How Often Do You Interact With Your Dispatcher And Boss In Person?

Robert, over the years I've had some really fantastic dispatchers who always kept me running with great miles. Rarely did I ever speak with them, and most of the time I had only met them in person once or twice, even after being on their board for several years. I never thought anything of it. That's just how it was.

I rarely went to the terminals and when I did I knew my dispatcher was always super busy so I left them alone to do their job. I know some drivers have very close personal relationships with their dispatchers and others talk to them somewhat regularly. I always had dispatchers that hated phone calls because it interrupted their workflow and it left no written record for anyone to reference. They wanted everything done over the Qualcomm so that's how 99% of our communication was handled. I might have spoken on the phone to my dispatcher two or three times a year is all.

Even if you talk to your dispatcher , or driver manager (whichever term is preferred), on the phone I recommend making sure you get anything confused over the ELD. It allows you to go back and review the information, also if something goes wrong AND you followed direction to the T, then you can say look I did what I was told and you have proof. I haven't had this happen to me personally but I've heard stories. Never hurts to have a copy of instructions either way. Any time I return to my home terminal , I can go see my driver manager. I don't know if it means anything to anyone else but I like being able to put a face to a name, and it reminds me that it's another human being I am dealing with. I do one have one complaint with messaging over the ELD, and that is the time spent waiting on messages to come through rather than calling. This is only a real problem at night and on weekends when my manager typically is off and I have to wait to get ahold of someone that doesn't know me at all, and is probably a little overwhelmed. I'm getting off topic. Once a month or so to answer the original question.

I know this is rare buy when I was with Swift my DM and I hit it off quite well. We talked every couple of days on the phone. Every time I got the terminal I'd stop in and say hi. Still now after a year or so we still get together to go deer hunting twice a year. Even though he lives in Nevada and i live in California.

I'm going to try and see my dispatcher today. Why? Because I'm at our home terminal in Joplin. I speak to dispatch on the phone and through our PeopleNet. Most companies have an open door policy, so It's easy to meet your dispatcher. However, if you never do, it means you're rolling and making money. I only come here to get my truck in the shop.

Reyn worries:

Save your prayers...you won't need to worry about that.

The nature of the Dedicated account I am on, I usually see them every day.

Thank you for this bit of great need G-town! Makes me even more excited that I’ve made the right decision. Take good care & stay safe.

Almost never and I love it. I pickup my load at the plant preloaded and the paperwork is in my mailbox. I grab it and go. My boss likes it that way also, in fact when he hired me his first comment was "the less we talk the better it is for both of us". I talked to him just before christmas when he handed me my christmas bonus. It lasted about 30 seconds. Before that was in october. We only need to talk when something goes really wrong. Small problems we take care of ourselves. It took me awhile to get used to all the freedom we have at this company.

When I was on the road (just got off the road in August due to needing to be home every day) I saw my dispatcher/fleet manager/load planner (all the same guy) 3-5 times a week depending when my load left or I got back... If I didn't see him, I would chat with him on the phone. had a really good relationship with him, and he kept my checks phat and I kept him and the customers happy....

I see my DL daily, my Load Planner daily, and my Terminal Leader daily.

On my account, they prefer us to call in vs using the Qualcomm. It is a very personable atmosphere.