What can we do to make it easier for dispatchers?

[Jefferson3000]

I'm still trying to figure out why all of the class warfare between parts of a company. I guess people need someone to blame when things get difficult on a load.

Remember this about the dispatcher: He might not actually know that the load booked to deliver on Saturday at Acme Nugget Co., will need to be held until Monday, because Acme is only open Monday through Friday. Better yet, that 2 @ 2200lb. load you accepted and DHed 104 miles to pick, just grew into 2 @ 4400lbs, and will no longer fit on your van. Now it's 9pm on Friday evening in Blunderfunk, MT.

There are many variables in booking freight that don't get discovered until much later. Sometimes those variables change everything.

Recently, I had a potential customer on the phone. She explained that her company needed to move some sort of aluminum pieces from central Florida into Alabama. She assured me that these would fix in a straight truck. As we spoke I was reminded of a similar discussion I had had with an engineer that morning and realized that they were from the same exact company. The difference was that the engineer explained to me those pieces were 32 feet long and needed side loading, so only a flatbed would work. Unfortunately, the engineer's "secretary" thought she was doing a good thing, trying to find a carrier to move the shipment.

 

[greg334]

Feel free to have them contact me, we are always looking for exceptional people!

I forward to them a link of this thread and will talk to them in the near future. They are very good and know their stuff.

Wow, I guess I know how you feel about dispatchers.

I don't think you get what I'm saying. I respect their job when they respect my position in the food chain.

Yes driving is tuff but TO ME sitting down talking on a telephone all day with most people who are supposed to be in business for themselves but asking silly questions like, My mommy is sick can I go home. Well that's just my opinion and you have yours. I couldn't do it.

Well I understand, it isn't brainsurgery like many make it out to be, there is a learning curve and every company has its quirks

BUT the thing that many seem to miss is that a lot of dispatchers are arrogant, a reflection of the company's attitude toward the contractor. A lot of them are actually clueless of what is going on outside their cubicle, and many more don't care enough to go that extra mile.

For those who are reading this at their company to see what people think, you need to understand your staff has to be professional by their actions, not always their words.

SO here are a few things;

1 - being professional means taking notes and if the computer system allows notes, then put the notes in the computer for that load. THIS helps everyone, especially a driver/contractor who became a parrot repeating the same problem over and over to 10 different people because no one took notes or because of Number 4.

2 - being professional is taking the time to listen, ask questions and then try to figure out a resolution for a problem. IF a dispatcher doesn't know how to ask the right questions, then train them in what the driver/contractor does by putting them on the road for a month. The BS line I keep hearing is how busy dispatchers are but when I see them in action, they can take the extra 15 seconds to listen and to ask questions - oh and take notes.

3 - being professional is not demanding that a driver/contractor takes a load. WE are independent contractors and by demanding them to take a load or playing games with them, it is very unprofessional and actually steps into the area of making them an employee.

4 - being professional is handing off an issue or a problem to the next shift the RIGHT WAY, this includes taking the time to explain what's going on and handing over the notes you made. Not just grabbing your stuff and running out the door.

5 - being professional is understanding you go home when your work is done while the driver/contractor doesn't and he/she makes money to put into your hands. The driver/contractor can and in many situations does your job but you can't do theirs.

6 - being professional is about being patient and not hanging up on anyone. You are not facing the problem directly, like dealing with a p*ssed off customer, the driver/contractor is on the front lines. They are the one who has to deal with the situation no matter what kind of support the company gives so give them the respect and have patients with them because in truth they matter more than you being yelled at on the phone because of Number 5 - you go home when your work is done, they don't.

7 - being professional means to be personable but not take things personal. If you don't get along with a driver/contractor, then you don't get along with a driver/contractor but don't sabotage the business you both are in by playing games. The bottom line is you need them more than they need you.

8 - being professional means having the ability to admit you made a mistake. If you are wrong, then admit to is and things work out. If you are wrong and lie about it, then you should be fired.

9 - and finally, being professional is learning what you are actually doing and where you fit in. THIS actually means getting outside of your little cubical and meeting drivers/contractors in their world. Just because someone comes to visit you and you put on a dog and pony show to impress them, it does not mean you know what they actually do.

 

[Deville]

I have never been a dispatcher and after sitting on an extension listening to the questions they are asked I would not change jobs with them.

The one thing that really blew my mind while listening what the type of questions they were asked:

Where can I get my truck weighed I think the load is heavy.

On a telephone dispatch she was asked over and over how to spell the name of the contacts, street names, and city locations. I was ready to choke the driver and her voice never changed.

Other questions on where they could get their truck worked on.

I felt as if most of the time she was babysitting not dispatching loads.

As business owners or independent drivers I was amazed to the degree the dispatcher would go to help. I have to wonder what their job description looks like.

I feel as if it is best to be pleasant on the phone and professional. Take care of business so we can move on and they can move on. I do not think they care about the details we get our job done they get their job done.

Their job is to dispatch loads and our job is to pick them up and deliver them. I am not real concerned if they are having a bad day because someone in the next cubical is grouchy and they do not care if I am having a bad day fighting traffic we both have a job to get done.

Dispatch is here to assist the driver, there not here to be your friend. You want a friend get a dog, or a hooker. I have done just about every job in this business, inculding dispatching. It's hard thankless work. Honestly; to be an effective dispatcher you need to be a bit of a prick & Kill em' with kindness.

I am always pleasant but firm & direct when I speak to dispatch. I'm as out goimng as I can be but getting to the point of my call at the same time.

I have to say in the years that i've been expediting I have only been so lost that I had to call in for directions or a polling location 3 times. One of those times was weather related. I've had prolbems wih my truck on the road & took care of the repairs myseld or got my own mechanic. I try not to bother with dispatch as much as possible. Most of the time theya re looking for me for answers to there questions; such as calling me at home at 4 am in the morning while i'm out of service because an out of town driver is so lost in Brooklyn NY & needs directions. I once had to go out & find a white glove truck in Staten Island, NY and lead him to the safety of a main road.

Now i'm not perfect, I have lost my temper, but in my own way, I don't yell, curse or scream. I just become so condasending that it makes the person on the other end want to cry. This has only happened when I have been either abused, mis-lead or out right lied too. In the few instances that this has happened the audio tapes vindicated me.

 

[simdog20]

greg the post was how we can help dispatchers not what we can do for them. Your post seamed alot of just complaining about there job. I think u get a little excited sometimes. I realise you got alot of post. Some make sense some dont.

 

[TeamCaffee]

BUT the thing that many seem to miss is that a lot of dispatchers are arrogant, a reflection of the company's attitude toward the contractor. A lot of them are actually clueless of what is going on outside their cubicle, and many more don't care enough to go that extra mile.

For those who are reading this at their company to see what people think, you need to understand your staff has to be professional by their actions, not always their words.

This says so much Greg on what I feel is part of the problem. They look at how much one load pays and it is more than they make in a week and we refuse it!!! They look at us as arrogant cherry picker drivers.

I have had dispatchers question me on why I did not take a load as the load appeared to them to pay great. What they did not take into consideration was the time of day a load came out, (25 mile load for 250 picking up tomorrow afternoon) look at that 25 miles 250 bucks they driver has to be crazy to not accept it! We as drivers know why we turned down that load. To tie up a team truck for basically two days and then the load picks up in the afternoon basically ruining our chances for a long load is something I do not think twice about before I say no.

The dispatchers do not consider all of the things we look at when accepting a load, where does the load go? middle of nowhere marginal pay lots of dead to get back out. NO
Major snow storm that I have to drive in all the way to deliver. NO my truck is in a accident there goes my income and a service failure to boot

There are many valid reasons we turn down loads that I am sure a dispatcher does not consider. They have what they think is a good paying load and all of us say no.

I also do not understand or pay attention to the dispatcher that has a supervisor saying cover this load and do not add money to the load. I am sure they also get into hot water for adding to much money to loads to get them covered.

I am sure when the dispatcher has a load to cover on Monday and this is Friday and we are a team why not offer it out at the middle of the night to get the load covered and off of their board. As a team we run 24/7 someone should be up to accept or decline the load.

There is a myriad of reasons why we decline loads and why the load is offered to us. On both sides of the coin it is not personal on why they offer and why we refuse. Professionalism at all times is best even when I want to choke someone for waking me up for a pickup two days later.

 

[greg334]

greg the post was how we can help dispatchers not what we can do for them. Your post seamed alot of just complaining about there job. I think u get a little excited sometimes. I realise you got alot of post. Some make sense some dont.

I know what the OP was asking, I don't agree with a lot that is said or any thing to imply that I HAVE to worry about what makes their job easier - this seems to say to me that they are more important then I am, so I have to be nice and put up with their crap. NOT

The job is not hard at all, they make it hard. The less education in the field they are in that they have, the harder it becomes for them. A lot of people are not cut out for the work, they try and get overwhelmed and that may be a lot of them.

Many expediting companies seem to refuse to hire from their driver pool, which is one of the best sources for some of the best dispatchers you can ever find. If you want to know why they don't, I can tell you what one company VP told me, just ask.

One reason why the harshness is simply because many companies read these threads and that is where I'm directing my comments to, not to drivers or contractors. I already have had a bunch of emails from a few companies about my comments in this thread, as I did last time this was discussed in depth. I have talked to one manager last night for a couple hours and been invited to one Ohio company to see whats going on there. Not that I'm an expert at anything, I am just vocal.

I have had dispatchers question me on why I did not take a load as the load appeared to them to pay great.

This is a perfect example of what I am saying. A lack of experience doesn't afford the dispatcher an idea that sometimes money isn't everything.

A while ago I had a load offer from my former company. It was great pay at that time - $1.53 but the load had to be picked up in Chicago at 3 pm on a Friday during a heavy snow and driven to Detroit straight through and delivered by 8 pm. I refused it because the traffic in the city with the snow would be rather bad and getting out would be worst. The dispatcher added 10 cents a mile but I told her that I could do it with a 10 pm delivery not an 8 pm delivery. She could not understand why I needed an extra two hours so I asked her if she has ever been to Chicago - nope never been anywhere except Cleveland. So to waste her time I told her what it was like and she still didn't get why I would refuse the load.

 

[ATeam]

One way to make it easier for dispatchers is to make the effort to understand their jobs, just as we would like them to make an effort to understand ours. That will vary from company to company.

For example, in the last few days I learned that at one expedite carrier, the dispatcher turnover rate is higher than the driver turnover rate because the dispatchers are hired from staffing agencies and run through the system until they are burned out. In contrast, dispatchers at another company don't even get to be dispatchers until they have served in lower level jobs, proved themselves there and received extensive training. Clearly, what is true for a dispatcher at the first company will not be true for a dispatcher at the second company.

Diane and I spent a day at our carrier yesterday for HAZMAT training we get every three years. I keep my ears open at such events and ask a lot of questions. When the instructor mentioned in passing that "we were looking at placards at the ramp" I wanted to know more.

When I asked who he meant by "we," I learned that a group of FedEx Custom Critical Air Expedite dispatchers took a field trip to the FedEx Express facility at the airport to watch the planes come in and see the freight sorted and moved onto trucks.

That was refreshing to learn. It is nice to know that when Diane or I are at a heavyweight ramp and call in and say the plane is in and we are on the dock with the freight but the label you are looking for is not on the container, the dispatcher we are talking to will have a very good mental image of what exactly we are doing and what it means exactly for us when he or she asks, "Can you walk to the office and find someone to talk to?"

Terry O'Connell once told me how, when he gets the chance, he puts dispatchers in his van and drives them to truck stops to teach them what drivers actually do when they fuel a truck, take a shower and orbit a full truck stop in search of a parking place. He introduces dispatchers to real-world drivers in their element.

I like working with a company that puts time and money into dispatcher training and field trips. While there are a lot of dispatchers and agents that have various levels of experience, and while some of them have come to understand the driver experience better than others, and while some of them care more about drivers than others, the training our dispatchers get is an asset to the company and drivers alike.

I wish I knew much more about what dispatchers do and how they do it. The more I learn, the easier it is to understand their work and to appreciate the fact that many of them understand ours.

P.S. Diane and I work most often with White Glove dispatchers who generally have many years in with the company and have seen and heard it all from drivers over the years.

 

[purgoose10]

There are some good responses from Bob & Linda and Greg and what I see is a lot of company's hiring for dispatch positions l(like Greg said) that have never been out of their own town. Most company's think you just sit someone down in front of a computer and the rest is history. I think that goes with the rest of the country. If someone just graduated from Collage with an Engineering degree they automatically get hired for an engineering job they don't have a degree in and for a ridiculous salary. No wonder our country's screwed up. I think the best place to get dispatchers is from the driver pool. A few drivers who have been out here for a hundred years (????) would like to try a dispatch job. I think they would be easier to train than someone off the street.
That's just my humble opinion.
That's how to help a dispatcher. It's hard to talk to someone who JUST DOESN'T GET IT!

 

[ATeam]

I think the best place to get dispatchers is from the driver pool.

Could you elaborate? Why exactly do you think the best plact to get dispatchers is from the driver pool? A fair number of drivers have said they would never want to be a dispatcher.

 

[purgoose10]

Could you elaborate? Why exactly do you think the best plact to get dispatchers is from the driver pool? A fair number of drivers have said they would never want to be a dispatcher.

Elaborate, Wow. I know there are few drivers that could actually meet the qualifications (computer and all), the older drivers who have been around for several years and might be wanting to get off the road for whatever reason. I personally think they would be easier to train than someone who hasn't even seen the inside of a truck. There is just so much to learn to be good at dispatching. Law's, time of travel, size of load, area of operation, rest of the driver, cost of movement, weather all that and a ton more. Also need someone to understand what the driver is going thru say on a winters day when snow is 12"s deep and 5pm on Friday coming out of Chicago, all that stuff. Most dispatchers look at the computer and it tells them how long it takes to drive from pt A to B, well that doesn't really work more that 50% of the time, weather, construction, time of day etc. You tie all that in with the fact he is dispatching 10 trucks at a time, pressure point and stress becomes a factor. If they don't know their job and I mean know it w/out having to sit down and think about it, it makes for a very bad day for the operator and the office. When that happens it starts costing the company money. Hidden money, money that won't be seen till it's to late. It's a tuff job having to sit there day after day with the lead dispatcher looking over their shoulder and adding to the pressure and then making more mistakes. The computer is a great tool to use, but you still have to know the system to make it work. You only can get out of a computer what someone puts into it.
I now think I'm starting to ramble. That's a sign of age.
One more thing that Linda C stated in her post. I think every driver going through orientation should sit and watch a dispatcher work for at least an hour during the peak time of the day. That way the dispatcher meets his driver face to face and both see whats going on.
I think this is the longest post I've ever written.

 

[BillChaffey]

When the O'connell's are taking dispatchers through the Truck Stops, who's whistling for the contraband dogs?.

 

[greg334]

When the O'connell's are taking dispatchers through the Truck Stops, who's whistling for the contraband dogs?.

That's funny.

Not to knock Terry but I'm trying to figure out what dispatching has to do with fueling a truck or getting a shower?

I wonder if anyone knows the difference between showing something and actually doing something. Just because a dispatcher is shown how people do things doesn't mean they understand it or remember it but having them actually do it seems to be a good lesson that lasts.

 

[Steady Eddie]

Whats that you say? You have a load 145 miles from me with Paid miles of 89? Sure I'll do it, send it right over..... That is how you make a Dispatcher's job easy!

 

[ATeam]

...I personally think they would be easier to train than someone who hasn't even seen the inside of a truck. There is just so much to learn to be good at dispatching. Law's, time of travel, size of load, area of operation, rest of the driver, cost of movement, weather all that and a ton more.

... Also need someone to understand what the driver is going thru say on a winters day when snow is 12"s deep and 5pm on Friday coming out of Chicago, all that stuff. Most dispatchers look at the computer and it tells them how long it takes to drive from pt A to B, well that doesn't really work more that 50% of the time, weather, construction, time of day etc. You tie all that in with the fact he is dispatching 10 trucks at a time, pressure point and stress becomes a factor. If they don't know their job and I mean know it w/out having to sit down and think about it, it makes for a very bad day for the operator and the office. When that happens it starts costing the company money. Hidden money, money that won't be seen till it's to late.

... It's a tuff job having to sit there day after day with the lead dispatcher looking over their shoulder and adding to the pressure and then making more mistakes. The computer is a great tool to use, but you still have to know the system to make it work. You only can get out of a computer what someone puts into it.....

Regarding dispatcher training, you are correct. An experienced driver who has the other basic skills the company looks for in entry level dispatchers will be easier to train. Drivers know what a bill of lading is. They understand very well how a log book works. People with no trucking experience will take longer to train.

I don't believe it is the dispatcher's job to understand what the driver is going through when traffic backs up or the snow falls. It is the driver's job to tell the dispatcher what is going on. Even if the dispatcher was a former driver with 20 years on the road, it is still the driver's job to communicate with dispatch.

Dispatch does not need to know that this is the worst storm you have seen in five winters. Dispatch does not need to know that you have seen 10 big rigs on their sides in the last 50 miles. Dispatch only needs to know that you are delayed because of weather or you have stopped your truck for safety reasons. With that information, the dispatcher can contact the customers and work the load as appropriate.

Don't look for sympathy from dispatchers. Give them the facts they need to do their jobs. If you have a dispatcher pressuring you to continue when you cannot or should not, find a company that trains dispatchers to work with you, not against you.

I know at our carrier, it would be a very serious event if we reported that a dispatcher was pressuring us to continue in an unsafe manner. Sadly, that is not true at all companies.

If a long-term truck driver took a job as a dispatcher at a company where dispatchers were themselves pressured to pressure drivers to push the limits, that guy or gal would do one of three things: leave, try to do the right thing until he or she got fired, or cave into the pressure. Dispatchers are not powerful people in the company hirearchy. They are easy to fire and easy to replace.

Pressure from dispatchers does not come because dispatchers lack prior experience as truckers. It comes because drivers do not communicate well their circumstances and do not stand up to the pressure that may be placed on them (and yes, that may mean getting fired). Pressure on drivers also comes because, at some companies, the dispatchers themselves are pressured to pressure drivers. That would be true if the dispatcher had truck driving experience or not.

 

[xiggi]

Many of you never sat in the chair of a dispatcher and many more who have never actually had to work in the environment that has a lot of pressure. An article is meaningless because there may not be anything that you can relate it too.

THIS is the freight business, not a police or fire or EMS so the pressures on these dispatchers are a lot lot less than those of a police, fire or EMS department. THIS IS VERY IMPORTANT to understand so many of you who sat with a dispatcher, don't think that it is all what it appears to be.

I'm hard on dispatchers in this industry, it is an easy job for the most part and much of their own issues come from a lack of knowledge, a lack of willingness to treat it more than a job and a misunderstanding what is more important in the revenue chain. Many of them are hired off the street and never knew what a truck was before they got hired, the company sticks them in a truck for a week and then expects them to actually understand what we go through.

Most of the problems are related to one important thing;

That truck is more important than your dispatcher, so treat it as it is important.

If I want to help a "dispatcher" then I would demand that they learn what I do and don't have an attitude that my time isn't as important as their time.

I did dispatch for a good number of years. Trust me when I say a driver with that attitude would be doing a lot of sitting.

 

[greg334]

Trust me with me too he/she would sit but I wouldn't act as if they owe me or demand they take a load.

 

[guido4475]

When the O'connell's are taking dispatchers through the Truck Stops, who's whistling for the contraband dogs?.

Uh-Oh.Terry's been made.Found out.. Don't fear the whistle..lol..

 

[cheri1122]

Don't fear the whistle..lol..

Unless you have a dog [or dogs] in your truck, knowingly violating the contract you signed that prohibits it. Then, like a clerk who is rude and nasty to a customer who turns out to be a 'Mystery Shopper', you will be looking for another place to work. With absolute justification, IMO.
My dog adores Terry - he carries treats, too.