Truck Topics
Dispatchers hit the road - A Panther II program
How many times have you been frustrated with your company's office personnel (i.e. dispatchers) when trying to explain road conditions, weather, or any number of things that the driver faces on the road?
How many times have you said to yourself or your co-driver, "How do I explain what it's like out here to a dispatcher who has never even been in a truck and who has no idea of what life is like out here in the real world?"
The concept
Panther II Transportation of Medina, OH understands that the contractor can occasionally become frustrated when dealing with the support staff in the office. But how does the company bring the dispatcher and the driver to an understanding and give the dispatcher appreciation of what the contractor faces on a daily basis?
Dispatcher "ride-along" programs have been used by some expedited carriers in the past, including Panther II, but only for its male dispatchers. It's been difficult to find a female contractor with the knowledge and experience of solo driving who is also willing to take on an inexperienced rider for a few days.
"Fortunately, we have Wanda Sanders. She has been with us a long time and she's a great lady." So says Rick Buffington, Panther II's Operations Manager.
He explains, "Through my years with UPS, I discovered that it's best, at least in Operations, to hire people with no background in trucking or transportation and to train them our way. I find that they're very enthusiastic about an industry that's new to them and they learn what moves America.without bringing bad habits from another company."
However...
"This ride-along program came about because those people don't have transportation experience and they don't know have any knowledge of what these contractors go through - weeks on the road, separation from their families, etc."
"I remember from a couple of years ago when I had a number of my male dispatchers go on ride-alongs," Buffington continues. "Every one of them came back with a whole new appreciation for what our driver group does. Many of the women dispatchers have stated that they wanted to go out on the road as well, but I could never find a female driver to put them with."
The plan was a simple one: To put a dispatcher in the truck as a non-driving partner for 3-5 days and let her "enjoy" those experiences that the driver faces every day.
But, those plans can always change, as we'll see.
Wanda Sanders
Roger and Wanda Sanders are 5-year veterans with Panther II and were the subjects of a Driver Profile on Expediters Online.com several years ago while they were operating a cube van with Panther II. They now run a team operation with Panther II in a 2000 Peterbilt 330 equipped with a 72" double bunk sleeper and 22 foot cargo box.
Their truck is equipped with inverter, TV/VCR, microwave, toaster oven and fridge. Roger and Wanda do not usually eat in restaurants when on the road, so Wanda says she does a lot of cooking in the truck.
Wanda heard about the plans for a ride-along program for female dispatchers from Rick Buffington at a drivers' meeting in February. "I told him that, to give the women a realistic look at expediting and life on the road, the dispatchers should have to stay with me in the truck - no motel rooms every night. They would live in the truck and eat out of my little kitchen in the truck. It would give them a dose of what it's like out here."
Wanda says that it was agreed that the best time for the ride-along was during the summer slow down period. It would also allow Roger to take time off from the truck to continue the couple's rehab project on their home in the Hammond, IN area. She called Rick Buffington around Memorial Day to get things underway.
The time period selected was mid-July and the dispatchers were volunteers.
"I have to give both my riding partners credit - they were awesome!" says Wanda. "They were absolute troopers - they would help fuel the truck, clean the windshield and so on. They were right beside me every step of the way. Both of them really wanted to know what the trucking experience is like."
Patricia Wells
Patricia, 44, has been a Panther II Driver Manager for 3 1/2 years. She feels that honesty is the only approach to take when dealing with her drivers: "I love my job. I'm known for being pretty straight forward and honest with our contractors. I don't talk a driver into doing a load if I know that he won't get a load out of that area. I won't promise anything. They will remember if I promise something I can't deliver for them."
Panther II had approached Patricia two years earlier about her participation in the program, but her children were too young to leave, and she had to demur. When the program was resurrected, she accepted.
She begins, "Wanda and I met at the Panther II Safety building in Seville, then headed over to the truck stop in Lodi. We weren't there too long before we got a GM load out of Bucyrus, OH. I couldn't believe how long it took to run Rt. 35 over to Marion, IN with the traffic and all."
Patricia says she got a first hand look at the "can't deliver tonight, come back in the morning" scenario. She states that now she can understand why drivers become irritated when they can't unload the freight when they get to their destination.
"They told us that there was no one to unload us, but while we were there, we saw a couple of the company's own trucks come in and deliver."
"Wanda found a Wal-Mart for us to park in overnight, and we returned in the morning to make the delivery. I wanted to work just like I would if I were part of a team on a truck, so I opened the doors, dropped the landing legs and tried to help out."
"After the delivery, I told Wanda that I was ready to go, so we made the decision to head to Indianapolis. That turned out to be a bad choice."
"Panther II has a relocation option message that comes over the Qualcomm, but we didn't take the suggestion to stay in the delivery area, so we missed three loads that came out of the Marion area. We sat till the next day for a load at the Flying J in Indianapolis."
Wanda agrees with driving partner: "It was a mutual decision on our part to ignore the suggested layover of Marion. We both figured to head for the big city (Indianapolis). We should have stayed in Marion."
Wanda relates that Patricia said she wanted to get some pictures that represented Indianapolis, and what better represents the city but the Indianapolis Motor Speedway? "I'm a huge NASCAR fan," Wanda says, "and we happened to be there just weeks before the Brickyard 400. We went out to the track and took the truck into the infield which was a big kick for me!"
Wanda continues, "There were around ten drivers testing that day, so we watched them for awhile. We went to the gift shop, the museum and also had our picture taken in front of the big Indy gate. Patricia isn't a big race fan, but I think she had a good time. She said that I was like a kid in a candy store."
Patricia says that the lack of sanitary and hygienic facilities in a truck are difficult to overcome, along with other creature comforts that one takes for granted when at home.
"I got one shower in my time on the road," she tells us, "and I wasn't real keen on taking one in a truck stop where you don't know who was in the shower just before. Fortunately, when I did get to shower, the bathroom was real clean."
"Another thing I missed; at home or at work, I drink coffee around the clock, but it was difficult in a truck. I really missed being able to make my own pot of coffee, because in a truck, everything has to be nailed down."
"For meals, Wanda would cook and I got a couple of truck stop meals," Patricia says. "I had always wanted to try one of those big truck stop breakfasts that the drivers always talk about, but never found the time."
"Sleeping was a problem for me. Naturally, Wanda is used to it and sleeps when she can, but I can't just fall asleep that easily. I was in the top bunk in the sleeper and it was comfortable once I got to sleep, but there wasn't enough air circulation for me."
"During that layover, I read, watched people walk by and went into the truck stop and spent money I didn't have. Mainly, I was just really needed something to occupy the waiting time."
Patricia says, "On the afternoon of the second day of the layover, we got a load out of the Indy area going up to Lorain, OH. After delivering the morning, Wanda deadheaded to Seville and the ride-along was finished. I was out for a total of four days."
Patricia says she has one regret about her time in the truck: "I wanted to see for myself what traffic and waiting times at the US/Canadian border are really like. As it happened, one of those loads we missed out of Marion, IN went up North, so I didn't get to experience a border crossing.
Patricia has some additional impressions about her time in the truck that includes: "I could never do this kind of work, mainly because I would miss my kids so much. I'm the single mother of six kids, aged 6-25 years old. My kids missed me so much, they were calling me constantly."
"Also, my son had just returned from Afghanistan and was possibly going to Iraq, so I wanted to spend time with him."
Patricia says, "I know now that I couldn't do this kind of work and live in such a cramped space. I wound up with bruises from trying to maneuver myself around in that truck. I think the ride-along program is a great idea, though, and all the dispatchers should try it."
"I've always had an appreciation for what the drivers face, but this experience really brought it home. I was in a straight truck, but I can imagine what the folks running team in a cargo van must go through."
Teresa Cole
Teresa, 39, has been with Panther II for a year and a half, first as a driver manager on the night shift and then in the position of customer service representative. She says she was excited by the prospect of what she regarded as a new adventure. She recalls that her horoscope had even predicted that she would be "doing some traveling."
Wanda says that she and Teresa met at the Seville location, "just as I was taking clean sheets out of the clothes dryer in the drivers' area. I needed to get some hours back, so we just stayed there at the Panther II facility until we got that first load that evening."
Their first load was a transfer load they picked up in Toledo that was going to Wooster, OH. After the delivery, they pulled into a closed truck stop outside of Wooster. After breakfast at the Amish Door restaurant next door, they headed back to the truck for a nap.
Wanda says that she had instructed her riding partners to bring comfortable shorts and a T-shirt for sleeping, and they had just changed into their "jammies," and Teresa was already in her bunk, when Teresa's cell phone rang. "When she heard where it was headed, she about bounced right out of the sleeper."
"The load picked up near Wooster, OH and delivered in Portland, OR, a run of 2400 miles. Fortunately, the run's delivery time allowed a solo driver to take the load and remain Hours of Service compliant."
Teresa says, "Both Wanda and Panther II were concerned that I was alright with the run to Oregon. They asked if it would be a problem because I was extending my time in the truck from 3-4 days to who knew how long. I had told my husband before leaving that when I got in the truck, I would have to go with whatever load(s) came up."
"Having been to the west coast many times, I told Teresa that it might take as long as two weeks to get back home, but that was alright with her," states Wanda.
Teresa continues, "It was the first time I had spent this much time, or traveled that kind of mileage, in a truck of any size. Some of the things I discovered were just how difficult it is for the solo driver to drive for hours on end; this job is tough on your body. It gave me a whole new respect for the drivers."
Teresa is a western history buff, but had never traveled farther west than Oklahoma, so the westward trip gave her the opportunity to travel on parts of the original Oregon Trail. She says it's fascinating to try to imagine what our ancestors had to go through to reach their destination.
Wanda tells us that when she and Roger are running together and time permits, they stop and see things along the way. Knowing of Teresa's fascination with historical sites, she was happy to stop when possible for Teresa's benefit.
"In Wyoming, I got to see the Buffalo Bill Cody museum, but unfortunately it was closed when we got there," Theresa tells us. "Among other sights I enjoyed were cowboys on a cattle drive and the Lincoln head memorial in Nebraska."
One eye-opener for Teresa was how difficult it is to get the body to go to sleep when needed. Another was the lack of truck stops and rest areas in parts of Nebraska and points west.
She reflects, "I can see how tough it can be on a driver, especially a solo driver who needs to get rest or refreshment and nowhere to do it."
The trip lasted from Friday evening to the delivery on the following Tuesday. Wanda was out of hours, so they spent two days in a Portland-area motel before leaving for Sacramento, CA to pay a visit to Wanda's mother-in-law. They arrived on a Friday and spent the weekend resting and regaining hours.
Wanda is originally from that area of California and she still has trucking and broker connections there. On Monday, she began making phone calls and by Tuesday, she was able to secure a load from Stockton, CA and another from San Jose, CA, with both loads headed to Milwaukee, WI.
The pair made it to Peru, IL, before Wanda had exhausted her hours and had to shutdown. By now, it was important for Teresa get back home to care for an ailing horse she owns, so her husband met her in Peru to take her back. Originally planned for several days, the ride-along lasted a total of sixteen days.
Teresa came away from this "epic" road journey with some lasting impressions: "I can see how drivers have to be very organized and plan their route and plot their miles to be able to get from one point to the other without running out of hours. That requires a lot of skill."
"I can also appreciate how difficult it can be to find local directions sometimes and how the driver is challenged by bad or incomplete directions."
She continues, "Driving is not something I could do personally, but it gives you a great appreciation of what our ancestors went through when traveling through the west."
"Driving is exhausting work and I had a problem with my feet swelling from maintaining the same position in the passenger seat for hours on end. I had to pick up a pair of sandals because my feet wouldn't fit in my tennis shoes."
Teresa concludes, "It was an incredible opportunity for me! If I didn't have the responsibilities of the dairy goat farm that my husband and I are starting, I would definitely consider another road trip like this one. It was a positive experience and it opened my eyes to another world."
Wanda expresses her thoughts about Panther II: "I think the ride-along program is fantastic! It's a part of Panther II's efforts to help the driver and the dispatcher better understand one another's role."
"Panther II has a standing offer for any driver who would like to spend an eight hour shift in dispatch observing the operation - they will pay him for the day. This way the drivers get to see what happens from the other side as well" Wanda continues. "On the other side of the coin, I think it's great that a company will have a program that will allow dispatchers the opportunity to see what life is like behind the wheel."
"Panther has been there for Roger and me through thick and thin. When we lost our granddaughter a few years back, they were there for us. When my husband had a cancer scare not long ago, they were there for us. They're a wonderful company."
Future ride-alongs
Panther II's tentative plans are for Roger to come off the truck in January or February of next year and Operations Manager Rick Buffington says, "Hopefully, we'll have some more females that would like to participate. It's not that you have to send everyone, because the stories and experiences from those who do take the ride get around the office and the reality of life in a truck is shared."
The time that Roger Sanders spent out of the truck during the ride-along was productive as far as his work on the couple's home, but it came with a price.
When Wanda returned home from the west coast, she discovered that her grandson had contracted chicken pox. Unfortunately, the child had been in contact with hi, so he came down with the virus as well. Happily though, it appears that he has weathered the ailment quite well, and expects to be back on the truck around the beginning of September. Meanwhile, Wanda continues to operate as a solo.