Should I stay or should I go? Dispatch edition

[MapTrotter23]

For all you veterans in the industry, when you are evaluating carriers to work with, what do you look for? Specifically, in regards to loads, what do the good carriers do for you that the less than average carriers don't? Do they give you less empty miles, do they get you home on certain days? What else do they do?

 

[Duck]

 

[Mike]

For me, I want access to whatever is available so I can make my own decisions. I Don't want to rely on a dispatcher at all.

This way I don't have to worry about whether a dispatcher is being honest with me.

 

[blackw900]

I won't deal with any trucking company that uses the term Driver Manager/DM, Fleet Manager/FM or any of the other terms that make some douchebag college boy that has never even sat in a truck, think he knows how my job works.

I have a dispatcher, we work together as a team to get things done....If he ever was so presumptuous as to talk down to me, like I work for him, we'd have a serious problem.

I would never get involved with any carrier that has the words, Logistics or Solutions in their name....Every carrier that I have seen that uses those two words, usually has poor pay, and treat their drivers and O/O's like shit!

 

[Mike]

Well said, @blackw900

the fancier the terminology gets, the crappier the driver seems to be treated.

 

[Duck]

How long has Landstar been calling their O/O's "Business Capacity Owners"?

 

[blackw900]

How long has Landstar been calling their O/O's "Business Capacity Owners"?

Another incredibly stupid term....

 

[Duck]

I'm a Refrigerated Commodities Relocation Specialist.

 

[blackw900]

I'm a Refrigerated Commodities Relocation Specialist.

No....You're just a truck driver.

 

[Duck]

No....You're just a truck driver.

You're an "Apis Mellifera Relocation Specialist".

 

[blackw900]

You're an "Apis Mellifera Relocation Specialist".

Uhhhhhh......No.

 

[Duck]

Uhhhhhh......No.

Admit it, you're already planning on having that embroidered on your work shirts.

 

[blackw900]

Admit it, you're already planning on having that embroidered on your work shirts.

Uhhhhhhh....No.

 

[RACEFAN]

I won't deal with any trucking company that uses the term Driver Manager/DM, Fleet Manager/FM or any of the other terms that make some douchebag college boy that has never even sat in a truck, think he knows how my job works.

I have a dispatcher, we work together as a team to get things done....If he ever was so presumptuous as to talk down to me, like I work for him, we'd have a serious problem.

I would never get involved with any carrier that has the words, Logistics or Solutions in their name....Every carrier that I have seen that uses those two words, usually has poor pay, and treat their drivers and O/O's like shit!

Although I do have a DM, I think he is a decent one. (contradiction in itself, I know) LOL.

He did drive for 3 or 4 years, and then his wife had a baby so he took the office job close to home.

And even though I am far from a veteran, he does not talk down to me. I can call him whenever I have an issue or question, and together we handle it. There has actually been a few times that I had a "better way to ..." and he agreed, so that is how it got done.

We get along very well. He knows what I need to "git er done" and usually helps make it happen.

I think my particular situation may be the "exception" and not the "rule."

 

[RACEFAN]

I'm a Refrigerated Commodities Relocation Dork.

...fixed.

 

[RACEFAN]

You're an "Apis Mellifera Relocation Specialist".

That must bee a sweet gig.

 

[Whirlwind]

I look for several things, like most people do. I like to drive OTR, all 48 states, but I prefer not to cross a border. I look at how well a company maintains their equipment (don't much care if it's new, just want it well-cared for.) Of course, compensation is important, including things like layover pay, breakdown pay, etc. Gives a company incentive to take care of the truck and keep me moving.

But one of the biggest things of all is no micro-management. I don't mind a Qualcomm, I don't mind elogs. I do mind being told where to fuel and how many gallons I can get. I do mind when a company has some new computer system that tells me exactly what time in a 2-day window I have to drop the trailer. I do mind when I get messages over the QC reminding me "it's time to get moving for on time delivery!" when I'm already out the gate and halfway to the customer.

I'm a professional. I expect to be treated like one. Either a company trusts me to haul their freight or they don't. If they don't, then they shouldn't hire me. If they do, then leave me alone and let me work.

I like the QC because it means I never sit on hold. I like elogs because it's less paperwork for me. Maybe part of that is because I came into the industry when Qualcomm was standard practice for all the starter companies. I don't mind it because I'm used to it.

Of course, if the day ever comes when I own my own rig, then my standards will change. All the above is posted from the point of view of a company driver since that's the only experience I have with trucking.

 

[Duck]

Although I do have a DM, I think he is a decent one. (contradiction in itself, I know) LOL.

He did drive for 3 or 4 years, and then his wife had a baby so he took the office job close to home.

And even though I am far from a veteran, he does not talk down to me. I can call him whenever I have an issue or question, and together we handle it. There has actually been a few times that I had a "better way to ..." and he agreed, so that is how it got done.

We get along very well. He knows what I need to "git er done" and usually helps make it happen.

I think my particular situation may be the "exception" and not the "rule."

My dispatcher is like that.

Right about the time we went to e-logs a couple years ago, the big boss also decided we would start calling dispatchers "driver managers". That lasted about a month. I don't know how many others had the balls to correct them, but I certainly did. The big boss would say "get with your driver manager on that" and I'd say "what the **** is a driver manager? Aren't you the fleet manager?" He'd say "just talk to Dale". I did that every time I heard "driver manager".

I have a feeling I wasn't the only one being a smart-ass about it. One of the old-timers who had been driving for that company since before I was born was bitching about it in the drivers lounge one day. He was saying stuff like "What the f*** is a driver manager? I don't need a f***ing manager, this isn't f***ing kindergarten. What's next, are they gonna change their name to Swift?"

I'm still in truck driver kindergarten.

Fixed

 

[Tim]

You're an "Apis Mellifera Relocation Specialist".

Did you know the bee's he hauls have Qualcomm?