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Dispatcher in Trucking Business

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Not every job within the trucking industry involves driving. In fact, though drivers are the backbone of the industry, and certainly the most visible people in the business, they operate only with a massive support base. A key figure within that base is the dispatcher.

It's not enough to have a driver for each truck in the fleet. Somewhere along the line, someone has to tell the driver of that truck where to go to pick up a load, and where to drop it off. A dispatcher's job appears simple when you only look at the end results. After all, how difficult can it be to tell a driver where his or her next load is?

A dispatcher might say, "Drive to Buffalo, pick up 45,000 pounds of widgets from XYZ Company, and deliver them to Chicago to ABC Incorporated by 7 a.m. Monday." What many don't realize is the work entailed to reach the point where the load is actually dispatched. Sometimes, especially with the smaller operations, the dispatcher's job may overlap into other areas, such as planning, rating, and even marketing. However, for our purposes, we will deal only with the dispatcher's basic functions.



Job Requirements

A dispatcher's function includes seeing to it that the trucks under his or her control are loaded in a fair, timely, and economical fashion, then sent or dispatched to another location where they will be unloaded and reloaded, again in the most profitable fashion. A dispatcher constantly operates under pressure, so if you are easily angered or stressed, this is certainly not a field for you to consider.

In addition, a dispatcher is arguably the most "disliked" person in the trucking family tree. After all, this is the only person a driver deals with directly on a regular basis and also the person the shipper or receiver contacts when there is a problem with a load. Dispatching a driver to New York, when you know that driver despises running "dirty side," or attempting to explain to a shipper why a load hasn't arrived and the driver has yet to call in to let you know where, precisely, the load is, can lead to angry words and a great deal of stress. If your personality doesn't deal well with these factors, dispatching is hardly the place for you.

Although geography is no longer a required course in many schools, a dispatcher needs to know a great deal about the topic to function well at his or her profession. For instance, if the dispatcher has an empty truck and driver in Houston, he or she would be well advised not to send that rig to El Paso to pick up a load, even though both cities are located in Texas. Why? El Paso, Texas, is over eight hundred miles from Houston. At five miles to the gallon and an average speed of 50 miles per hour, it will take the driver nearly 16 hours and a whopping 160 gallons of fuel to make the drive, running empty-in other words, for free-every foot of the way. This is extremely unprofitable, and efficient dispatchers are painfully aware that their continued employment and income are directly linked to the profitability of the trucks in their charge.

The dispatcher also needs to possess decent business math skills in addition to geography and the obvious communication skills. Numbers play an important role in the everyday functions of the job, from figuring weight to calculating distances and time of travel. Also, as more and more businesses turn to computerized filing systems and workstations, most dispatchers in major companies and an ever-increasing number of small companies work from a computer console where at least minimal keyboarding skills are necessary. Most high schools and all community colleges offer instruction in this type of office skill, and if you don't possess it, it's a good idea to pick it up.

Routing Trucks

The easiest way to explain a dispatcher's function is to follow a series of loads once they reach the dispatch area. For the most part, dispatchers are assigned in one of two ways. Either they handle specific trucks and drivers, or they are responsible for specific geographic areas, usually called zones or regions. Depending again on the size and operating area of the company, this may mean one or two states, or even a handful of cities, or it may entail a massive portion of the country.

For this example, let's assume that the dispatcher is responsible for a specific group of drivers. Driver A calls dispatch at 7 a.m. from Detroit and reports that the truck will be empty within an hour. The dispatcher takes the information and compares it with the other trucks and drivers in the Detroit area under his or her responsibility. The dispatcher sees that Driver B unloaded in Detroit yesterday afternoon and therefore is first in line for a load. Generally, the dispatcher will also have other information about the truck and driver, such as how long the driver has been out on the road since last stopping at home, where the driver lives, how many hours of service remain according to the driver's log books, and when the truck or trailer was last in a terminal or maintenance shop for servicing. All these factors and more have a bearing on the decisions the dispatcher will eventually face when dispatching Driver A's next load.

Next, the dispatcher consults the load board. Before the age of computers, this was a large slotted board where planners would place three-by-five cards detailing available loads. These days, load boards are usually not boards at all, but computer screens, and the cards show up as geographically assigned loads available. These loads are arranged according to pick-up dates, delivery points, and other factors. But the term still remains, and electronic or not, they are still called boards.

In our example, there is only one load available, and it's in Ann Arbor. The dispatcher has a quick decision to make; in this case, it's an easy one. Since Driver A is not yet empty, the Ann Arbor load should go to Driver B. The dispatcher tells Driver A to finish unloading, and then call back in an hour.

Meanwhile, Driver B calls in, and the dispatcher describes the load in Ann Arbor. Sometimes it is the driver's responsibility to contact a shipper, but more often than not, it is the dispatcher's job. Driver B agrees to take the load. Now the dispatcher has to take into account the number of miles from Detroit to Ann Arbor and also the fact that it is the busiest time of the morning, and traffic will slow Driver B's arrival time. The dispatcher calls the shipper and gives them an estimate of what time to expect the driver, then returns to the load board and checks the number of drivers remaining who are empty from the day before, and perhaps again checks for a Detroit area load for Driver A. There is still nothing showing on the board, but the dispatcher logs Driver A's truck in as empty in case someone in marketing or planning or perhaps in another dispatch area comes up with a load in the region not covered by another driver.

Customer Service

Now a customer in Des Moines calls and wants to know where his truckload of widgets are; they were due at his warehouse an hour ago.

In all likelihood, in this day and age where electronic marvels are commonplace, the dispatcher will have some sort of a "voice mail" system to help him or her communicate with drivers even after normal operating hours. Generally, voice mail, or messages left by whatever night crew the company employs to monitor the phone, is the first thing a dispatcher checks when on arriving at work. Voice mail messages can prepare the dispatcher to answer questions such as the one posed by the Des Moines customer. However, if voice mail isn't installed in this office, or the driver has failed to call in, the dispatcher may face the difficult situation of trying to placate an irate customer while fervently hoping the driver will eventually show up or call in and at least let dispatch know the load's status.

In this case, the dispatcher checks the files for the load and discovers that Driver Z was to have delivered that load this morning, but has not shown up yet. The dispatcher checks for messages and discovers Driver Z called in at about 4 a.m. and reported a tire blowout and that no tire dealers would be open for another four hours. The driver is in Omaha, which tells the dispatcher it will take at least an hour to change the tire, four hours to drive to Des Moines, and probably an extra hour to deal with city traffic. The dispatcher calls the customer, explains the situation, and gives the customer a new ETA-estimated time of arrival.

The customer is furious. He has hired extra help specifically to unload that trailer when it arrived. Now he's going to be forced to pay almost a day's wages to his extra help. The dispatcher tries to calm the customer, then contacts customer service and claims to pass along the information and notify them of a possible claim pending on load number 123 from LMN Company. The dispatcher offers customer service a brief explanation of the circumstances surrounding the incident.

Dispatch Decisions

Meanwhile, Driver A calls in again, and Driver C is on the other line, reporting empty in Denver. There is still nothing available on the Detroit load board covering Driver A's region, and dispatch tells Driver A to call in another hour. The Denver area has a partial shipment available, so the dispatcher checks the load board to see if there is another partial shipment in the Denver area destined for the same region and if it can be hauled with the first partial. These partial loads are called LTLs, or less-than-a-load shipments, and are very profitable for companies since they are shipped at a higher rate per mile or pound-a penalty for the hassle of working with partial shipments. The dispatcher discovers there is a second load available in Cheyenne, Wyoming, about a three-hour drive from Denver.

The dispatcher glances at the clock. Dispatch is on Central time, and it's 7:30 a.m., which means it's 6:30 in Denver. It will take three hours to load the Denver portion of the load into Driver C's trailer and another three hours to reach Cheyenne, making Driver C's ETA 12:30 p.m. at Cheyenne. The dispatcher tells Driver C where the loads are, where they are going, and other information necessary for the driver to operate efficiently. The dispatcher then tells "C" to call back when the first shipment is loaded. Then the dispatcher calls the shipper in Cheyenne and gives them the information on the truck in Denver, including an ETA from Denver to Cheyenne. The shipper agrees that the ETA is acceptable, and the dispatcher marks the load off as assigned to Driver C on the load board.

Then Driver W calls in empty. The driver is in El Paso and wants to go home to St. Paul. The dispatcher knows it's difficult to get direct loads from West Texas to Minnesota this time of year, so the dispatcher asks if it would be okay to route the driver out of El Paso with a load to Louisiana, then, from there, to St. Paul. Or would Driver W rather wait in El Paso and see if a load going north becomes available? The driver is smart and takes the load available immediately, but has the dispatcher reserve a northbound load, from Louisiana if possible. The dispatcher checks the load board for future bookings, finds a shipment scheduled for pick up in three days, and tentatively marks the load for Driver W.

Here the dispatcher has to use some judgment. Is Driver W dependable? Does the driver make deliveries on time? Is Driver W responsible and easily located? At the same time, there are other dispatchers with their own drivers to look after. The dispatcher cannot afford to mark this load down for Driver W if another driver under another dispatcher will be there sooner and therefore ahead of the line on the load board. Again, thanks to the computer, the dispatcher can flag the load, notifying fellow dispatchers that, unless they have an overriding situation, that load will be reserved for Driver W.

In this case, when the dispatcher marks the load in Louisiana as "flagged," another dispatcher notices the flag. This other dispatcher has a driver in the same situation, but who will deliver in New Orleans the next morning. Depending on company policy, the load will either be held on a first come, first serve basis, or reserved according to either the seniority or the reliability of the driver.

One of the biggest challenges faced by any dispatcher is maintaining a good working relationship with his or her drivers and other co-workers. A dispatcher must remain constantly aware of the many problems faced by drivers, shippers, receivers, and also, above all, keep in mind the bottom line-the profitability of each decision and its benefit to the company as a whole. Will shipping a load with this driver on this truck made money for the company? It is a fine line the dispatcher has to walk, and often he or she must have thick skin because it's not possible to please everybody every time. In short, dispatchers tend to get yelled at a lot.

Earnings

A dispatcher's life is a fast-paced affair of ringing phones and constantly changing load boards. Pay for a "green" dispatcher is not overwhelmingly good; it depends a great deal on the size of the company and the duties and responsibilities of the dispatch office. Base pay is usually no less than $15,000 a year and often somewhat more. Raises come fairly quickly once a new dispatcher has gained some necessary working experience. Most people trying to enter the field find it easiest to find their first job with a smaller company, since major carriers prefer to work with seasoned professionals. However, once a dispatcher has some experience, those skills are valuable, and pay climbs rapidly. Wages of $30,000, and more, are not unusual.

Though the practice seems to be fading in favor of a salaried or hourly wage, some dispatchers do continue to work on a commission basis, not unlike salespeople. Their income is based on the line haul of the loads they dispatch. Generally speaking, dispatchers who receive a commission also book loads for their drivers outside of the company. This practice is known as trip leasing and quite simply means that dispatchers call other companies looking for a load in the area where they have a driver.

These loads become available when a company overbooks what they can actually haul. Usually they will list these loads as available to other companies at a percentage of what they've sold the load for. Trip leases are generally not popular with drivers who work on a percentage, nor are they very popular with the carrier, both of whom are, in effect, sharing a portion of the proceeds with the original booker.

Like it or not, trip leasing is a very common practice. It's so common, in fact, that there are people called brokers who do nothing but book loads, then sell them to carriers and independent operators on a trip-lease basis at a discounted rate. Brokers earn their living from the difference between what they booked the load for, and what they pay the carrier to haul it. Dispatching a truck and driver on a trip-leased load is the next to last choice favored by companies, drivers, or dispatchers. The last choice is to deadhead-that is, to run the truck empty-to a distant location to pick up a load in a more favorable market

Career Options

If your goal is to eventually enter an administrative position within a trucking company, dispatch is an excellent place to begin. A dispatcher is almost guaranteed to pick up the requirements, skills, and information needed to enter other fields within the industry-from marketing to rating. Dispatching allows a person to see almost every aspect of the trucking business in action, but it's not an occupation for those with hot tempers or those who are easily flustered. Nor is dispatching necessarily a job for those who want to walk out the office door at the end of eight hours.

A dispatcher carries a lot of responsibility on his or her shoulders. In order to meet deadlines and get drivers loaded, or even because of time zone differences, a dispatcher may have to work over and above the allotted eight-hour day. In some major companies, with customer bases across the country, it is not unusual to find a dispatcher working from 7 a.m. to well after 8 p.m. It is also very common to maintain a weekend dispatch in many companies. Some even have a 24-hour, around-the-clock dispatching staff on duty as more and more international markets open up. Other companies with smaller staffs may rotate the duties. Some dispatchers simply add an extra day to their work load, perhaps working one weekend day every third week, or once a month, or some similar arrangement. There are few clock-watchers among top-notch dispatchers.

Of course, a dispatcher can be male or female, and here, unlike driving, age is not an immediate barrier, though most companies prefer people with some formal schooling. In some areas, college students can work as dispatchers, or in other departments of the business, as part of their college credits. For those majoring in transportation or similar fields of logistics, dispatching is an excellent training ground, and some of the major transportation companies even offer internships for full-time students.

Trucking dispatchers can also apply their skills to careers outside of the trucking industry. Dispatching for a trucking operation is very similar to dispatching or working logistics for any type of transportation business-from aviation to maritime to metropolitan transportation systems. In short, depending on your career goals, dispatching is an excellent place to begin your transportation career.

Advances in Technology

A word here concerning electronics and computers that applies not only to dispatch positions, but is rapidly becoming standard throughout every career choice within the transportation industry. As the world of technology improves, and electronic wizardry becomes more commonplace and affordable, trucking companies are relying more and more on the marvels of the age to ensure maximum efficiency within every aspect of the industry. In addition, shippers are demanding more accountability from trucking companies entrusted with their products. Most meat packing companies, such as IBP and Farmland and others, now require trucking companies to outfit their equipment with satellite positioning systems so that a dispatcher can tell at a glance exactly where a specific load of meat is located.

As this industry continues to expand, more and more trucks are equipped with computers, satellite locating systems, and on-board communication links. The days of waiting for a driver to call in, or for a dispatcher to call a driver back are rapidly being replaced with electronic dispatch where a driver actually receives his or her bills of lading and trip sheets via fax and computer while sitting in the truck. Dispatchers can punch a couple keys and immediately locate the load-within a handful of feet anywhere in the United States or Canada, read the temperature of a refrigerated load, ascertain the oil level of a truck engine, or determine the speed of the truck as it moves down a highway.

This is not a fad, but the wave of the future. In short, new careers are opening up daily within the electronic and technical communication fields. In addition, for the person who intends to make a career of the trucking business, whether driver, dispatcher, salesperson or even maintenance, computer savvy is becoming essential just to survive, let alone compete. Even payroll is handled electronically these days. It is the wise person who seeks and absorbs every bit of training available in these areas, because sooner or later, it will become an integral skill necessary for making a living no matter what career you choose.
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