The Care and Feeding of Dispatchers

I know the old saying, “You can always tell if a dispatcher is lying if his lips are moving”. But contrary to popular belief, dispatchers are human. They do eat, sleep, have families and have a job to do too, other than give drivers a hard time.

Years ago I used to do some orientation and my last bit of advice was to walk our new hires to the office where the dispatchers were located and said, “these people are dispatchers, their nickname is ‘god’, they will make you or break you”. “If you make your pickups and deliveries on time, cause no claims or damage, they will start moving your name up the list to where the good trips are”. “If on the other hand you give them a rough time, they will put your name at the bottom of their list, give you the worst trips they can find and hope you quit”.

It’s a simple concept, but that’s the way it works in real life. The driver and dispatcher work as a team. Once a dispatcher feels comfortable with a driver and knows he can depend on you, you’ll be pre-planned on trips and your life will be a whole lot easier. Instead of you having to wait after delivery for the next load to come open, which will result in wasted time for you and the company, you’ll be on your way and putting money in your pocket as the miles click away.

Don’t forget, if you think your dispatcher(s) are giving you a hard time, do you give your dispatchers a hard way to go too? Refusing a load or making pickups and deliveries between partying or playing video games in the truck stops doesn’t make life easier for dispatchers either. They also get misinformation and grief from shippers and receivers too.Many of your loads are handled through brokers, and they’ve been known to stretch the truth a little too. Brokers have been known to double book a load with two different trucking companies, and the first one there gets the load. The brokers butt is covered but both the driver and the trucking company are left out in the cold. A shipper will call the trucking company and say he has 10 loads on the dock ready to go. When you get there you have to wait. You’re on you way with a “just on time” delivery and you have a flat tire and miss your appointment. The receiver is on the phone screaming at the dispatcher for his shipment and even though the delay is legitimate the dispatcher has to put up with the SOB on the other end of the line.

Are all dispatchers great to work with? Of course not, I’ve worked with some that have caused me to wait and lose income and I’ve worked with others who have made me a lot of money. You try to minimize the turkeys and built a relationship with the good ones. I can hear the cynics in the crowd saying that means kissing butt, call it what you will, but in reality it’s building a trust that means a lot easier time for you in the long run. Let’s try this analogy. You’ve heard race car drivers praise the relationship between a crew chief and a driver for a winning combination, and you know the teams who do poorly when that chemistry isn’t there.

Here’s another point to consider, if you think you and your dispatcher(s) don’t get along, the problem might be found if you look in a mirror.