Generally Speaking, How Well Are Dispatchers Paid?

As compared with drivers and fleet mechanics/techs, that is.

Do they usually have some driving experience?

My wife is a dispatcher and has been one for 2 years for a small company of 15 trucks consisting of mostly O/O.

She is on a salary of 3,000 per month and works 0600-1200 M-F with weekends off.

They don't have to have driving experience. At prime they must work two years of night dispatch before going days and getting their own fleet. They work off commission based on their drivers miles... So keep the drivers running and the money goes up. Like with driving...you have to be able to manage time and problem solve. Unlike the mechanics who are.paid hourly, they are performance based as well as the drivers.

My wife is a dispatcher and has been one for 2 years for a small company of 15 trucks consisting of mostly O/O.

She is on a salary of 3,000 per month and works 0600-1200 M-F with weekends off.

Tanx very much, Mr. Daniel B.

I take it some company workers put in time as drivers "on the front lines" then get into homebody positions "in the rear".

My wife is a dispatcher and has been one for 2 years for a small company of 15 trucks consisting of mostly O/O.

She is on a salary of 3,000 per month and works 0600-1200 M-F with weekends off.

Tanx very much, Mr. Daniel B.

I take it some company workers put in time as drivers "on the front lines" then get into homebody positions "in the rear".

She was never a driver but she rode with me for 3 months so she had a decent idea about the life as a trucker. She seems to like it- I don't know, women say one thing but it could mean something completely different. So I can only assume at best.

Sounds like dispatchers have to be able to make plans and calculations. I imagine they have computers and specialized software at their desks to help with this the way booking agents at airlines do. I wonder if even drivers use modern electronics to help manage their own schedules and HOS logs while on the road. Is every food stop, fuel stop, break, shower and vehicle check neatly planned scheduled? I am a man who likes to always be in charge of his situation. Boy, I do hate nasty surprises and unexpected delays too.

The Qualcomm calculates our hours and sends messages of where to pick up and deliver. The rest is up to us. If I feel like driving 100 miles today and 400 tomorrow but can both pick up and deliver on time no one cares. When and where we shower eat park is up to us.

My FMs motto is don't hit anything be early and tell me early of any problems. Other than that, I'm in control

At West Side Transport most dispatchers have NEVER been in a truck, much less drive one. We have one Fleet Manager (over a team of dispatchers) who was an OTR driver for many years.

Our dispatchers are recruited from colleges/universities and other trucking companies. They are paid on commission so the more freight the drivers on their board delivers, the more they make. Despite their lack of driving experience, we have many excellent dispatchers. Even our night and weekend people are great.

I take it some company workers put in time as drivers "on the front lines" then get into homebody positions "in the rear".

Actually this is unusual.

Very few drivers transition into other trucking related jobs. It does happen, but far less than you'd expect. Once a company finds a good driver they do everything they can to keep them in that job.

I take it some company workers put in time as drivers "on the front lines" then get into homebody positions "in the rear".

Actually this is unusual.

Very few drivers transition into other trucking related jobs. It does happen, but far less than you'd expect. Once a company finds a good driver they do everything they can to keep them in that job.

I'm sure many drivers use driving as a stepping stone into a more desirable career for them, but not necessarily trucking-related. It is something to do to pay the bills or build their bank accounts up meanwhile. They might apply for other jobs in the interim. I knew a man that my mother had for a realtor at age 45. He said he was a truck driver early on in his life. My grandfather said he knew a truck driver in the construction company he worked for. The man studied law books whenever he had time. He was in correspondence school and eventually graduated to becoming a lawyer.

I went to college to get an associates degree in computers but may have trouble getting hired in that field at a dedicated IT firm like HP, Intel or Micron or even govt. civil service. Old-aged and under-qualified with just an associates and no IT certifications. Some trucking companies may have even an IT department for managing their computer systems and networks. My AS may still look good on a resume for that reason. I'm rather a geek for a man interested in the grimy, gnarly world of trucking. My geekiness and the college degree might also give me an edge in these modern techy tractors with aircraft-like ****pits should I decide to go into service tech/mechanic position. I'm a very analytical man. How often does commercial diesel Class 7/8 truck technology change? In the army, vehicles seem to maintain the same level of legacy technology for decades. Railroad locomotives also follow that "long legacy" suit too as they often keep those same diesel-electric engines for 50 years or more. Designs of train equipment rarely change. Many airplanes and helicopters stay the same for decades too in the aviation field. I have known aircraft mechanics/crew chiefs in the service over the years.