Comments From Dispatchers....

[dieseldiva]

Ok...this is getting old......surely we're not the only people that are getting these comments from dispatchers when contacted about what rate we would agree to do a load.

Again today, when asked what rate we would take to do a specific load, the dispatcher feels the need to inform us that the rate we requested was "high for a D unit", even though as I said in an earlier post, we were regularly getting that rate 8 years ago without asking for it.

I understand that the dispatcher is commenting on the rate from his or her own perspective and the offers that they're seeing go across their desk but I find these comments to be outside of their job description and irritating in an already tense business environment. When a dispatcher tells you that the low rate they've just offered is fair, IMHO he/she has stepped outside of their job and into giving personal opinions.

I'll add the quote from an earlier post that I made so that my examples are all in one place.....

Then the phone rings, on the other end is a dispatcher who has probably never seen the inside of a truck and he/she says to you "that's a good rate".........oh, really?? We want to say.... And when you ran your D unit, was that a good rate??

There are other comments that I can't think of right now off the top of my head but a recent one that a friend endured when they asked for a higher rate was...."you DO know this is expediting don't you"......WHAT??? I mean, it's comments like these from dispatchers that haven't a clue about your business that irks us.

I don't think a dispatcher has any business making ANY comments that reflect their personal opinions. They have no idea how we run our business and it does nothing but promote bad feelings.

Sometimes we've received comments when asked how much we wanted to do a certain run and our response was the same rate that we regularly got over 8 years ago when we started expediting. Makes me wonder if these folks have had a raise within the past 8 years...and have their expenses remained the same??

I could go on and on but you get the picture. None of this that we're discussing does anything to improve business relationships between dispatch and the contractors/drivers.

PS....the first person that responds to my post with the standard "you need to go sit with dispatch for an hour" is going to the hospital with me....they'll be having surgery and I'm going to get my boot.....just sayin'

If you're having these same type of conversations with dispatch, I urge you to post here and maybe someone from management will take note and offer some additional training where needed. Please don't name names, that's not the point of this thread.

 

[usafk9]

Why tense?

 

[dieseldiva]

Why tense?

I would say yes, tense. When you're trying to get work and offer after offer comes through cheap, cheap, and cheap again....you might define the mood as tense. I suppose I could have used a different word but it wouldn't have changed the flavor of the thread.

The question remains to you, have you had comments from a dispatcher that you found to be outside the realm of their job description?

 

[ATeam]

Again today, when asked what rate we would take to do a specific load...

When asked this question, we sometimes give a straight answer and a specific dollar amount. It it is rejected we don't get tense. If they are not willing to pay whe we feel our time and truck is worth, it is better that we don't get the run anyway.

More often, we answer the question with a question of our own: "What is the highest amount you can pay?" They usually answer with a number.

If it is good enough, we accept the load. If it is not, we say we are sorry but if they want to put freight on our truck they will have to increase their price to $______, and if they do, we will be happy to take the load.

This approach does not give us the highest acceptance rate in the fleet. It does not get us to the Four Star banquet. It risks leaving us sitting with no freight for a period of time because we may have priced ourselves out of the market.

Such as it is, it is our approach and it has serves us well for seven years. It has served customers well too...at least those who are willing to pay our price. They get full value in return for the money paid.

 

[ATeam]

The question remains to you, have you had comments from a dispatcher that you found to be outside the realm of their job description?

That's not a question I can answer since I do not know what a FedEx Custom Critical dispatcher's job description is.

 

[dieseldiva]

That's not a question I can answer since I do not know what a FedEx Custom Critical dispatcher's job description is.

Ok, so we're going to be very technical, eh? Would you presume that personal comments were encouraged or discouraged from the dispatcher training staff within FECC?

 

[dieseldiva]

When asked this question, we sometimes give a straight answer and a specific dollar amount. It it is rejected we don't get tense. If they are not willing to pay whe we feel our time and truck is worth, it is better that we don't get the run anyway.

More often, we answer the question with a question of our own: "What is the highest amount you can pay?" They usually answer with a number.

If it is good enough, we accept the load. If it is not, we say we are sorry but if they want to put freight on our truck they will have to increase their price to $______, and if they do, we will be happy to take the load.

This approach does not give us the highest acceptance rate in the fleet. It does not get us to the Four Star banquet. It risks leaving us sitting with no freight for a period of time because we may have priced ourselves out of the market.

Such as it is, it is our approach and it has serves us well for seven years. It has served customers well too...at least those who are willing to pay our price. They get full value in return for the money paid.

This is pretty much the same method we use with the exception that we don't answer a question with a question. They asked and we answered...pretty straightforward. The use of the word "tense" was not attached to the phone call process and the comments, it was concerning offer after offer of cheap freight.

 

[ATeam]

Ok, so we're going to be very technical, eh? Would you presume that personal comments were encouraged or discouraged from the dispatcher training staff within FECC?

I would not presume that dispatchers are tightly locked into what can or cannot be said in any situation but that there are general guidlines to follow (Dont' use the N word, don't use profanity, don't raise your voice, don't lie, be professional, be respectful, etc.)

If someone's job description includes putting freight on a truck at the lowest possible price and highest possible profit to the carrier, I would think a dispatcher would be given latitude to say whatever he or she wants within the general guidelines.

If someones job description is to serve the carriers custmoers by covering as many loads as possible, a dispatcher may have the same latitude but might say something totally different since he or she is trying to accomplish a different objective.

Back to your specific point about being told what your price is compared to today's D rate, I would not take that personally. I would use it for a negotiating edge. The dispatcher that tells you that is signaling his or her inexperience in the business. A good negotiator can use that to one's advantage.

If you chose to enter the negotiating game with a dispatcher, try to play it by your rules, hot the dispatcher's. Seize the home field advantage.

 

[dieseldiva]

Back to your specific point about being told what your price is compared to today's D rate, I would not take that personally. I would use it for a negotiating edge. The dispatcher that tells you that is signaling his or her inexperience in the business. A good negotiator can use that to one's advantage.

If you chose to enter the negotiating game with a dispatcher, try to play it by your rules, hot the dispatcher's. Seize the home field advantage.

Funny that you should post that because that is what we did, just through natural instinct. The dispatcher made a counter offer of .10 less all miles than what we had requested and we turned the load down. The next call we got was the same load offered at the rate we requested. I don't say that to brag.....I don't say that to give the impression that FECC can be taken advantage of....it goes back to what was said during orientation.....everything is negotiable. I would much rather be offered a good rate to begin with, less hassle and the customer gets faster pick up.

 

[ATeam]

I would much rather be offered a good rate to begin with, less hassle and the customer gets faster pick up.

I hear that! And the fact that our carrier does not offer the best rate first makes it clear whose profits the carrier seeks to maximize.

That's what makes it easy for Diane and me to hold out for a higher price. If our carrier is happy to mazimize its profits, we equally happy behave the same way for the same reason.

 

[dieseldiva]

The time that it takes for extended negotiation is robbing the customer but no one seems to look at it that way.

 

[jjoerger]

I have never had a dispatcher comment on our requested rate or tell us how to run our business.
But I have had a dispatcher get mad and demand that we take a run that we did not want due to the delivery location. I told her we would do it for double our normal rate because I would have to deadhead back to where I was sitting to get another load. Suprisingly she paid our rate.

 

[LDB]

If a job has to pay more than the offered amount for me to take it and they ask me how much I tell them if they make me an offer I can't refuse I won't refuse it so hit me with the best shot. I never give the first number. I might be willing to run it for $320 and they might offer $350 but not if I've just said I'd do it for $320.

 

[MYGIA]

Yes I have had dispatchers make comments and share their opinions about what is an acceptable rate and what they believe to be too high a rate.
Yes, I agree it is inappropriate for them to express their opinion on this matter. I try to remain professional and not get into a debate. I do not believe I have any obligation to explain or defend my required revenue and/or how those figures are determined.
Once when challenged about the stated rate needed for the load and having been asked why I needed so much, I asked the dispatcher how much they make per hour. I was told – “that is none of your business”. To that I replied – you now have the answer to your question.

 

[aileron]

About 2 months ago I was in Kansas City, MO and I got offered a load to somewhere in the middle of nowhere IA with a lot of deadhead. I refused the load on the C-link. Half an hour later I got the same load opportunity for a bit more money, which was not enough, so I refused it and put the amount needed to do the load. I got a phone call in the next few minutes. The dispatcher started saying that they saw that I refused it and the amount that I want, but they could not pay me more, and if I wanted the load for the amount they offered.

I respectfully declined and then I was informed that if I didn't take it at that offered amount, the load would go to an outside carrier. I refused it again and thanked them for the offer.

I don't get it. Do they really think I care what happens with the load if I don't take it? If it is not profitable for me I don't take it, period. I guess it bugs me that they are willing to give it to an outside carrier for more money than offer us more money. Oh well.

 

[jjoerger]

We did a run recently that needed two E trucks and our D truck all picking up and delivering at the same location. Each truck had it's own follow vehicle with two drivers escorting us. One of the E trucks was an outside carrier. The outside carriers truck was a beat up looking piece of junk. The driver smelled like he had not bathed in a week and was wearing dirty, food stained clothes. I never saw his co driver. This was a 1200 mile straight through run. This driver did not want to stop to let his escort fuel, eat or use the restroom. He made the customer so nervous that dispatched called us and asked us to talk to this driver and ask him to cooperate with the customer. After the run I found out from the FedEx E truck team that the outside carrier was paid 50 cents more per mile.

 

[dieseldiva]

I respectfully declined and then I was informed that if I didn't take it at that offered amount, the load would go to an outside carrier. I refused it again and thanked them for the offer.

I don't get it. Do they really think I care what happens with the load if I don't take it? If it is not profitable for me I don't take it, period. I guess it bugs me that they are willing to give it to an outside carrier for more money than offer us more money. Oh well.

It doesn't make good business sense for them to "farm out" a load to an outside carrier if they have to pay that carrier more.

I think that jjoerger gives us reason to care and he gives our carrier reason to pause.....

The outside carriers truck was a beat up looking piece of junk. The driver smelled like he had not bathed in a week and was wearing dirty, food stained clothes. I never saw his co driver. This was a 1200 mile straight through run. This driver did not want to stop to let his escort fuel, eat or use the restroom. He made the customer so nervous that dispatched called us and asked us to talk to this driver and ask him to cooperate with the customer. After the run I found out from the FedEx E truck team that the outside carrier was paid 50 cents more per mile.

Why would FECC be willing to accept a truck and driver like the one described above if they would not find that same truck and driver fit to sign on to their own company. If they're not clean and neat enough to sign on to FECC, then they're not clean and neat enough to carry their freight...the added pay is just an extra insult.

 

[hdxpedx]

If they're not clean and neat enough to sign on to FECC, then they're not clean and neat enough to carry their freight...the added pay is just an extra insult.[/QUOTE]

and I'm comparing 1099's - before new mileage contract/ after new mileage contract- that's an extra DOUBLE insult!

 

[bubblehead]

The driver smelled like he had not bathed in a week and was wearing dirty, food stained clothes. I never saw his co driver.

And you never saw the co driver??

"Why would FECC be willing to accept a truck and driver like the one described above if they would not find that same truck and driver fit to sign on to their own company. If they're not clean and neat enough to sign on to FECC, then they're not clean and neat enough to carry their freight...the added pay is just an extra insult."

Oh but sadly they do sign on these kind of people....just keep doing what you do and the trash-class will eventually be gone. I just wonder about some of the good customers they lost and are going to lose with these kind of people...and the good contractors they already lost!

 

[dieseldiva]

Oh but sadly they do sign on these kind of people....just keep doing what you do and the trash-class will eventually be gone. I just wonder about some of the good customers they lost and are going to lose with these kind of people...and the good contractors they already lost!

I disagree....I don't think FECC KNOWINGLY signs on these kind of people. I think unscrupulous fleet owners DO and perhaps a few slip through the cracks when they're in orientation at Green, showered and shaved up.

This is the kind of thing that the safety liaison is looking at, maybe the company should give some thought to the trucks/drivers of the outside companies that they use.