Do you like your dispatcher?
If you work with someone who handles your shipments on a daily basis, you may or may not like this person. Obviously, things will go more smoothly if you work together towards a common goal.
It would be nice if as a driver, you could just have the total attention of your dispatcher at all times. However, we know that in the trucking business and throughout the day, a dispatcher has to answer to multiple masters. A dispatcher often times has many drivers who require shipments to/from various points around the country. Also, this individual is responsible to answer to the truck line by keeping things moving smoothly and profitably. Keeping customer’s needs met while juggling these other responsibilities can be quite a task.
The job of a dispatcher can be difficult when bad weather conditions arise. If a truck breaks down, a driver gets sick, seasonal impacts on freight lanes, delayed shipments and many other factors can make this job which is as simple as connecting the dots, become much more difficult. The issue is… the dots are always moving.
Some people might view the job of a truck driver as easy. He/she just delivers freight from one place to another. The same can be viewed of the job of a dispatcher. He/she just makes a phone call or books a shipment to a driver who will carry it to a particular destination. Sounds simple right?
Let’s talk about some of this simplicity. What happens when a dispatcher has to deal with situations that arise which may be out of his/her control. Some examples can include: having too many trucks in an area without much outbound freight, no appointment times are available for a customer who desperately needs a shipment, drivers wanting to take vacation during busy times, a truck breaks down and needs repowered and truck gets held up at the dock. These are just some factors that a dispatcher might experience.
A truck driver who is delivering freight has their own set of issues to deal with. Such as, traffic jams, hold ups at the dock and delayed appointment times. In comparison, the driver deals with these issues on the road and the dispatcher deals with them in an office while on the computer.
Sometimes it’s good to think of others who work within our industry and who play an important role. If you have a good dispatcher, then let him/her know that you appreciate what they do. Their job when done correctly is not an easy one.