Maybe there should be a dispatch forum...hahaha....man they tell some stories of the people out here....there is a lot a A-holes driving around and miserable to boot!!
Whine whine whine....I don't do this, I don't do that...
I'm amazed!
- Thread starter Streakn1
- Start date
Maybe there should be a dispatch forum...hahaha....man they tell some stories of the people out here....there is a lot a A-holes driving around and miserable to boot!!
Whine whine whine....I don't do this, I don't do that...
We have sat with dispatch a few times and some of those calls the dispatcher gets just amaze me. Sitting with dispatchers listening to some of the stuff they are told also amazes me and I wonder at the gall people have. We each have a job to do and I do not really care what problems the dispatcher has nor do I think they care much about the problems I have out here. I have heard stories of three way calls with dispatch, the customer and the driver and it is no wonder we are not given the customers phone numbers. It would be very difficult to go from being a driver to a dispatcher as I could just hear that conversation when a whiner would call in that call would be a recording worth listening to again and again.
You don't get phone numbers? We get both...customers and receivers, except 3rd party loads...and sometime we get them also...Little good sometimes always voice mail....but sometimes comes in real handy...
nightcreacher
Veteran Expediter
OVM,myself, I've also been offered loads paying as your friends have told you.The pay was not cheap until the long dead head to pick up was figured in.and this is probably why the loads were cheap to your friends also.Its hard to dead head farther than the load is going and still maintain that high dollar figure.
Our customer is FCC and it is their job to get us into their customer so nope we do not need to call a FCC customer. If though they cannot get us good directions we will do a three way call with the customer and get better directions and hopefully FCC will update their data base. If we are the only ones that call the customer then the data base never gets updated and each and every truck going in to that customer then has to call and get better directions.
Heck Steve we have dead headed several hundred miles for a load less then a hundred miles and made great money. Just depends on what the load is, how much special handling it requires on how well it pays.
A 3 way call seems a lot of bother...most times we don't need the number but it's good to have...to call ahead and maybe theres a night shift and we can unload early without having to drive there first....All comes down to whats best for the customer then ourselves then our carrier...in that order
Putting customer first was deliberate...it's the customer that pays our bills not the carrier.
I like the three way calls as then FCC is involved and they hear what the customer tells us. In the long run I think this works better as the next truck going into this location will have the correct directions and not need to call at all.
We have them driver directions as well, except we the drivers call in any new info about the directions to the customer.
I personally would want to talk to the customer directly. A third party in the middle just muddies the water. Even more so if it happens between shifts. You spend half of your time re-explaining yourself.
If a driver isn't trusted or reliable enough to have a conversation with a customer, they really shouldn't be hauling the load in the first place.
If a driver isn't trusted or reliable enough to have a conversation with a customer, they really shouldn't be hauling the load in the first place.
Why should each truck call one customer? If the company can get the address correct then the problem is solved and no need to keep bugging the customer.
Thats my take on it as well Dave....If dispatch can't do it the first time around they can call on thier own dime not mine....We relay the updated info via QC....
Streakn1
Veteran Expediter
Excellent comment Dave!
I'm probably going to be seen as FDCC bashing again but my point here is good:
When in our DR-unit bad directions was not as much of an issue as when we leased our T/T on with them. In the five years that we were leased on with them ( 4 yrs DR / 1 yr ER), it was quite obvious that correcting and updating customer directions is very hit and miss on their part. How do I know this? Because the very same customer that we had been mis-directed to a month or more earlier still had the incorrect directions in their computer when it was dispatched to us agian. Even though we had called and provided them with the correct directions the first time around with every one that we found errors in the directions they had provided. Friends of ours to this day complain of this still being a problem. Why?
Again, when in a B,C, or D unit, its more of a frustration than a problem getting turned around. Enter an E unit into this equation and it can spell MAJOR PROBLEMS!!! We get tickets for going down roads the others don't. We end up backing a quarter mile or more against traffic just trying to get out of places we can't go because their directions sent us there. The E units know what I'm talking about. GPS and Google Earth, got that. It does'nt always alert you to road closures,etc. In our experience, many times it would take two to three calls to dispatch to finally get the customer on the line to give us directions instead of the dispatcher getting them off MapQuest only to send us on a wild goose chase once again.
In each dispatch we receive from our new carrier they provide the numbers to both shipper and receiver. Our customers WANT to hear from the DRIVERS if there are any problems or need for directions. Afterall, they and the carrier trust us to haul very high value freight almost daily. It also brings a level of comfort to the customer to have direct access to the driver hauling their freight.
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That is all we do if there is some change in directions. We just enter that on the qc and that is it. May even include dock open/close times. If we are going to deliver, we want to know when they are going to be there.
Not a appointment set by a third party or a customer that doesn't know the consignee's hours, or a difference between time zones. Notice that difference quite regularly with loads to the border. Quick phone call gets it right the first time.
That eliminates the idea at some carriers as to whether a load is "confirmed" or not. I am not quite sure why a policy of that type even exists?
But nonetheless, I want to know they are going to be there at pickup and delivery. In our case, we might be looking to do another load and don't want to be held up if we can help it.
Also could be a factor in whether we accept a load. Especially if it is booked a day out.
Just an after thought after you posted, if it takes two to three times to get a call through to the customer, that in itself would convince me that the driver is better off with that direct connect to the customer.
BTW.....don't see it as bashing. Certainly a different approach in operational proceedures that differ greatly between carriers.
Not a appointment set by a third party or a customer that doesn't know the consignee's hours, or a difference between time zones. Notice that difference quite regularly with loads to the border. Quick phone call gets it right the first time.
That eliminates the idea at some carriers as to whether a load is "confirmed" or not. I am not quite sure why a policy of that type even exists?
But nonetheless, I want to know they are going to be there at pickup and delivery. In our case, we might be looking to do another load and don't want to be held up if we can help it.
Also could be a factor in whether we accept a load. Especially if it is booked a day out.
Just an after thought after you posted, if it takes two to three times to get a call through to the customer, that in itself would convince me that the driver is better off with that direct connect to the customer.
BTW.....don't see it as bashing. Certainly a different approach in operational proceedures that differ greatly between carriers.
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Streakn1
Veteran Expediter
Why would ANY carrier insist that the driver show up at a shipper/receiever on an un-confirmed time that was solely based on an eta that a dispatcher quoted? Nothing worse than getting there in the middle of the night and the place is locked up and nowhere for miles to park, muchless park safely! Especially in the larger units. That does happen moreso on the delivery end it seemed for us.
Why?
You probably know the answer already. It is because the carrier or the customer (maybe both) doesn't want to pay for any detention time.
In those cases, they likely see the drivers time as expendable.
nightcreacher
Veteran Expediter
Gary,Let me try and explain the unconfirmed delivery.Most of the loads that are unconfirmed are third party loads.FDCC is contacted by or maybe they have taken the load off the internet.In either case,the pick up and delivery times are computer generated.These times aren't set by the dispatecher but by the computer,which intern then is sent to the drivers.When ever you see a time that has the seconds in it,you know right away its a computer time,such as 08:03.The bigest problem with the computer time is,and this can be a problem,if dispatch can't get intouch with the shipping or receiving parties,then the computer time is when they want us to be there,and as we all know to well,we will probably be going to a empty building
Streakn1
Veteran Expediter
You are right Steve, although on several occassions when we questioned the dispatcher regarding the time(s) we were told "thats the eta that was qouted to the customer and we must stick to it". I assumed this was done be the carrier in letting the customer know how early they could expect the truck to serve their needs.
I still believe that direct calls between the driver and customer works better than relying on a dispatcher to confirm a pickup or delivery time. As we all know, that didn't always happen since they can and do get busy and distracted handling many trucks and customers at the same time. On the other hand the driver is only dealing with one customer.
I still believe that direct calls between the driver and customer works better than relying on a dispatcher to confirm a pickup or delivery time. As we all know, that didn't always happen since they can and do get busy and distracted handling many trucks and customers at the same time. On the other hand the driver is only dealing with one customer.
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