Gratifying Discussion With My DM

Of all the mantras that float around my head, making sure that I'm a safe, productive driver that's easy to work with is one of them I use daily. That and "Watch your wagon ".

It is a competitive marketplace and if you consistently perform well, safely without complaing, your office staff will notice and take care of you.

In context, my DM and I were discussing loads, I took a couple for the team and did some short difficult loads around LA. Freight is short, the load planners were beating her up and rather than complaing, I just said I'll make it work, got a solution of dropping one for T call, so I could do both in the same day. It's not as many miles as I would like to have, but it all will work out in the end.

As she says, she will move mountains for her good drivers and I'm her top driver.

Excellent! The relationship with your dispatcher is going to make all the difference!

Excellent! The relationship with your dispatcher is going to make all the difference!

Jan. 5th, I included this message to my FM and received a nice reply back:

You are the man, Davy!!! Glad to see your hard work has not gone unnoticed. Hopefully new drivers see this and use it as an example of how to earn the trust and respect of their Fleet Manager.

I can't stress this enough to new drivers; gaining the trust of your dispatcher is huge. Dispatching is mostly a game of problem-solving and putting out fires. If you're a safe, reliable driver who makes their appointments on time, you're way ahead of most drivers.

I talk regularly about developing a relationship with dispatch. To be clear, I don't mean a friendly, talkative, buddies type of relationship, though that would be great. What I mean is developing trust and understanding. Once they trust you and understand how you operate, you can work well together as a team. Most drivers will almost never talk to their dispatcher. There's no need. They send you the info, you get the job done, and that's all there is to it.

I took a couple for the team and did some short difficult loads around LA.

Man, did you ever! That's worthy of a major reward!

Great hib Davy!!!

As said those relationships are golden tickets for your continued success. Many of the big companies have such high turnover both drivers and dispatchers it can be difficult to achieve.

OS is the only driver I know who has had the blessing of a very long relationship with his dispatcher.

When I worked for big companies, I went through dispatchers often, luck of the draw. Last one I went through 1 a year, and that was the best of the 4 majors I’ve worked for.

Keep up the good work sir!!!

When I worked for big companies, I went through dispatchers often, luck of the draw. Last one I went through 1 a year, and that was the best of the 4 majors I’ve worked for.

I once had a dispatcher at a major carrier for maybe 3 years or so. It was fantastic. I think we spoke on the phone maybe twice a year, and that was only because one of us had something to say that we didn't want in writing. Otherwise, we never spoke. We knew how the other operated, and things went smoothly.

One morning I get a message that says they're moving me to a new dispatcher. My heart started racing. I sent a message asking if he was leaving, and he said no. He had too many drivers, so the boss arbitrarily picked drivers to move to another board.

I was parked at the time and told them I would not move the truck until I was back on his board. After three or four phone calls from various people in management, they finally understood that it was best to just return me to his board, and they did.

That's how important a great dispatcher is. I'd probably still be sitting in that parking lot if they hadn't returned me to my proper dispatcher.

Wow that’s a pretty fantastic compliment to get to hear straight from your dispatcher. Nice work man, glad all the hard work is paying off

This is awesome Davy! Congratulations to you.

Yup. Good stuff there.