Dispatch Panther Vans

panther_art · Aug 22, 2006

Ok there are a lots of post on here as to how loads get dispatched, I am speaking for vans only here.

Lets say there are 4 vans sitting at the J in Indy.

1 Dodge no bunk
1 Ford or Chey extended van no bunk
1 Ford or Chey with bunk build in
1 Ford or Chey short van

The Dodge pod at 0730 and got to the J at 0800.
The van with the bunk build in gets there around 0830
The short bed van gets there at 0900
The extended vans shows up at 1300

Dispatch gets a call from a customer at 1315 about a load that is 3 skids at 48" by 48" by 48".

Who does dispatch have to send that load offer too first?

Sometimes when we are at the truck stops talking and a load offer comes over to a van that we feel should not have gotten it we jump the gun and don't really find out why that van got the load when we are first out.

I am not going to give the answer because I hope you all know the answer.

Panther Art

davekc · Aug 22, 2006

Based on some of these threads some will say the truck with a friend who is a dispatcher and the last to arrive.

Davekc
owner
22 years
PantherII
EO moderator

greg334 · Aug 22, 2006

oh...oh...oh.... I know this one.....is it the short bed van

Ok, What do I win?

LDB · Aug 22, 2006

>Lets say there are 4 vans sitting at the J in Indy.
>
>1 Dodge no bunk
>1 Ford or Chey extended van no bunk
>1 Ford or Chey with bunk build in
>1 Ford or Chey short van
>
>The Dodge pod at 0730 and got to the J at 0800.
>The van with the bunk build in gets there around 0830
>The short bed van gets there at 0900
>The extended vans shows up at 1300
>
>Dispatch gets a call from a customer at 1315 about a load
>that is 3 skids at 48" by 48" by 48".
>
>Who does dispatch have to send that load offer too first?
>

Actually there are questions left open that could affect the answer. The arrival times at the J aren't the POD times. We only have that for the first van. We'll go on the presumption they each sent POD 30 minutes prior to arriving at the J. We also don't know for certain what the Dodge van is so we'll presume it's a Dodge Sprinter. If those things are true my best guess is the offer would go first to the Sprinter. The next call would be to the extended van without sleeper that could carry all 3 skids together. Lastly the 2 shorter vans that can each only carry part of the load would be called.

Leo Bricker, 73's K5LDB, OOIDA 677319
Owner, Panther trucks 5507, 5508, 5509
Highway Watch Participant, Truckerbuddy
EO Forum Moderator
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highway star · Aug 22, 2006

Can the skids be broken down? They would have to be to fit into anything but a Sprinter. The other vans have door openings that are less than 48".

panther_art · Aug 22, 2006

No Leo the Dodge would have been a van which has a rear door opening of 47" high which takes away some load offers because of this, Ford and Chey has an opening of 48" from the latch so they can handle a skid 48".

My point of this post was to show just because you are first out and someone that comes in after you gets a load offer don't think that dispatch is working around you. The load has to be offered to the van that can handle it.

And as far as breaking the load down so that it would fit on one of the other vans dispatch would have to work that out with the shipper before dispatching any of the other vans because now you have a hand load that the shipper or consignee would have to pay for.

And I am not sticking up for dispatcher because I know that there are some out there that have there picks no matter what Scott may say.
But most of them don't know Adam from Eve and they are doing the best that they can.

Panther Art

scootr68 · Aug 22, 2006

>No Leo the Dodge would have been a van which has a rear door
>opening of 47" high which takes away some load offers
>because of this, Ford and Chey has an opening of 48" from
>the latch so they can handle a skid 48".
>
>My point of this post was to show just because you are first
>out and someone that comes in after you gets a load offer
>don't think that dispatch is working around you. The load
>has to be offered to the van that can handle it.
>
>And as far as breaking the load down so that it would fit on
>one of the other vans dispatch would have to work that out
>with the shipper before dispatching any of the other vans
>because now you have a hand load that the shipper or
>consignee would have to pay for.
>
>And I am not sticking up for dispatcher because I know that
>there are some out there that have there picks no matter
>what Scott may say.
>But most of them don't know Adam from Eve and they are doing
>the best that they can.
>
>Panther Art

The odds of having a van that can accomodate 144" inches in length of the freight is rare unless it's a Sprinter as mentioned above. The door opening as mentioned above has a lot to do with it. The only time dispatch will call a shipper to break down the freight is when we have no other truck that can accomodate the size as is. We get calls often accusing us of dispatching around,especially the van drivers. This is the reason this happens.

cheri1122 · Aug 23, 2006

I don't think any van other than a Sprinter can fit 3 skids, even an extended, without a bunk. With 8' for cargo, I have 28" left for my sleeper. Because it's a Dodge, the door height has been a problem at times, but we've always found a way to make it work, whether it means taking the top off a box & putting it alongside, or removing the skid & putting it in upright, to be used at delivery, or taking off a top row of boxes. Whatever method is used, I make double sure that everything is well secured, and have never arrived with damaged freight.
On the subject of "who's on first", I've received a load ahead of someone because I have a FAST card, while someone else might receive a load ahead of me due to freight that is 48" high, that can't be altered. Sometimes you're the windshield, and sometimes you're the bug, ya know?

LDB · Aug 23, 2006

Well, I guess it's obvious I don't run vans but I gave it my best guess. I had a load once that I picked up in Michigan and was to swap in Marion, IL. because I'd be out of hours. I got to the swap point and there were 2 vans there, a Ford and a Chevy as I recall. I had one plastic tub like a giant milk crate and 2 stackable dunnage racks. The tub came off first and went right into one van. The racks have the poles sticking up at the top to set the next one down onto. The overall height of the rack is 54 inches. They wouldn't go into the van of course. I forget what was in them but something polished and padded between units. They got turned down on the request to tip them on their sides and slide them in. I laughed at the idea to begin with but not in front of them. Anyway, I had to drive on to Sikeston, MO. and meet another truck to take them. I don't know why they didn't send me there to meet that truck initially. It would have squeaked in on hours that way. We won't talk about them making me go over my hours by pushing it too far to the swap point and wasting time at the first stop with the vans. I still don't know why they sent plain vans for 54" tall dunnage racks. Even I know enough to know those are too tall for a regular van.

Leo Bricker, 73's K5LDB, OOIDA 677319
Owner, Panther trucks 5507, 5508, 5509
Highway Watch Participant, Truckerbuddy
EO Forum Moderator
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Support the entire Constitution, not just the parts you like.