70 hours expired. My regular FM tried to sweet talk me into staying but I resigned on Monday morning, returned the truck to the terminal on Tuesday. Never again will I work for a major carrier or OTR. I have decided to leave the industry.
My dispatcher was a driver for years before he switched over in the company. He gets me miles and does a good job to not have me sitting. Longest I've ever had to sit was 2 hours and that was only one time.
So I had a dispatcher that would tell me the load was do a Certain date and I would get there and I would check in and they would tell me I was a day early . He would do that so I can push it and be there early but it would waste my time sitting there to add to it I wasn’t getting payed lay over . Sucks
Get loads through north eastern states and Amish country. Miles don’t mean a thing if Amish buggy is in front of you on a 2 lane road. The rest of the country is not too bad
Even worse, is the fact that driver examiners do not have to have ever driven truck for a living to give a drivers class one test. I had let my class one license lapse because I was not driving for a living at the time, and when I went to renew it I had to take a road test. I had received extensive training in 1964 when I started in the industry and in 1994 when some guy who had only read about how to, failed me on a road test. The driving school where I took the test told me that this examiner fails everyone so he gets paid for a drivers exam twice per person. As for dispatchers, even the ones who consider themselves to be professionals are prone to faults, like lying even when the driver has proof they lied, and some of those think they know better than an experienced driver. I had one dispatcher ask me if two van bodied B train trailers would work together on a run from Calgary to Saskatoon. I told her that they would not work, but she decided that they would. As the pup trailer left the yard the front of the pup contacted the rear of the lead trailer and ripped the nose off the pup. Both the dispatcher and I watched it happen so there was no need for me to say "I told you so."
Dispatching comes under admin 101. Put the right pencil in the right holder and count them in, count them out and which holders they end up in and when. Simple reading, simple arithmatic and a calm attitude with a good sense of organisation, all things you get chewed out for lacking an office environment, yet oddly all the things most hotshot managers seem to never need. Go figure. On another topic has there ever been a particularly dark moment in your driving career you've been sorely tempted to pack the job in and how did you cope with it and not lose your livelihood. Responsible jobs like driving and others where you are the one likely to carry the burden when things are going wrong are very grim at times. Hope do you cope?
One thing I do like about dispatch at my company in general is that they can look at where we are or our HoS but policy is not to unless it's an emergency. So no pesetering about "oh you have enough hours to do it" or "why did you park there?" That kind of trust is important. I said I'd do the job I'll damn well do it. I'll call if anything comes up.
I have a really good dispatcher. I’ve been fortunate to have a really good dispatcher. He always comes in when I need to go home or can’t make a load on time. I feel bad for him because he’s young and looks like he’s aged 10yrs in 5 because of how stressful the job can be. I’d rather drive the truck and let dispatchers handle all the phone call for me than me having to do it bc I’m not a good people person. :)
In the bus industry, dispatchers are either management or promoted drivers. After 31 years driving buses I am upping my B to A. I am looking to buy a small trucking company. So I might have to fill in as a dispatcher owner driver dependent on the situation. I plan to work with my employees, because over 31 years in the bus industry, I had some really good ones and some useless horrors as dispatchers.
I'm looking to become a dispatcher. With not lying being a given, what are some of the difficulties drivers go thru with dispatchers so I can avoid those practices? Also, what are dispatchers lying about?
Dave I've got one for you and everyone else. This just happened. Today is 3/10/20 its 6:12 am. I am on a dedicated run. I arrived to my pickup last night around 6:30 they let me stay here in the dock, and load me in the morning. I checked in and just relaxed in my truck. I woke up early(4:45) this morning, usually the hi lo going in the trailer wakes me up but it didn't happen. I sat there until 6 am. I went in the office to see what's up, another driver from my company took my load!! Sneaky S.O.B. left as I was going in the office. I just called dispatch and no surprise they have no idea what's going on. Has this ever happened to you?? Anyone??
Well, it'll be interesting to find out whose fault that was! That's not an uncommon occurrence in trucking. Usually it's just a miscommunication between the loader and the shipper or the driver but every instance is different. Some guys will just deliberately steal your load. I hope that wasn't the case here. Figure out the time that you lost and ask dispatch how they plan to compensate you for that.
@@SmartTrucking hello how are you! Your country is also beautiful ! Now i work in urban solid waste collection,there is no dispatcher or forwarder,just garbage ahahah
Hello all! I noticed a comment saying that dispatchers/DM can’t look up HOS. What’s the problem with knowing how many employees have HOS available to pick up a load?
It's been at least 8 years since I've had a single dispatcher working for a carriers based in BC Canada that spoke English that wasn't pigeon-English spoken with an accent that is remotely understandable. I have had to tell them, DO NOT CALL, text only. Less than half know what don't call means, and will constantly call you. But they will all bombard you with texts throughout your run. Most have said they have driven trucks before, but it's easy to figure out they haven't in Canada, and don't have a clue about the HOS either. I've had to argue HOS with almost every one of them. And try and say no forced dispatch. The company will hire the next immigrant off the boat and you're gone.
@@SmartTrucking Agreed. But now there's almost 90% of the companies are owned by foreigners. And the major companies are run by them. Call any one of them and you'll get what sounds like a phone center in India.
I want to try out OTR trucking. I don't have a CDL, but I do have a clean driving record. Do you have a suggestion for good companies to work for who hire new drivers? I would like to be located in the western states more if that is possible.
Good Day Big Strappers. Well, where do YOU stand with your current dispatcher? Is he/she the greatest EVER? Or is it time to run and find another company with a better dispatch team? Love to hear what the dispatch scoop is with you!
My dispatchers are former drivers themselves and they're great, they know that some things take time and that everything dosen't go as planned from time to time. I pull a stepdeck trailer, so that's why it might be different.
My dispatcher is cool. I'm buttering her up to dispatch me just the way I want it every week
Hes as lost as a ball in tall grass lmao!
Mr. FRIDGGY Here from the great white northern wisconsin. I'm going to relate as usual what my father went through. He worked for a company called Halvor Lines for quite a few years. He had a dispatcher that was a former driver for many years. This old guy knew what he was doing. Usually only the vets, such as my father got the privilege of having this guy as their main dispatcher. He was the greatest, always got my dad loads and I always remember him encouraging my father to take us with him on trips. He'd purposely sometimes send my father through some beautiful places with a lenient time schedule when us kids went with.
Once the dispatcher retired my father had some 23 year old "driver manager." My dad quite 6months later. Unfortunately Big Jim,(the old dispatcher) passed away.
Your right in alot of ways. Dispatcher can make or break good drivers.
My dispatcher was a driver for probably longer than I've been alive. He lied to me at first because that's just how it is, with so many unreasonable drivers out there I understand why dispatchers default to manipulating them. Now he knows that I can be reasonable and he doesn't have to lie to me and it's great.
Some dispatchers are just assholes but don't expect anyone to treat you well when you're constantly treating them like shit yourself. I'm sure plenty of drivers have worked with great dispatchers but never knew it because of their own attitude.
Called into my dispatch. While I was on the phone, not on hold, he told another dispatcher to not give another driver a load. Dispatch said that driver can wait for a few days and just sit until dispatch was good and ready. I hung up, called HR, drove back to terminal and quit.
Dispatchers are not and have never been a driver.
That was the right move! Good for you!
i found the perfect dispatcher. he was like an angel, no joke. he was patient, attentive to my needs (which weren’t much), polite, looked out for me. it was the best company i’d ever worked for BECAUSE of my dispatcher. i didn’t realize that until he quit. As soon as i was put into someone else’s hands they started showing their asses. It was less than a month after my dispatcher quit that i quit too.
The best dispatcher I’ve ever worked with was a 23 year old young lady named Edna. She could solve any problem quickly, had excellent people skills, and the paperwork was immaculate. Her position was considered “clerical” and her boss was the actual dispatcher. She ran circles around that guy!
My driver manager must get paid partially by how many miles I make. Constantly pushing and nagging. My thought is I am not even dating you why would I listen to her nagging?
Made me laugh, thank you!
All of the driver managers at my company are previous drivers. It's a requirement
That's a good requirement! Smart boss!
Never had agood dispatcher in 7 years and multiple companies. Getting the hell out of truck driving, I can't stand it anymore. The wages suck, so does the work, the hours, and the employers.
I remember the days when you could ask your dispatcher how to get to a customer and he'd give you the name of the guy on the dock, directions, places to sleep, and where a good spot to eat was. Now your on your own.
At CFI, I have a dispatcher, a Fleet Supervisor, a Fleet Manager, a Planner, and then a Customer Service Rep, all telling me what to do . Good times.... And they just pushed my minimum time out from 7-10 days to 14 days,woohoo. That's why I'm leaving next week.
And they all don't talk to each other
Don't blame you for leaving! My head aches just looking at that list! Friggin carriers!
My dispatcher has been with the company 16 years and knows the game. He runs me hard and I’ve made money that I’m very happy with. He’s always been cool with me, never questions if conditions are unsafe and I need to shut down, and had never given me a load I couldn’t deliver even if it was by a few minutes on my 70. Due to his seniority he can also pull strings at the company’s repair shop and has gotten me to the front of the line for repairs. I feel that I lucked out, especially as a rookie working for a mega.
dispatchers are not supervisors they don't tell you what to do their job is to move the freight and if my dispatcher gets brave enough to yell at me on the phone I will politely turn right around take my truck back to the terminal park it go in there handing the keys and say I quit. I won't even let safety do that either because once again 3/4 of them never drove.
Spot On They DO NOT Have People Skills, You Would Think That A 100 Year Old Trucking Company Would Have This Corrected And Run Like A Well Oiled Machine Guess What? They Don’t . Really Pathetic To Say The Least.
I quit a company just a few days ago because in Orientation they told me I would be paid for detention. I had about 5 different places that they never paid me on and I emailed the terminal manager and my driver manager .nothing happen. So it happen again 7 hours one place and 5 hours at another ..So I quit . Now they want me back and said they would pay me.. I am sick this crap. I have found a new place.
I've never received a dime from cr England for detention pay man. Can't wait to get out of this company.
What about transitioning drivers to dispatching? Nearer to retirement but have the people skills, computer savvy and obviously the experience of what it's like to be on the road. Maybe ones that are having medical issues that need attention at home.
People skills and computer savvy?
You have no business being a dispatcher!
That's a pretty good idea.
That's the route they should come from!
hell I'm disgusted by the dispatcher & brokers lies, I mean they straight up go to work to lie then go home and sit at the dinner table with their families like as if they did top notch work that day lol
Too stupid to be embarrassed!
Dispatch is were everyone starts, there are some good and some bad. Just like every job. When i started as dispatch i had some lazy stupid drivers. Taking 13 hour breaks, mis using their clock and failing loads ect. Course i screwed up too when i was learning. But i alway tried to keep my guys moving and get them home when they wanted. And thats why they loved me. And i always treated them like people, asked about their families and their hobbies, ANYTHING to get their mind off trucking, even for 5 mins. Now i train market planners and dispatchers. A lot of it will depend on the company and who trains them
Every driver can relate. Most dispatchers are just out and out liars!
Dispatchers are "Driver Managers" and we drivers are called "Transportation Movement Engineers "
😅😅
I'm a Freight Relocation Engineer with a certification in zip tie maintenance.
I love the “driver manager” it’s like Amazon now calls their warehouses “fulfillment centers” or my favorite, you ever realize how your bank no longer has a branch manager? Everyone is a “Vice President” or “assistant Vice President” yet they never seem to have authority to do anything.
The thing with creating elaborate titles is a sign of a decadent late stage society I believe
Yup, inflated titles are becoming a big thing. What scares me is the number of people buying into this fake level of self importance!
Dishonest bags of shit is a good description. Right up there with brokers.
My favorite dispatcher story took place in early 90's when I was leased to a major moving and storage van line. I was loading a HHG shipment in Dallas on a Friday morning. My new "GREEN" dispatcher wanted me to also load another HHG shipment in EL Paso the same day. My reply was to ask if he had looked at the map. His reply was that it was only a few inches on the map. Never forgot that one !!!!!
C’mon dude be real
Unbelievable, isn't it ?
@@SmartTrucking Really enjoy watching your channel. You remind me of a long time family bed bug friend of my father who was from Manitoulin Island (Jim Monkhouse). He passed 1994 at 68. Lots of Canadian trucking stories from the 1950's and 60s.
I used to work in the reefer repair field. I was in KC at the time elbow deep in a repair and got dispatched to Denver the same day. I asked the same question. I was given the same stupid answer. What followed was not a conversation for tender ears.....
I've had 2 good... no, great dispatchers so far. One of them was okay, while the rest were constantly on my back and didn't care about their drivers in the least.
The company I drive a day cab for makes us call in almost everyday. They set it up that way to make us think that they care.
No, they don't care about you, just where their load is incase the customer asks.
I have to walk my dispatchers through the moronically basic “trucker math” every other load. Gets old. Best one yet:
“I’m on a dock in Denver for my 7am pickup so I can’t be in SLC for a 11am pickup on another load. OK? Great. Thanks”
So many people are saying drivers will be replaced next week by robots, yet replacing a dispatcher with a robot is a million times more simple.
tscottme
I thought über-freight is already doing it. It’s only a matter of time
When I drove my dispatcher was always sick or something as she would always be leaving early as a result, I was assigned to somebody else that would make me wait all day to get a load and lo and behold he would wait until rush hour traffic and give me a load across where I had been sitting all day. I no longer work for them as I quit. I have no idea if that clown works there but they probably promoted him.
I was reminded by your story of a friend driving for a courier company I will not say the name of incase someone working there reads this, My friend drove 6 hours to pick up a trailer and drive the load to its warehouse 6 hours further...18 hours total, 6 hours back to where his town and another 6 hours, he called dispatch to tell them the load was wrong, the dispatcher was new to the job and looked for loopholes he used to blast drivers, This dispatcher screwed up but not one to admit it tried to blame the driver, but my friend was not green he had a digital camera and took photos of the trailer number and load and the camera automatically had a time stamp so there was no way for the dispatcher to argue it was a old picture and my friend emailed them to the manager who wanted to see the both of us in his office and asked dispatch why he lost it on my friend, and was told to pick up his last and final check !! and if there was a way he would tell other carriers about him and what he did.
I'm glad that I work for a company with pretty good and experienced dispatchers, no complain so far.
Yes that's the truth!! 😎
Big Carriers & Dispatchers 🤧🤢🤕🤒 if you can avoid them.. Do it!
"driver managers"
I just about choked & spit my sweet tea out in my food lol, we could probably get more respect and work ethic out of a inmate than the "driver managers" lol
I drive for an LTL company and have had the same dispatcher for 17 years. We had a rough start, but now over time we have a great working relationship. Teamwork is paramount in the LTL industry.
They call them "driver or fleet manager" because it makes them feel special lol
This helped me a lot - im preparing for a job in another profession and this video has helps me a lot. Thanks for keeping it so honest!
Glad it was helpful! Thanks for watching!
My dad always said that the best type of dispatcher is one that uses to drive truck.
Agreed!
You should. Be on the fmcsa board cause you know what youre talking about and have true experience and are a true professional and responsible human being!
They probably wouldn't let me in the building, but thank you!
I also had the same problem with the GPS and my dispatcher. I was at dock and almost 3/4 empty when my "buddy" called and wanted to know why I wasn't heading to the final destination!
I love the story about sat-tracking. As mechanic w/driving experience, I have worked on the sat-communication units in the trucks. Even though they have improved their still far from accurate. Your story is simply a driver unfamiliar w/the technology and a green dispatcher (or one also unfamiliar w/ the technology.)
One way to try and fix the dispatcher problem is an award to the best dispatchers (voted on by drivers. With questions detailing: driver confidence, load availability and least dead-head milage) This ???MIGHT??? improved the driver to dispatcher relationship. It could be a company award or could lead to a national recognized award sponsored by a industry recognized supplier. One thing is true to improve any driver shortage your going to have to address the driver to dispatcher relationship.!!!!!!!
Half these " Driver managers" couldn't manage their way out of a cardboard box
Depends. My usual dispatcher's were/are great. No arguments, ask what I think, and great to work with. The fill in's generally mean I take time off till the regulars came back. Less problems I think.
I was sceptic about joining a large carrier after working 16 months with England 2 years ago. After 3 months with Crete running dry van and 90 percent of drop and hooks, I'm very pleased with them. Pay could be a little bit better, but getting good miles, awesome dispatch lady, and never on my back about anything.
You are absolutely right brother👍🏽...I hate when I refuse a load,and the dispatcher would get piss and start giving me the shitty loads
I worked for a company once that had ONE dispatcher for 90 drivers. I wish I was lying.
Driver manager?? LoL 🤭 most dispatcher's can't manage to wipe their own butt.
Do like we did in the Army back in the day: Form your own unofficial team and make it invaluable.. Then the brass if it has any brains will bend heaven and earth to keep that team as functional as possible, and that team can ask for and get perks as success keeps everyone looking good. So a dispatcher that knows the business and thinks fast on their feet, drivers who know their business and can clearly communicate what's happening out there to the dispatcher.. Team members selected on merit.
Be true mercenaries, it's the ONLY way to negotiate ANYTHING in business. Not a union so trying to black X the team could easily backfire on the company so the lawyer weenies in the office will flag that off. Besides, if the office is scared of a team of competence, you want NOTHING to do with such losers. A business can only pay you money if they're making money. A company not interested in effective money making isn't where you want to be.
Good stuff! Appreciate it!
I drove and was also a dispatcher. I loved both but really enjoyed being a dispatcher. I got along with everybody on the Dedicated fleet. The drivers would even just call me and see whats going on if they were sitting at the customer. The drivers knew if they had an issue the could call me and it would be fixed simple as that.
The only reason I watch this guy’s videos is to hear him say 1 word.
“About”. He always says “uh-boot”.
Let’s face it. Canadians talk funny.
🤣😂😅. I shouldn’t make fun of him though. The guy tells it like it is. I’m a 38 year driver and I’ve experienced every situation he talks about. He really knows his stuff! 👍
Yes that's the only word that gives him away. Otherwise I'd awesome he was an American
I watch a TH-cam channel called Tula's Endless Summer. I think the fellow named Billy who I believe is from New York state, says ABOUT funny! Must be a regional accent thing, I don't know.
Ah Canada. I've always wanted to visit Europe. ;-)
Gearjammer Why make fun of Canadians Aye?!?!? You damn Canuck. Lol
I definitely would've told him to "SMOKE IT"😂
Horror storys of the dispatcher. Right on.
I think shippers and receivers should be put on e logs.
Or valium.
Company i recently left had a great dispatcher team. Yeah there's off days but they compensated me for anything that happened out of my control. Before i left, i picked up a load that picked up in the city i live in (they let me clean out my truck) and take it to one of their terminals at the KY/IN border and promised they'd get me home. I was expecting them to put me on the bus.
They booked me a next day flight, paid for a $120 uber ride to get to the closest hotel to the airport in Indiana from Kentucky, and booked a hotel for the night. They told me that I'm still one of their drivers until I get home and they'll do what they can to get me home
I really like the autonomous dispatch idea. That being said I work for a small company and I consider myself lucky. I run pretty hard, I report equipment problems (obviously no on else does), I handle problems myself as best I can and I get treated pretty well.
I like my dispatcher, but in general they could and i think will be replaced by computers
Being full independent it’s fine when a broker cancels a load last minute after I drove three hours to get there but if I cancel because of breakdown or emergency then they get all pissy and threaten to put you on no haul list. They have no real understanding what it takes to perform my job.
When I did OTR with Rocor, my dispatcher was awesome,, got me home on time 99% of the time, kept me moving, I was able to run 6.5 days a week. I always planned to only have to drive under 4hrs on Sundays.
I don't really have a dispatcher any more. I drive now for an OEM. I run out of a very small shop, although we are a global company. My "dispatcher " is a buddy of mine and my wife whom we both worked with for years before. But, the last place I was at when I doing Chicago every day had very good dispatchers. They where all ex drivers, so they actually understood how the job worked.
I can’t complain really. Right now as a company driver I have two dispatchers one is the fleet manager (CDL-A driver for almost 7yrs) for all the dispatchers because I’m on a couple different lanes he over sees and the other does line haul lanes I run power only for sometimes. They both are great to talk to and get me what I need out here on the road. It’s kinda like a family here with this company. We have about 150 power units. Sometimes but not often communication can break down but I think that goes for all companies. I guess I’m trying to say that there can be a good balance and understanding between driver and dispatcher especially if they can get used to how each other operates and what is needed. A real two way street that you have to paint the lines on yourself sometimes but it’s out there! I have had my share of real bad dispatchers with a certain major carrier though as well...
Love the channel, the live streams and videos. Keep it up! 🚚💨
Thank you!
My friend graduated from a fly by night trucking school and a flatbed company hired him with only 30 days of training him. He went on his first solo trip and quit he also got a ticket for improperly tarping his load. The company promised him that they would only give him easy tarp loads considering he had such a short training period. BEWARE; Their are some horrible companies in New Jersey.
I've got a pretty good dispatcher, but he does forget all of the time that I'll get way ahead of their scheduling (up to a day and a half)
I had an incident with satellite tracking myself. I was in Pennsylvania when my fleet manager called me and asked me where I was and I said I was in Pennsylvania. He told me that satellite was showing that I was in New Jersey. My dispatcher is okay. I just sometimes wish the pay and home time was better.
One night some 20 plus years ago I'm at the place our drivers used to stop for coffee in Salisbury Mass. An o/o comes in gets a coffee and asks how far it is to the Maine Border. Roughly 17 miles I answer. Oh good I almost there he exclaims. Maybe being able to help him find his pickup I ask him where his appointment is. Fraser Paper he replies, his dispatcher told him it is right on the border. Well the dispatcher told him correct to a point. The only problem is Fraser Paper is on the Saint Johns River in Madawaska Maine on the Canadian border some 400 miles from the Maine New Hampshire border. This guy had been dead heading from So Jersey. He was not impressed with dispatch at the moment.
They should offer dispatchers a incentive to run us efficiently and within our hos and realistic windows and no major gaps btw recievers and new shipper
I've had amazing dispatchers and terrible dispatchers. I've had a dispatcher tell me to run with 10k over weight of steel, and I've had a dispatcher get me an overweight permit within 10 minutes for a 3k overfill on a tanker. It all comes down to the company and how they value the driver.
P.S- I quit that steel job that night.
thank you for sharing this, liked the whole thing, especially the computer dispatcher idea, not that I'm a driver but I can kind of imagine what it's like, KIND OF
I have drove for 20 years now and happy to say I only had a dispatcher for a few months when I first started in the industry always hauled dedicated runs and loved it. For the the last 3 years I've plowed and run equipment for the province of New Brunswicks and love it plowing is a great challenge and I was ready for it.
I had great dispatcher until I got hurt and have been on workers comp for almost a year and my dispatcher quit and went to work for a utility company
My "dispatcher" at my job now is my dad and the owner of the truck and trailer I drive lol he drives the truck running our local work. He's been driving 20 plus years
Better listen to that dispatcher!!
I appreciate your input. I just got my two year experience and still learning. This past Friday I sent a message to let my dispatcher know that the shipper won't be able to load me until Monday. I sent two messages. One message to let them know the shopper can't load me until Monday. Then they left me a message to send a form with an ETA I sent that form in and under the comments I put shipper won't be able to take me until Monday. Saturday morning one dispatcher asked me have I been loaded yet, if so please send your loaded call. 🤦♂️
This is why I dispatch myself. I don't do dispatchers.
Wise move!
I had a pretty good regular dispatcher (AKA fleet manager) during the week, but the evening and weekend people were awful.
I got sick of the company not honoring the agreement under which I signed on-home weekends. Kept getting screwed by the weekend fleet managers. One Saturday I finally had enough and bobtailed home 400 miles so I could make it before my 70 hours expired. My regular FM tried to sweet talk me into staying but I resigned on Monday morning, returned the truck to the terminal on Tuesday.
Never again will I work for a major carrier or OTR. I have decided to leave the industry.
Dispatching should use historic route data and past weather conditions to optimally route with minimum delays.
Timothy, you need to be in congress. Did I mention that before?
This explains why my dispatchers are so terrible sometimes. Thanks for the upload. I'll be sure to thank the good dispatchers and treat them well.
My dispatcher was a driver for years before he switched over in the company. He gets me miles and does a good job to not have me sitting. Longest I've ever had to sit was 2 hours and that was only one time.
Big companies only want dime a dozen dm’s only cheaper is better.
So I had a dispatcher that would tell me the load was do a Certain date and I would get there and I would check in and they would tell me I was a day early . He would do that so I can push it and be there early but it would waste my time sitting there to add to it I wasn’t getting payed lay over . Sucks
Yup, had guys do that to me!
Get loads through north eastern states and Amish country. Miles don’t mean a thing if Amish buggy is in front of you on a 2 lane road. The rest of the country is not too bad
I seem to be bounced between all 4. However each one is responsible for a different area, so there is that.
Well keep an eye on them!
The dispatchers are evil
I'm so fed up with my dispatcher. He'd rather play load broker and get third party carriers to do everything for us
Even worse, is the fact that driver examiners do not have to have ever driven truck for a living to give a drivers class one test. I had let my class one license lapse because I was not driving for a living at the time, and when I went to renew it I had to take a road test. I had received extensive training in 1964 when I started in the industry and in 1994 when some guy who had only read about how to, failed me on a road test. The driving school where I took the test told me that this examiner fails everyone so he gets paid for a drivers exam twice per person.
As for dispatchers, even the ones who consider themselves to be professionals are prone to faults, like lying even when the driver has proof they lied, and some of those think they know better than an experienced driver. I had one dispatcher ask me if two van bodied B train trailers would work together on a run from Calgary to Saskatoon. I told her that they would not work, but she decided that they would. As the pup trailer left the yard the front of the pup contacted the rear of the lead trailer and ripped the nose off the pup. Both the dispatcher and I watched it happen so there was no need for me to say "I told you so."
Doug Fever it’s unfortunate how many people ask for advice about stuff but never follow what is advised.
Funny story! One of those moments you just live for!
You nailed it!
Dispatching comes under admin 101. Put the right pencil in the right holder and count them in, count them out and which holders they end up in and when. Simple reading, simple arithmatic and a calm attitude with a good sense of organisation, all things you get chewed out for lacking an office environment, yet oddly all the things most hotshot managers seem to never need. Go figure.
On another topic has there ever been a particularly dark moment in your driving career you've been sorely tempted to pack the job in and how did you cope with it and not lose your livelihood. Responsible jobs like driving and others where you are the one likely to carry the burden when things are going wrong are very grim at times. Hope do you cope?
More companies should subscribe to your channel and LISTEN! Great video!
One thing I do like about dispatch at my company in general is that they can look at where we are or our HoS but policy is not to unless it's an emergency.
So no pesetering about "oh you have enough hours to do it" or "why did you park there?"
That kind of trust is important. I said I'd do the job I'll damn well do it. I'll call if anything comes up.
Yup!
Good dispatcher -> good loads -> good money
Got it made!
I have a really good dispatcher. I’ve been fortunate to have a really good dispatcher. He always comes in when I need to go home or can’t make a load on time. I feel bad for him because he’s young and looks like he’s aged 10yrs in 5 because of how stressful the job can be. I’d rather drive the truck and let dispatchers handle all the phone call for me than me having to do it bc I’m not a good people person. :)
I got marked with a late load that was bull💩...
In the bus industry, dispatchers are either management or promoted drivers. After 31 years driving buses I am upping my B to A. I am looking to buy a small trucking company. So I might have to fill in as a dispatcher owner driver dependent on the situation. I plan to work with my employees, because over 31 years in the bus industry, I had some really good ones and some useless horrors as dispatchers.
I'm looking to become a dispatcher. With not lying being a given, what are some of the difficulties drivers go thru with dispatchers so I can avoid those practices? Also, what are dispatchers lying about?
They shave the miles off so much no way to make it on time...
Dave I've got one for you and everyone else. This just happened. Today is 3/10/20 its 6:12 am. I am on a dedicated run. I arrived to my pickup last night around 6:30 they let me stay here in the dock, and load me in the morning. I checked in and just relaxed in my truck. I woke up early(4:45) this morning, usually the hi lo going in the trailer wakes me up but it didn't happen.
I sat there until 6 am. I went in the office to see what's up, another driver from my company took my load!! Sneaky S.O.B. left as I was going in the office. I just called dispatch and no surprise they have no idea what's going on. Has this ever happened to you?? Anyone??
Well, it'll be interesting to find out whose fault that was! That's not an uncommon occurrence in trucking. Usually it's just a miscommunication between the loader and the shipper or the driver but every instance is different. Some guys will just deliberately steal your load. I hope that wasn't the case here. Figure out the time that you lost and ask dispatch how they plan to compensate you for that.
Thanks for sharing this video! Yes its true what you say 😭😭😭 heavy trucks greetings from Portugal 💪💪💪😂
Greetings Paulo! Friends of mine have vacationed there and they told me it's beautiful!
@@SmartTrucking hello how are you!
Your country is also beautiful !
Now i work in urban solid waste collection,there is no dispatcher or forwarder,just garbage ahahah
This quip is as old as the hills but here goes, how you can you tell if your despatchers lying? Their lips are moving.
I love your videos.
Have you thought about producing an intro?! Catchy song, catchy graphics?!
Hello all!
I noticed a comment saying that dispatchers/DM can’t look up HOS. What’s the problem with knowing how many employees have HOS available to pick up a load?
Do you know what you call 10,000 dispatchers at the bottom of the ocean? A GOOD START!
I was thinking about being a dispatcher but i drove truck 30+ yrs so that proubly wont happen.
Over qualified with too much experience and empathy for other truck drivers. Sorry, we can't use you!
Blame the industry not the individual.
Thumbnail is pretty accurate but lacks chain smoking.
Good point!
It's been at least 8 years since I've had a single dispatcher working for a carriers based in BC Canada that spoke English that wasn't pigeon-English spoken with an accent that is remotely understandable. I have had to tell them, DO NOT CALL, text only. Less than half know what don't call means, and will constantly call you. But they will all bombard you with texts throughout your run. Most have said they have driven trucks before, but it's easy to figure out they haven't in Canada, and don't have a clue about the HOS either. I've had to argue HOS with almost every one of them. And try and say no forced dispatch. The company will hire the next immigrant off the boat and you're gone.
Geezuz! And B.C. used to be such a Canadian province.
@@SmartTrucking Agreed. But now there's almost 90% of the companies are owned by foreigners. And the major companies are run by them. Call any one of them and you'll get what sounds like a phone center in India.
I want to try out OTR trucking. I don't have a CDL, but I do have a clean driving record. Do you have a suggestion for good companies to work for who hire new drivers? I would like to be located in the western states more if that is possible.
Talk to Pride in Salt Lake City. I don't know if they train, but if they don't they will have a school they recommend. Pride is an excellent carrier.